Thumbs Up:

Great value for money, has wireless networking card and Blu-ray optical drive,

Thumbs Down:

Sparse upgrade options, hard drives are not easily swappable, application performance is relatively slow

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Price – $1,149

Processor – 2.8 GHz AMD Phenom II X6 1055T

Memory – 6 GB, 1,333 MHz DDR3 SD RAM

Motherboard – AMD 780G

Graphics card – 1 GB ATI Radeon HD 5870

Networking – Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11

Hard disk – 1.5 TB, 7200 rpm

OS – Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Optical drive – Blu-ray drive/dual layer DVD writer combo

Razzle Dazzle:

Dell Studio XPS 7100 is quite similar to Intel based Studio XPS 8000 series of desktops. The only difference is that 7100 has a dark gray panel on the front and the 8000 series has all black front. But apart from that, these two desktops have similar design, both have the gadget tray on the top along with USB and mic/headphone ports. On the front, there are two doors concealing the 3.5 inch optical drive bay and a couple of USB ports.

Inside Dope:

Ok, we will get straight to the point – this is the best mid range gaming desktop we have ever had in our labs. It costs $1,149 and will be coming out by this July. The computer is powered by six core AMD processor which not the fastest in the market right but while gaming, the performances were above our expectations. The feature set is quite solid and it will appeal to budget gamers or any one looking for an entertainment centric desktop.

The exteriors of the Dell Studio XPS 7100 are quite sleek but it is messy on the inside. Dell has put in a double wide 3D card and in order to keep it stable, there is a mounting bracket inside the cabinet. The drive cage on the inside has been expanded to hold two more hard drives now but we would have liked if the hard drives were accessbile from the outside since this would have made swapping more easy. Dell will have to redesign its cases for that, but we would ask the manufacturer to do it soon and make it on the lines of Origin or Gateway.

For comparison purposes, we used the Gateway FX6831-01 which costs $1,299 and hence will compete with the Dell machine in the market. Gateway is more stylish and has an innovative design. That aside, it has a eight gigs of DDR3 RAM and quad core Intel Core i7 processor. These two factors made it better than Dell in our applications tests. On the flip side, the Dell Studio XPS 7100 can argue that it has a faster graphic card, wireless networking and Blu-ray drive. The price too is affordable. You might not be satisfied with this and you may look to upgrade it in the near future but we, as tech enthusiasts, think that this is the best out of the box configuration we have ever had in our labs for a long time.

Our only concern with the Dell Studio XPS 7100 is its application performance but that  isn’t awful. We tested this desktop along side some of the midrange desktops and it came in last. So there are certainly other desktops in the market giving better performance for this price. This machine is based on Phenom II X6 1055T which is a quite fast six-core chip but it is not as fast as the quad core Core i7 processors. The slow performance in this system is made up for by a fast gaming speeds.

Dell Studio XPS 7100 was impressive in our test of Far Cry 2; it was as good as the Velocity Micro Edge Z30 which costs $1,499. This Dell system can handle any recent gaming title at high resolution with little hiccups. You also might need another graphic card if you are going for bigger or multiple monitors. You cannot put another card in here, just like the Velocity system because both these machines have a single graphic card slot. If you are going to use a standard 27 or 24 inch monitor, this is a great deal.

We won’t complain about the absence of second graphic card slot because that is not unexpected in such a PC. We tested five systems in this price range it found that only MainGear Vybe can take in two graphic cards and you have to add a better power system too which would further drive up the cost. Dell Studio XPS 7100 is not that upgrade friendly, there is a Wi-Fi and graphics card in place and all the four RAM slots are occupied. This gives you just one PCI card slot. You can put in either a TV tuner or sound card.

Nitty Gritty:

Dell Studio XPS 7100 is made for gamers and the powerful 3D card reiterates this fact. The processor too is fast enough. We would readily recommend this PC if you are looking for a mid range gaming desktop.

The Gateway FX6831-01 offers the best feature set for its price range, offers a suitable access to the hard-drive through the front section, offers great gaming performance and is comparatively power efficient considering its gaming PC origin.

Thumbs Down:

The Gateway FX6831-01 really has limited room for extension and the red lighting on the exterior of the system surely is not for everyone.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Manufacturer: Gateway

Price: $1,259.99 – $1,299.99

Part Number: PT.GAH02.004

Processor: Intel Core i7 I7-860 / 2.8 GHz

Hard Drive: 1.5TB 7,200rpm

Monitor Type: None

Audio Output: Integrated Sound card

Features: Dual channel memory architecture

Software: Norton Internet Security 2009 (60 days subscription), Microsoft Works, Student Edition (60 days trial) and Microsoft Office 2007 Home

Graphics: 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5850

Optical drive: Dual-layer DVD burner

Operating system given: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English

RAM: 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM

Monitor Type: None

Graphics Controller Type: PCI Express x16 – Plug-in card

Graphics Processor / Vendor: ATI Radeon HD 5850

Input Device: Mouse and Keyboard

Razzle Dazzle:

The one thing that we have understood from the design of Gateway FX6831-01 is that it’s clearly is not for everyone. And we are saying this because the “armored” façade and the red external lighting clearly are not appealing for everyone (at least not for us). So whether you like the design of Gateway FX6831-01 or not it will depend on your aesthetic sense. But as far as the performance is concerned the Gateway FX6831-01 sure is a potent system. Measuring 7.5 x 19 x 17.7 inches (W x D x H) and weighing 31.1 lbs the Gateway FX6831-01 is decently sized and will not cover much of the real estate of your desk.

