The good folk at Gateway Computers have sent The Ferret one of their new Core 2 Duo laptops to check out, and we’ve got to say we’re rather pleasantly surprised. More later when we’ve taken a long hard look at the thing in earnest, but first impressions are definitely positive. There are a few interesting facts. First, it’s actually a decent looking box (we remember the day when Gateway stuff was uniformly hideous), it’s very good value for money (think £699.00 for a 1.66 GHz Centrino Core 2 Duo with 2 GB RAM and a 160 GB hard drive). And here’s the real kicker, you can only buy them from Toys R Us over here. How weird is that?

Apparently they’re flying off the shelves next door to the Barbie dolls, so we can only assume that this retail strategy is smarter than the average Action Man. Who’d a thunk it? Perhaps Mr and Mrs Parent feel more comfortable buying something tech from a store that doesn’t treat them like stupid children? What next, networking gear from Chuck E. Cheese?