At first glance, a 23 inch model Gateway ZX6900-01e may seem an expensive proposition at $1020 (as on June 25, 2010), but it gives a formidable performance for an all in one desktop PC with a screen of this size, thus more than justifying the price. That said however, there still are a few shortcomings that left us wishing for a little more.

Gateway ZX6900-01e is powered by 2.93GHz Intel Core i3-530 processor and works on 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory. With this potent combination, it scored 113 on the WorldBench 6 set of tests. However, somehow this power just doesn’t get transferred to its gaming abilities. We were not at all impressed by this all-in-one’s performance when running modern titles like Unreal Tournament 3 at its 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution. So much for the integrated graphics.

An all in one desktop PC with a 23 inch screen could surely do with a little more hard drive space than the included 640 GB. However, its combination of a Blu-ray reader with a DVD burner perfectly complements the 1080p resolution, multi-touch screen, a combination which would be difficult to find on other systems.

Gateway ZX6900-01e gives fine picture quality mixing lovely saturation with a strong contrast that brings out the crispiest details of the scene. Surprisingly, the picture quality is not affected even at acute viewing angles, another evidence of its stellar screen. The speakers produce good sound quality with a fine range of high and low notes although the sound appears a little more centre-weighted than one would prefer.

Gateway ZX6900-01e offers no scope for upgradation, however the host of connectivity options leave that unnecessary. On the side of the system there are a multiformat card reader and two USB ports, on the rear there are a one gigabit ethernet port, an eSATA port, an HDMI port, integrated 5.1 surround sound, and four USB ports. If only it had a TV tuner of some kind, we would have put the final seal of approval on its ability to deal with anything thrown at it.

Gateway ZX6900-01e ‘s 802.11 connectivity gives you a little more flexibility to install it at places which can’t normally be served by an old-styled ethernet cable. The wireless mouse as well as the keyboard included with the system further increase your flexibility to interact with it. However, the regrettable thing is that both the peripherals offer little advance in functionality.