Inside Dope:

Now as we have mentioned above that liking or disliking the Gateway FX6831-01 will largely depend on your aesthetic sense, so there is no sense of talking about that here. So let’s concentrate on the areas that everyone will use and will have somewhat similar opinions. To start with it’s the front accessible hard drive of Gateway FX6831-01; this feature has been seen in many other PC’s as well, so it’s nice to see that it has been accepted by the users. The Gateway FX6831-01 gives access to its two hard-drive bays and both the drive bays traits a removable tray. Just place the hard drive on the tray and it will automatically line up with the data and power inputs, so you won’t have to deal with the any sort of mess of cables. The makes the data transfer and taking the data drives easier and faster, and that is what we all want in modern times.

One another prominent feature for FX6831-01 is its media card reader/port hub, which is common for all current tower desktops from Gateway, then there is the devoted buttons for creating photo slideshows from any connected USB device; for easy data backup and a tray positioned on top of the case designed for holding external devices such as cameras and phone, and finally the ideally positioned USB ports facilitating data connections and charging. All these aforementioned features of Gateway FX6831-01 are completely useful and well envisaged. But despite all these functional and well positioned functions, the bright red glow of the numerous LEDs placed at the frontage of the system, it doesn’t looks that appealing (at least to us). Though, the external LED lighting gives it a different look and makes it standout in terms of design, so if you like it the Gateway FX6831-01 is a decent choice.

The Gateway FX6831-01 gets a close contention from Dell Studio XPS 8100’s $1150 priced retail version. Both the FX6831-01 and XPS 8100 are powered by the same Intel Core i7 860 quad-core CPU and has internal memory of 8GB. The Dell XPS8100 has wireless networking, which is useful for it but if you consider it from a performance-oriented tower desktops point of view, it doesn’t makes any sense. On the other hand, priced just about $150 more the FX6831-01 comes with bigger hard drive than Dell, and also has a faster graphics card in the form of 1GB Radeon HD 5850. The graphics card enhances the performance of FX6831-01 amazingly in gaming performance. Also in FX6831-01’s defense we will like to say that neither Dell nor HP offers a system with Radeon 5850 graphics card in the price at which the FX6831-01 is available, and as a matter of fact the Dell’s system with 3D card was expensive than our FX6831-01. This not only was the case with Dell and HP only, several other manufacturers also asked for $300 and $800 more than the price of Gateway FX6831-01 for the configuration similar to it.

Nitty Gritty:

The Gateway FX6831-01 has everything you want and if apart from its distracting case the system has all that you need. It’s fast, aggressive gaming PC with some noticeable features and is reasonably priced. If elegance is your taste in designing then we want recommend Gateway FX6831-01 to you, but if you are looking for a powerful gaming PC and have no problems with the external aesthetics of the system then Gateway FX6831-01 is a hard to beat midrange desktop.

The Echo II is a quiet and little system. It provides all connectivity options including Wi-Fi, HDMI, DVI and Ethernet that you need in a living room.

Thumbs Down:

It is $450 more expensive than identical desktop.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The Puget Echo II desktop is powered with 2.93GHz Intel Core i3 530 processor and 4GB DDR3 SDRAM. It has 160GB Western Digital hard-drive and dual-layer DVD burner. The operating system is Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

The Ethernet adapter supports the Gigabit Ethernet standards and Wi-Fi supports the IEEE 802.11 b/g/n wireless standard. The graphics card is 128MB Intel GMA X4500.

The Puget provides one year warranty with the Echo II desktop.

Razzle Dazzle:

The Puget Echo II comes in Antec casing. It is 8.5 inches wide, 3.75 inches tall and 12 inches deep. The black matte exterior is so compact that it disappears on connecting with good sized HDTV.

Inside Dope:

We think that the Puget Echo II is overpriced with $999 price tag to offer 2.93GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 128MB Intel GMA X4500 graphics card, 160GB hard-drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. Its Zotac motherboard has HDMI, DVI, S/PDIF wireless networking and audio ports that you may require in a home computer. You will get the same configuration in $400 less from Gateway SX2840-01. It provides 1TB hard-drive, 6GB RAM, 64MB Intel graphics card and same operating system for $559; but does not have Wi-Fi. However, you can add $25 USB Wi-Fi dongle for the same. That’s why, we will advise you to go for Gateway desktop rather than choosing Puget one. We will prefer the Puget to provide a good price to configuration ratio for its further models.

We are disappointed with its case because there is no marking on the DVD compartment that tells how to open it. In contrast, the competitors provide all the necessary indications and marking with similar configuration in low price.

