iMac LCD Impostors

cannonball_D writes "CNet has an article about the first (?) inevitable PC imitation LCD iMac from Gateway. The design is a step in the right direction, but I still think it has all the tell-tale signs of a cheap knock-off. " It really looks like it lacks the elegance of the apple design, but I'm all for the LCD based terminal to be available on x86.

Comments

Thats the profile 3, not the profile 4.

[Milkyman]

THe picture they show is of the profile 3, not the new profile 4.

Picture wrong.

[MindStalker]

The picture on the article is of the profile 3 (which they have been selling for a long time now.) The new profile 4 is going to look like an iMac, but they havn't released any pictures of it yet. And the article has very little details.

Nothing New from Gateway!

[suwalski]

Gateway actually had a PC with a monitor with a built in PC about 4 years ago (I don't think it was LCD). Anyhow, same time the iMac was coming ou,t or even before.

Take a look at Eurocom. They've had the LP260 All-in-one LCD PC for over a year now. They beat Apple to it, and I think it's a very cool design.

Point is, everyone's 'ripping' everyone elses ideas off in today's industry, to the point that you can't really have an original product without hinting other products.

C|Net should check their facts

[petard]

As others have noted, first off, the only similarity here appears to be that they both are all-in-ones with an LCD. The gateway doesn't appear to have any of the "bringing content-creation to the masses" focus that apple does. Moreover, though, the article states that

The Poway, Calif.-based PC maker got into the all-in-one business with its original Profile computer in June 1999 on the coattails of the first iMac. Gateway, however, did beat Apple to the punch with the first all-in-one computer to feature a flat panel.

Apple introduced the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, which was an all-in-one with an LCD, in May 1997. Oh well... I certainly don't read C|Net for the intelligent reporting. Actually, I'm not sure why I ever click an article that's linked there :-)

You people are missing Japanese products

[kazzuya]

Forget this stuff. Check out the Vaio PCV-W101. It has TV tuner, DVD, 1280x768 LCD, 2 PCMCIA ports, i.Link, USB and what else.
Japan is filled with those products.

Knock off?????

[harlows_monkeys]

How the heck is this a knock off of the LCD iMac? The Profile 3 is an all-in-one LCD machine. The profile 4 is an all-in-one LCD machine with a slimer design. The Profile 3 was out long before the LCD iMac. If the Profile 4 is keeping the Profile 3's physical layout of having all the components housed in the same housing as the LCD, unlike the iMac's housing of everything in a separate base.

Calling this a knock off is just stupid.

20th Anniversary Mac, 5 years later

[maggard]

Actually this looks a lot more like Apple's 20th Anniversary Mac; essentially a laptop opened up with lots of built-in goodies.

Integrated custom Bose sound system with woofer/power suppply, integrated TV & FM radio system, S-Video input, and of course the little leather pads on the keyboard. Oh, and the high tech metal bracket holding it up that reportedly cost over a hundred bucks each to manufacture. Originially sold for around $10,000 then as low as $2,000. Of course for 10k it arrived a limo and was set up for you by a tech in a tux (kid you not!) A review from when it first came out is on MacWorld

Bet Gateway doesn't offer a tech in a cow suit to set theirs up...

Re:It's an I-cow

[Lars T.]

Bwahaha.

Have you ever heard of the 20th Anniversary Mac (aka Spartacus)? Here's a nice picture and here's The 20th Anniversary Macintosh Web Site. That machine id from May 1997. Tell me about how Gateway beat them to the punch two years later.