Gateway’s latest entry into the PC market dubbed ONE, which is kind of like a PC stuffed into a monitor, has competition now from Dell with a similar model being called a Dell ONE [Not its real name]. But are these soon to be released systems really innovative or are they just old designs being touted as new and stylish?

I recall about four years ago working on a Gateway system the Profile 4. This was a system that was a all-in-one model with everything built into the monitor case same as the new models. See a description of the Profile 4 here.

Another innovative PC at the time. one in which I briefly was a distributor for, was called Cybernet. Their Zero Footprint PC was completely housed inside of a keyboard. This model is still being sold as well as a new version that also incorporates an entire PC inside of the monitor as well. Cybernet site is here.

The one thing that I found that kept these type of PC’s out of the hands of the average consumer was pricing. These all-in-one designs are expensive compared to the average PC that still comes in a tower box. Also parts are expensive since most of these systems use non-standard peripherals. I recall needing a new power supply for a Zero Footprint PC and was quoted a replacement price of $150. That’s a tough sell telling a client this, since replacement power supplies for a standard tower system were about $25 at the time.

What do you think? Will people pay a high premium for a specialty system?

Comments welcome.

[tags]dell, gateway, specialty, systems, [/tags]