The Puget Echo II provides low storage capacity and limited upgrade options to maintain the compact design. You can go for 500GB hard drive upgrade for additional $45. The $400 less priced Gateway SX2840-01 performs identical to the Echo II. They are much better than the Dell Inspiron Zino HD and comparable to $799 priced Mac Mini. The Puget model was capable to play high-def and standard-def contents from Hulu, NetFlix and YouTube.

The connectivity options of the Puget Echo II are less than that of the Gateway model. We are surprised that the Puget is not providing the FireWire and media card reader slot even with highly expensive price tag.

The upgrade options are also limited to a 2.5-inch hard-drive slot and one PCI Express Slot of half height only for low-end 3D card. In contrast, the Gateway desktop provides extra PCI Express 1X slot, two memory slots, and similar half-height card slots.

The annual power consumption of the Puget Echo II is $14.23, which is better than $23.14 of Gateway SX2840-01. The Echo II is also a very quiet system; while the Gateway generates more noise.

The Puget provides one-year parts warranty and life long labor warranty. The technical support is available from 9AM to 6PM PT on weekdays. There is also email facility available at Web site for quick response.

Nitty Gritty:

The Puget Echo II is an overpriced, little and quiet desktop. We will not recommend this desktop to purchase as you can get the same configuration in $400 less priced Gateway SX2840-01.

However, you can buy the Echo II only when you need a very quiet desktop and afford highly extensive price tag.

New Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 3D-graphics card; excellent configuration in an affordable price.

Thumbs Down:

New 3D graphics card generates a lot of heat and consumes more power.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The Velocity Micro Edge Z55 is a gaming-friendly personal computer. It is powered with 4GHz Intel Core i7 930 processor, Intel X58 motherboard, and 6GB DDR3 SD RAM. The computer has 1TB Hitachi hard-drive, 64GB Patriot Torqx solid-state-drive, and Blu-ray burner optical drive featuring LightScribe Technology.

The desktop has 1.5GB Nvidia GeForce GTX480 graphics card and High Definition Audio card that supports 7.1 channel surround sound. The operating system is Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

The interfaces are Display / video – DVI-Digital output – 24 pin digital DVI, Audio – Output, 1×Mouse – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1×Keyboard – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1×Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45, 2×IEEE 1394 (FireWire) – 6 pin FireWire (1 in front), and 6×Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A (2 in front). The upgrade options are: 3 PCI Express x16, 1 PCI Express x1, 2 PCI, 4(2) ×Front accessible – 5.25″×1/2H, 2(1) ×Front accessible – 3.5″×1/3H, 5 (3)×Internal – 3.5″ x 1/3H.

Razzle Dazzle:

The Velocity Micro Edge Z55 is 17.7 inches tall, 8.3 inches wide, and 19.3 inches deep. It comes in black color.

Inside Dope:

The Nvidia had finally released 3D chip – GeForce GTX 480 in the DirectX 11 era. The Velocity Micro Edge Z55 costs $3499 and comes with the same graphics card. However, this graphic card consumes a lot of power and heats up easily, but it works very fast. We appreciate the Velocity Micro to install a custom fan that mounts upon the graphics card to cool down the heat. The Edge Z55 desktop features 4GHz Core i7 930 processor, 6GB RAM, (2) GTX 480 graphic cards with 1GB video memory, 1TB Hitachi hard-drive, Blu-ray burner, Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and 64GB Patriot solid-state-drive. In contrast, Falcon Northwest Mach V and Origin Gensis cost $4999 and $4998 respectively. It means that you can get the quite similar configuration desktop within budget price of $3499.

$4999 priced the Falcon NorthWest Mach V features 4.18GHz Core i7 980X Extreme processor, 12GB DDR3 SD RAM, single dual-chip 2GB ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card, 1TB Western Digital hard-drive, 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, Blu-ray burner, and Windows 7 Professional 64bit.

$4998 priced the Origin Genesis features 4GHz Core i7 920 processor, 6GB DDR3 SDRAM, (2) 2GB ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card, 1.5TB Seagate hard-drive, (2) 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, Blu-ray burner, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

For more $1499, the Falcon model provides more processor frequency, video memory, RAM, and large solid-state drive. On the other hand, the Origin model provides large hard-drive and SSD. We think that these advantages worth extra $1500 or not. The Falcon model is a different high-end computer than the Origin or the Velocity Micro Edge Z55.

If you need the same dual-chip graphic card of the Falcon, then Velocity Micro provides it for extra $1000. You can also upgrade the RAM up to 12GB at some additional cost.

We compared the Velocity Micro Edge Z55 with the Falcon NorthWest Mach V and the Origin Gensis. The Falcon Mach V performed better than both in terms of gaming applications. However, the Micro Edge Z55 performed well while testing for gaming, multimedia and multitasking. All the three – Falcon model, the Origin model, and the Velocity Micro Edge Z55 performed better than other desktops in their range.

Nvidia is boasting its GeForce GTX 480 graphics card at tessellation – a treatment of textures laid on other 3D models. The Nvidia is promoting its GPUs PhysX, 3D vision ability, CUDA GPU computer and some proprietary technologies for improving the games and other graphic programs. Both AMD and Nvidia are differentiated with multi-monitor support. AMD Radeon HD5870 Evefinit 6 can provide display to six monitors, while the dual GeForce GTX480 cards can output to three.

