Gateway Intros AMD-Powered, 11.6-inch LT3100 Netbook

Gateway's new LT3100 netbooks feature 11.6-inch screens driven by ATI Radeon X1270 graphics, along with power-sipping AMD processors.

Netbooks might be all the rage in the computing industry—they’re about the only segment of the broader computer market that’s still growing—but netbooks aren’t always the best thing for users: even if customers understand a netbook is not the same as a full-powered notebook, the tiny things can still be frustrating: slow processors, tiny keyboards, just a little bit of memory, the ever-aging Windows XP (usually), slow graphics, and…those oh-so-tiny screens. Computing maker Gateway looks to address some of those issues with its new T3100 netbook, which features an 11.6-inch display driven by an ATI Radeon X1270 graphics controller—its not going to be a gamer’s paradise, but at 1,366 by 768-pixel WXGA resolution, it’s more usable than a typical netbook…and overpowers the video controller that Intel offers with its Atom netbook processors.

“The Gateway LT3100 is a smart netbook choice—it gives customers the freedom to connect to the Internet for everything from staying up-to-date on the latest viral videos and enjoying digital music and photos, to checking on the status of projects and studying for classes,” said Acer America senior product manager Ray Sawall, in a statement. (Gateway is an Acer subsidiary.)

The LT3100s are powered by AMD Athlon single-core L110 processors (typically running at 1.2 GHz), and support up to 2 GB of memory and 250 GB of hard drive storage. The netbooks also feature 802.11b/g WiFi, a digital media card reader, integrated Webcam, three USB 2.0 ports, and battery life of up to five hours on a six-cell battery. Unlike typical netbooks, the T3100s run Windows Vista Home Basic rather than Windows XP.

Gateway plans to offer the T3100 in several configurations in black and red cases; the units weigh just 3.14 pounds; prices start at $399.99.