Then again, maybe Wintellians are only so smitten by the iMac G5's oh-so-svelte implementation of the all-in-one form factor because of what they're used to seeing. We've already subjected you to Korea's Lluon All In One, which actually beat Apple's latest iMac to market by a couple of months and-- at least from some angles-- bears something of a resemblance. But a reasonably close inspection of online photos soon reveals that, whereas the iMac G5 is a marriage of simple lines, pleasing angles, and delicate curves that somehow unites the system into a whole far greater than its disparate parts, the Lluon, especially from the back, could bring up a lunch at thirty paces.

Enter Gateway.

Yes, Gateway; it's still in business (albeit as eMachines with a new name and a few cow spots tacked on), and it's apparently all fired up to take on the iMac G5, especially since Apple's latest consumer system is so analogous to its Profile product. No, really, don't laugh! They're both all-in-one systems, they both incorporate LCD displays, and they both share roughly the same price point. Plus, Gateway's Profile has been on the market in five incarnations spanning several years, so it's probably a little miffed that the iMac is getting all the press. No wonder, then, that (as MacDailyNews points out) Gateway has seen fit to juice up the line a little in hopes of comparing favorably to Apple's latest offering.

Therefore, Gateway has just announced the Profile 5.5, an interim upgrade to its current all-in-one that incorporates "Intel's next-generation 915G chipset, integrated Intel graphics with up to 128MB shared memory and higher-bandwidth serial ATA (SATA) hard drives." Yes, talk like that gets us all hot 'n' bothered too, but try to contain your lust. As far as we can tell, Apple still wins out on a number of fronts-- even price. The Profile 5.5 has a "starting price point of under $1,400," which, of course, almost certainly means $1,399, which is a hundred clams more expensive than the entry level iMac G5.

On the other hand, the Profile has a floppy drive. How to decide?

Best go with the differentiator to end all differentiators: looks. Because, see, if the Lluon is ugly (and it is), then the best thing that can be said about the Gateway Profile is that it's ugly and brown. It looks uncannily like the Lluon, truth be told, but instead of being white, the Profile appears to be constructed out of that textured brown plastic that proved so popular in late-1970s television sets and early video game console systems. About the only angle from which it doesn't provoke a spastic regurgitative reflex is from the side; mind you, even at that angle it won't win any beauty contests; it looks like a refugee prop from the set of a crappy mid-'70s science fiction flick shot in Canada. But at least you stand a chance of not hurling your stomach contents in an unfortunate direction.

Presumably that's why Gateway named it the Profile: because if you look at it head-on, you'll soon be covering it in what once had been breakfast. Although, truth be told, that might be an improvement.