The difference between a single-mono chip of GeForce GTX 480 and single dual-chip of AMD Radeo HD 5970 is predictable. Also, both of them have separate price tag and power consumption cost.

The annual power consumption cost of the Velocity Micro Edge Z55 is $160.80 which is better than $167.75 of the Origin Genesis. In contrast, the Falcon NorthWest Mach V has $89.53 annual power consumption cost. Both Radeon HD 5970 and the GTX 480 run around 90°C temperatures. According to Nvidia, its GTX graphic card can withstand these temperatures. However, this heat will make the backplane of GTX cards very hot.

The upgrade options are limited to three RAM slots, and three hard-drive slots. The connectivity options include S/PDIF audio, eSATA, FireWire, and HDMI jacks near two DVI slots of 3D cards. However, the Velocity Micro does not provide any HD adapter.

The Velocity Micro provides one year parts-and-labor warranty with in-house technical support. The phone support is available from 6AM to 7PM PT from Monday to Friday, and 9AM to 1PM on Saturday. The company also provides non-standard system build requests.

Nitty Gritty:

If you need a 3D graphics desktop in budget friendly price range and can manage to overcome extensive heat generation then buy – Velocity Micro Edge Z55.

However, if you can exceed your budget for more $1500 then the Falcon Northwest Mach V will be the better choice.

User-friendly design.

Thumbs Down:

Not a lot of upgrade options, slow performance.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y is powered by AMD Athlon X2 7550 2.7 GHz processor and NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE chipset of 3600 MHz data bus speed. The memory is 4GB DDR2 SDRAM, which has 800MHz memory speed. The Slimline s5120y has 500 GB Serial-ATA hard drive of 7200 rpm and LightScribe enabled SATA DVD±RW(±R DL)/DVD-RAM.

The onboard graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE (UMA) and integrated sound card is Realtek ALC888S of High Definition Audio standard that supports 5.1 channel surround sound. HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y has 56kbps PCI Express data/fax modem and integrated network adapter that follows standards of Ethernet/Fast Ethernet.

The pre-installed operating system is Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit. The installed software includes Trial version of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Trial version of Norton Internet Security 2009, Microsoft Works Suite 9.0, CyberLink DVD Suite, Muvee Reveal Basic and Adobe Reader.

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y has 6-in-1 card reader that supports MultiMediaCardPlus, SDHC MemoryCard, Memory Stick Pro, xD-Picture Card, SD Memory Card, Multimedia Card and Memory Stick.

The interfaces of HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y are 1×Headphones – Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1×Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1×Audio – Line-out – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1×Audio – Line-in – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1×Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 1×Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 6×Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A (2 front, 4 rear), 1×Keyboard – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style) and 1×Mouse – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style). There are two expansion bays: 1(0) ×Internal – 3.5″×1/3H and 1(0) ×Front accessible – 5.25″×1/2H. Three expansion slots are 1(0) ×PCI Express x16, 1(0) ×Processor, 1(1) ×PCI Express x1 and 2 Memory – DIMM 240-pin.

Razzle Dazzle:

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y has black-colored glossy front panel and smaller slim-tower case than that of Dell Inspiron 537s. The design and architecture of the Slimline s5120y are outdated.

Inside Dope:

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y costs around $450, which is not worthy after considering its slow performance, limited features and some design gaffes. The Slimline model is out-dated computer like Dell Inspiron 537s. HP is the first company to bring the slim-tower concept to the market. Now, the Gateway has also adopted the same concept.

The older HP Slimline models did not have additional external drive port. Before Slimline series, the previous HP models had a Pocket Media removable hard-drive port at the bottom. HP has removed the Pocket Media Drives and it is probably due to lack of customer enthusiasm. This gives you more free space inside the cabinet for upgrades.

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y has 2.7GHz Athlon dual-core processor that provides good performance. It has 500GB hard-drive, which is smaller as compared to 640GB hard drive in Gateway SX2800-01. After looking at all the ports located on backside and front-side, anyone can say that HP needs to improve the design of its Slimline series, especially, of the s5120y.

Analog headphone jack, media card slot and USB 2.0 port are located on the front of HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y. VGA display port, keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports, Ethernet slot, 5.1 analog audio output ports and four USB 2.0 ports are located on the back. The s5120y is not offering any HDMI port or FireWire port. Whereas, the Gateway SX2800-01 offers all above ports with HDMI port, eSATA, mini-Firewire and double the number of USB ports as in the s5120y. We hope that HP can also revise the tower design and architecture like Dell.

It may be possible that HP has used an old motherboard to support an affordable and fast CPU processor. Due to which, the ports on the HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y are outdated. We tested the s5120y with the Gateway model, Dell Inspiron 537s and Asus CM5570-AP002. The Slimline s5120y did not perform well as compared to other models. The Slimline computer is perfect for basic tasks like video/music playback, word processing and Web browsing. However, it is much slower when compared to Gateway SX2800-01. This Gateway model will offer you latest design, more memory and ports, and fast performance in just $60 more as compared to HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y.

