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Technology Stocks : ATI Technologies in 1997 (T.ATY) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yarek Szolomicki who wrote (3639)	7/2/1999 1:36:00 AM
From: Marc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5927

7/01/99 - The Philadelphia Inquirer Games Column Jul. 1 (The Philadelphia Inquirer/KRTBN)--DOES YOUR PC HAVE GAMING POTENTIAL? When it comes to play time, computers have traditionally been divided into the haves and the have-nots. The haves are fast second- or third-generation Pentium-class desktop units. Equipped with large monitors, sound cards, and stereo speakers, today's desktops roll off the assembly line ready for gaming software's demanding multimedia effects. Drop in a 3-D accelerator card, connect a joystick, and your desktop system is primed for just about anything. Laptop computers, on the other hand, are the have-nots of the gaming world. Built to run spreadsheets for bean counters, laptops have traditionally been hampered by small display screens and cramped hard drives. Third-party 3-D accelerator cards aren't available for portable computers, nor is there a game port to which you can connect a joystick. So your laptop gaming prospects are more or less limited to Windows 98's Solitaire, right? Not so fast. Laptop manufacturers finally seem to have tumbled to the idea that Power Point users by day become Starcraft players by night. What's more, advances in laptop technology now permit manufacturers to squeeze many of the same features found in desktops into the cozy confines of a portable PC. Recently I've been toting around a pair of high-end laptops from Dell and Gateway, testing each strictly on their game-playing merits. I'm pleased to report that road warriors now have some very pleasant gaming options. Hey, I know these units are great for business apps too, but as far as I'm concerned, a spreadsheet is something that belongs on a clothesline. DELL INSPIRON 7000 Dell Computer Corp., $2,963.00 (as configured). Dell's Inspiron 7000 is a rugged unit, but at 8.4 pounds it's a bit heavier than I'd like. Despite the excess weight, the Inspiron 7000's gaming credentials are impressive. Although I tested a 366 MHz Pentium II with 64 megabytes of RAM and a 10-gigabyte hard drive, Dell offers the 7000 in variety of Pentium II and Celeron configurations. While its basic specs were impressive, I was particularly taken with the Dell's 15-inch active-matrix display. Imagine a laptop screen larger than many attached to desktop units! More important, the Inspiron features an ATI Rage LT Pro 3D video card as standard equipment. A DVD drive and an internal 56K modem round out the package, making the Inspiron 7000 a worthy machine for Internet multiplayer action as well as solo play. Traveling gamers will appreciate the staying power of the included Lithium Ion battery. While flying back from the West Coast following this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, for example, I was able to keep the Inspiron powered for 2 hours. That gave me ample time to not only polish off my E3 report, but also zap a few aliens along the way. While testing, I put the Dell through its paces with a variety of games ranging from strategy titles like SSI's Imperialism II to graphics-intensive 3D action games such as Fox Interactive's Aliens vs. Predator. The system performed surprisingly well. Only Microsoft's Midtown Madness made the Dell stutter, forcing me to dial down some of the game's graphical options. More information: dell. com/ GATEWAY SOLO 9150 Gateway Computers. $3,099.00 (as configured). Gateway's Solo 9150 series is a new laptop line that the South Dakota-based manufacturer is positioning as a replacement for desktops. I don't know if I'm sold on that concept, but the 9150 is an impressive portable. The unit I tested includes a 366 MHz Pentium II processor, 64 megabytes of RAM, nine-gigabyte hard drive, 15-inch active-matrix display, DVD drive, 120- megabyte Super Drive, and internal modem. Gamers will do cartwheels over the Gateway's built-in joystick port, a nearly unheard-of feature for a laptop. To handle 3-D game graphics, the 9150 includes the same ATI Rage LT Pro accelerator found in the Dell Inspiron. The Gateway gave desktop-like performance on a wide variety of graphics-laden games, including MicroProse's MechWarrior 3, Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. On the down side, I experienced some random crashes on Episode I: Racer. But the Gateway cruised through Midtown Madness, providing a smooth frame rate for the game's wild ride. More information: gw2k.com Although the Dell Inspiron 7000 and Gateway Solo 9150 both use the ATI Rage LT Pro video card for 3-D graphics, not every product will function under this setup.