Gateway launches new sub-$1,000 PCs

Gateway on Wednesday introduced two new desktop computers aimed at the sub-$1,000 PC market. At $599, the Gateway 300 SE includes a rewritable CD drive and built-in Ethernet networking along with a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron chip, 128MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive and a 15-inch monitor. Starting Thursday, Gateway will also offer the $999 Gateway 500SE, which includes a 1.6GHz Pentium 4 processor, a 15-inch LCD (liquid-crystal display) flat-panel display, and a rewritable CD drive. --Ian Fried, Special to ZDNet News