The users with limited budget will be attracted towards HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y. You cannot upgrade the Slimline s5120y as there is no slot for increasing internal memory and only two slots for RAM. The annual power consumption cost of the s5120y is $35.62, which is more as compared to that of both Asus CM5570-AP002 and Gateway SX2800-01. The Athlon CPU and AMD chipset motherboard consumes more power, but does not provide high clock seed and good power supply.

HP is providing one year labor-and-parts warranty on the Pavilion Slimline s5120y with 24/7 phone support at toll-free number. The chat technical support is also available at the website. You can find the necessary FAQs, drivers and utilities at the HP website. The s5120y computer comes with HP Health Care and self-help software.

Nitty Gritty:

HP Pavilion Slimline s5120y has a slim-tower design, but does not have good performance. Even at low price, the Slimline s5120y can not beat the design, performance and connectivity options of Gateway SX2800-01, which costs only $60 more.

Thumbs Up:

Good performance, plenty of connection options as compared to previous low end Dell systems.

Thumbs down:

Wireless networking card was not needed.

Inside the Trunk:

Power cable, softwares.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

This machine from Dell is powered by Intel Core i7 I7-860 / 2.8 GHz, Quad Core processor, it has L2 cache memory of 8 MB, chipset type is Intel P55 Express, RAM is 8 GB of DDR3 SD RAM and can be further expanded to 16 GB. The PC has 1 TB SATA hard disk drive of 7200 RPM. The optical drive in the machine is DVD±RW (±R DL). The graphic card in the computer is NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240 of 1 GB memory, sound output is 7.1 channel surround sound.

For networking, data link protocol – IEEE 802.11n (draft), Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, Ethernet. The computer runs on 350 Watt power adapter.

The computer runs on Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition. The 19 in 1 card reader supports the following cards – CompactFlash Card type I & II, MultiMediaCardmobile, Memory Stick PRO Duo, MultiMediaCardmicro, MultiMediaCardplus, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, xD-Picture Card, SmartMedia Card, SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Microdrive, microSDHC, miniSDHC, microSD, miniSD, RS-MMC.

Connectivity interfaces are 1 x Audio – SPDIF output, 1 x Storage – eSATA – 7 pin external Serial ATA, 1 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (center/subwoofer) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (center/subwoofer) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (back surround) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (front surround) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-in – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire), 1 x Audio – Line-in/microphone – Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 8 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 front, 4 rear )

Dell gives 1 year warranty for this product.

Razzle Dazzle:

It is very difficult to make a desktop make look pretty. For some, it doesn’t matter if a desktop looks sexy because the cabinet is tucked beneath the table, in the dark, somewhere close to your legs. Dell has done its 2 bits to make this cabinet look pretty. The machine is offered in choice of three colors black, white and red though we are unsure if the latter is the correct choice for a desktop computer. The cabinets have been given a round shape which we thought was cute.

Inside Dope:

This machine from Dell is for gamming and general day-to-day activities. The hardware that has gone inside the machine makes it capable of high end usage. Dell has revamped the looks of the cabinet to make it look better than the usual boring cases.

The machine is powered by 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 860 which is extremely fast and hence high end chores such as gaming or graphic development can be handled easily by this computer. A fast processor is useless unless complimented by plenty of RAM. Dell does exactly that by putting 8 GB, 1066 MHz DD3 SD RAM to make sure the computer remains fast.

This computer cannot handle games in all its glory but it can certainly do well in mid range gamming. There is GeForce 240 GTS graphics card in the machine for churning out great looking graphics. We thought that Dell could have got us a better graphic card by sacrificing wireless networking card.

The hardware inside is good for now but it is certainly not a future proof computer. With new power hungry games coming out everyday you can never be sure if you have got future proof hardware. This computer doesn’t give you many options for upgrading. There is a PCI expansion slot and also a PCI express card slot. If you don’t need the Wi-Fi card then take it out and you have an extra PCI card slot. There is no space for putting more RAM and we don’t think you will need more with the four sticks of 2 GB each put in. All four slots are occupied. You can add one hard drive to the machine.

When it comes to connectivity, Dell has been lamentable in the lower end machines but it does a great job here. There are USB ports, DVI outputs (on the graphic card), optical S/PDIF audio output and eSATA port for transferring data quickly. For quick connectivity there are a couple of USB ports and headphone/audio jacks on the face of the cabinet

Dell gives you a one year warranty for this product and 24/7 free phone support.

Nitty Gritty:

We didn’t have anything to complain with the XPS 8000-2361JBK from Dell. It has good hardware inside for mid range gaming and is low on power consumption so it makes sure there are plenty of savings.

Thumbs Up:

Good performance for the price it is offered, plenty of options for upgrade.

Thumbs Down:

Not so attractive looking.

Inside the Trunk:

HP Pavilion p6210y cabinet, mouse and keyboard.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

HP Pavilion p6210y has an AMD Athlon II X4 620 / 2.6 GHz Quad-Core 64-bit processor, L2 cache of 2 MB, the chipset used is NVIDIA GeForce 9100 which has data bus speed of 4000 MHz

RAM is 6 GB expandable to 16 GB DDR2 SDRAM frequency is 800 MHz, Hard disk drive is 640 GB SATA interface of 7200 rpm.

The computer comes with a DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM – Serial ATA
CD / DVD read speed is 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD), CD / DVD write speed is 40x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 12x (DVD±R DL) and CD / DVD rewrite speed is 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 12x (DVD-RAM)

The graphic card is NVIDIA GeForce 9100 Shared video memory (UMA) 256 MB / 2943 MB (max). For audio, sound output mode is 7.1 channel surround high definition audio

Expansion Slots Total – 4 Memory – DIMM 240-pin, 1 x Processor, 1 x PCI Express x16, 3 ( 2 ) x PCI Express x1. Connection interface are – 6 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 in front ), 2 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 front, 1 rear ), 1 x Keyboard – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x Audio – Line-in – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Audio – Line-out (rear) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire), 1 x Audio – SPDIF output, 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Mouse – Generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 1 x Audio – Line-out – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (side surround) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (center/subwoofer) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Display / video – DVI-Analog/Digital (dual link) – 29 pin combined DVI

Operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition. HP also gives soft ware like Microsoft Works 9.0, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Norton Internet Security 2009 (60 days subscription), CyberLink DVD Suite 6, Microsoft Windows DVD Maker, Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (Trial)

15 in 1 card reader RS-MMC, Microdrive, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia Card, Memory Stick Duo, MultiMediaCardplus, MultiMediaCardmobile, miniSD, Memory Stick, SD Memory Card, xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick PRO Duo, CompactFlash Card Type I & II

Razzle Dazzle:

The look of the p6210y hasn’t changed much from the P6230y, the cabinet isn’t slim and there is nothing much attractive about the computer. But that doesn’t mean it is ugly, it just that attractiveness is important and this one has plain jane looks.

Inside Dope:

HP is out with another computer, this time it is HP Pavilion p6210y and it has got plenty of good hardware but it doesn’t beat the Gateway SX2800-01 which is standing hard at number one position in our tests till now.

The front of the cabinet has a glossy finish of black color so it is sure to attract a lot of finger prints. There is a panel in the front for plugging in headphones so that you don’t have to go running behind the computer every time. Aside from that there is a media card reader.

Comparing this desktop when it comes to price, the HP Pavilion P6210y costs the same as Dell Inspiron 545s-3055NBK. The specs are the same of the two computers but HP gets the edge because of the quad core AMD processor.

Gateway SX2800-01 is still the better computer than this product by HP, it has an edge when it comes to performance and it also costs less. When it comes to expansion cards, HP Pavilion P6210y has a single empty 16x PCI Express slot to put in your graphic card. If you intend to do heavy animation or graphics work, or if you want to turn this machine in to a mid range gamming rig then you will have to splash money on the graphic card. Other expansion possibilities are an extra hard disk drive and a memory stick.

The HP Pavilion P6210y is powered by AMD Athlon II X4 620 / 2.6 GHz quad core processor with L2 cache of 2 MB. There is DDR2 SD RAM of 6 GB installed and the mother board can take up to 16 GB of RAM. We were disappointed to see DDR2 sticks used instead of DDR3. Also there is only a single slot for putting in RAM so you will have to remove some sticks and put in high capacity ones if you want to expand it to the limit of 16 GB.

To store your files the HP Pavilion P6210y comes up with a 640 GB hard disk at 7200 RPM. We expected a 500 GB drive on such a computer but we were delighted to find more room for our files. You can put on more drive with the empty slot that is available on the motherboard.

For graphics the mother board comes with integrated graphics card of NVIDIA GeForce 9100 make which has video memory of 256 MB. This memory is good for basic movie viewing and even entry level gamming but you will have to put a discrete graphic card for high end gamming or graphics related work. If you play high end games on this computer will all the settings turned to max and without the graphic card, the machine will start howling.

The machine comes bundled with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition. There are a few trial softwares like Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition and Norton Internet Security 2009 (60 day trial). Other soft wares include Microsoft Windows DVD Maker, CyberLink DVD Suite 6, Microsoft Works 9.0, etc.

HP Pavilion P6210y has a 15 in 1 card reader with support for various cards. The machine comes in with a limited one year warranty.

Nitty Gritty:

HP Pavilion P6210y is just one-of-those computers by HP. Nothing extraordinary has been done and you get similar performance computers in the market which also cost more or less the same. If you want better performance we will advice you to go with aforementioned Gateway’s computer.

Thumbs Up:

Slim cabinet, nothing else.

Thumbs Down:

Just a VGA port for video, other options available at this price range which give better performance.

Inside the Trunk:

Cabinet, Mouse and Keyboard.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

The processor of the computer is Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 / 2.93 GHz, the L2 cache is 3 MB in size, Chipset used is Intel G33 Express which has data bus speed of 1066 MHz, installed RAM is 6 GB and maximum you can install is 8 GB. RAM is DDR2 SD which has a frequency of 667 MHz. Hard disk is 750 GB SATA interface and has 5400 RPM. The computer has a DVD burner. Graphics are Intel GMA 3100 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 of 256 MB.

There is a 7.1 channel high definition audio sound card on the mother board, Expansion Slots Total (Free) are 4 Memory – DIMM 240-pin, 1 (1) x PCI Express x16, 1 (0) x Processor – LGA775 Socket, 2 (2) x PCI, 1 (1) x PCI Express x1. The computer comes bundled with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition and Microsoft Works

The interfaces on the computer are – 6 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A (2 in front), 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 1 x Audio – Line-out – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Headphones – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Audio – Line-out (rear) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Audio – Line-in – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 2 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x Audio – Line-out (side surround) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Audio – Line-out (center/subwoofer) – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

The 19 in 1 card reader supports the following cards – RS-MMC, microSD, microSDHC, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia Card, Memory Stick Duo, MultiMediaCardplus, Memory Stick PRO Duo, CompactFlash Card type I & II, miniSD, miniSDHC, Microdrive, MultiMediaCard, SmartMedia Card, Memory Stick Duo, MultiMediaCardplus, MultiMediaCardmobile.

Razzle Dazzle:

Dell Inspiron i545s-3055NBK is ultra slim which makes it very attractive. Other than that there is nothing in the looks department of this computer worth talking about.

Inside Dope:

The Dell Inspiron i545s-3055NBK is slim but it comes at the cost of performance. This budget desktop is not for your advanced user or high end gamers.

The computer is powered by 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 which is pretty fast but not on par with other fast systems that are available on the market. The RAM in the computer is 6 GB DDR2 RAM of 800 MHz, we would have liked a DDR3 rated RAM. A better quality RAM would have given better performance.

There is no discrete graphic card in the computer and all you get is 256MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip. Any high end game or graphic demanding application will bring this system to its heels. This computer was made with the budget user in mind who needs a computer only for basic purposes and not for gaming or any high end applications. An absence of a discreet card also means you cannot watch movies in all their glory.

But there is plenty of memory space for you store all your files with the 750 GB, 7200 RPM disk. We don’t know if you really need such a big space or not because there is no Blu-Ray drive on the computer and dual-layer DVD burner is all you get.

The system comes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit preinstalled.

We will compare this system with Gateway SX2800-01 which is a bit cheap than this computer, Gateway product is priced at $514.99 and this machine will set you back by $579.99. This machine is a bit costly but the trade off is that you get a slightly better hard ware inside.  Gateway SX2800-01 has a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 where as Dell has 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500. There is a slight difference in the speed and it will show during the performances. Dell has 6 GB DDR2 RAM and Gateway has 4 GB. The big difference has to be in the graphics card department, both have built in graphics but Dell has 256MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip and Gateway has 32MB Intel GMA X4500 integrated graphics chip. The video quality on Gateway’s computer will be really aw full with such low memory. This Dell’s computer costs $70 more but gives better performance too.

When it comes to expansion cards, you can put a graphic card in the 16x PCI Express card slot and we think that if you are getting this computer, you should really do it for better game and video experience. Other than this there is no free 1x PCI Express slot. The motherboard only has a single slot and it is occupied by the wireless networking card. There is no room for additional RAM as well; you will have to remove the chips to put in more, because all the four slots for memory are occupied.

There is no HDMI port on the back of the computer which means that this computer cannot be recommended for home theatre either. Other ports on the back of the computer include VGA port for connecting your monitors, 7 channel audio port, four USB ports and Ethernet jack.

Nitty Gritty:

This computer is only meant for your basic user and nothing else. You cannot run resource demanding applications on the computer. Buy it only if you need a PC for low-end applications.

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Good performance, neat interiors, spacious cabinet.

Thumbs Down:

Gateway SX2800-01 gives you better features than this for a lesser price.

Inside the Trunk:

Cabinet, mouse and keyboard.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Intel Pentium E5300 / 2.6 GHz, Quad-Core, 64-bit processor, L2 cache, 2 MB (Per Processor), Data bus speed 800 MHz, RAM 6 GB DDR2 SDRAM  (expandable to 16 GB) Hard disk – 750 GB, 7200 rpm,

Optical drive
DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM, CD / DVD read speed – 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD), CD / DVD write speed 48x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 8x (DVD±R DL), CD / DVD rewrite speed 32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM), Graphics Processor / Vendor
Intel GMA X4500, Video Memory 1759 MB, Sound output mode 7.1 channel surround, High Definition Audio

Expansion Bays Total (Free) 2 (1) x Front accessible
5.25″ x 1/2H, 2 (1) x Internal – 3.5″ x 1/3H
Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1 (0) x Processor – LGA775 Socket, Memory, 1 (1) x PCI Express x16, 2 (2) x PCI

Interfaces 1 x Display / video
HDMI – 19 pin HDMI Type A, 1 x Display/video – DVI, Audio, 8 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 front, 6 rear )1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-TX – RJ-45

OS Provided
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition

Software
Adobe Reader 8.0, Nero 9 Essentials, Microsoft Works 9.0

16 in 1 card reader, RS-MMC, Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro, Microdrive SDHC Memory Card, CompactFlash Card, Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Razzle Dazzle:

The design of the Essentio CM5570-AP003 looks familiar because it uses the same tower as the Essentio CM5570-AP006 and the CM5570-AP002. It has plain, glossy, black face and spacious interior which are typical for a mid tower, in this price range. There nothing done which is out of the box although there are a couple of audio jacks, USB ports and a media card reader hidden behind a drop-down faceplate on the front of the cabinet.

Inside Dope:

Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003 isn’t among the best desktops that we have received in the test center. In fact it is the same CM5570-AP006 but it has inferior hard ware, which means it is a stripped down version of Asus’ previous product.

The computer is fast and you won’t have any problems running high end applications that are speed crazy. The processor used is Intel Pentium E5300 / 2.6 GHz, a Quad Core processor. It has L2 cache with 2 MB for each processor and the processor has data bus speed for 800 MHz.

The desktop is good for high end applications but cannot take gamming because it doesn’t have a discrete graphic card. Intel GMA X4500 is what you get on the motherboard which is integrated graphics and the size is 1759 MB. If you want to play games on this computer you can always add a graphic card as this mother board gives you an empty 16x PCI Express graphics card slot.

Along with this there are two slots for standard PCI card and 1X PCI Express card for wireless networking. The computer is upgrade friendly owing to its big body which has plenty of room for expansion cards and drives. For drives, you can put in extra hard drive and another optical disc drive.

The computer has six GB of DDR2 SD RAM and it is expandable to 16 GB but there aren’t any free slots so you will have to throw away the provided chips to make room for new RAM. There are four slots for memory and all of them are occupied.

On the rear panel of the computer you get digital audio out, Ethernet port, six more USB ports and a single PS/2 port for a mouse in addition to HDMI, DVI, and VGA ports to connect the system to a monitor. Asus actually offers DVI in addition to VGA and HDMI ports to connect the system to a variety of displays. You can always get a big display for this cabinet and then turn this computer into a HTPC (home theatre personal computer). The HDMI port is given just for that.

We compared this desktop to Gateway SX2800-01 and it has Core 2 Quad CPU which offsets its lower clock speed. If you are going to use applications which are really high end and use all four processors at once then we recommend you to go for Gateway SX2800-01, but a mid range user at which these desktops are targeted hardly uses such applications for which Asus is ideal. But we must say that Gateway is faster than Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003

Nitty Gritty:

Asus Essentio CM5570-AP003 provides you all the essential hardware that a mid range desktop user needs. But the features that it offers for this price is eclipsed by older Gateway desktop. We recommend you to go for Gateway SX2800-01 and skip this one.

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Large screen, Sleek looks

Thumbs Down:

Sluggish performance, slow hard ware, low audio volume level.

Inside the Trunk:

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Processor

Intel Atom 1.6 GHz, Mobile Intel 945GMS Express Bus speed 533 MHz, RAM 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM, Hard disk 160 GB SATA 5400 RPM, LCD 18.4 inch, Native Resolution 1680 x 945, Graphics Intel GMA 950, Optical USB mouse, USB keyboard.

Connectivity 1xNetwork – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45 , Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A , 1 x Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm, 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm

4 in 1 card reader, Supported flash memory card – Card Reader Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, Memory Stick Pro

Razzle Dazzle:

Averatec All-In-One is an out of the box computer and its shape will certainly make you drool. It has an arm coming out of the base which holds the sleek 18.4 inch LCD. The stand of the LCD can swivel and you can make the LCD move by bending it. It can sit with its face up to the ceiling. The great looks aren’t well complimented by the good performance. The computer is too slow.

Inside Dope:

We had got Acer Aspire Revo net top for review before this and there are lots of similarity between the two when it comes to hardware. This means that the Averatec All-In-One D1130 is not meant for your gadget freak but for the basic user who needs the computer just for typing on a word processor or internet activities like web surfing and email.

The computer has 1.6 GHZ Atom processor which is pretty slow. We don’t know why such slow processors are still manufactured. They cannot take the power hungry soft wares that are manufactured these days, let alone high end games.

The display is the prettiest part of the device and the 18.4 inch display will give you a resolution of 1600X900 which is a little less than what a display of this size is capable of. Averatec’s display of 18.4-inch is capable of 1,680×945 resolution. The display is good, we played a couple of DVDs on this device and really enjoyed watching on the display. The sound quality is good but it is really low and you will have to buy a set of external speakers and you will question this device’s ability to serve you as an entertainment gadget. If it cannot give you high volume and if you have to buy separate speakers then this is not a complete entertainment package, you would rather purchase the next best alternative, a net book.

There is a dual layer DVD burner in the Averatec D1130 for you to play your movies or videos. The system comes bundled with Windows XP Home Edition SP3 where we raised eyebrows. Windows 7 starter would have been good for this configuration.

There are controls for power, brightness, and volume on the screen. Along with this there are five USB ports, a VGA port and a collection of microphone and headphone jacks.

Nitty Gritty:

Acer Aspire Revo doesn’t have anything in it that will make you buy this. Perhaps the only positive point is the low power consumption and maybe the good looking 18.4 inch screen. We had got Acer Aspire Revo net top to review before this for both gadgets we will say that you would do better if you put in a few extra bucks and get a full size desktop. We couldn’t believe the low audio output that Averatec D1130 had. Don’t buy this computer.