BM164_58_59:Layout 1 5/9/08 02:32 Page 1
Advice
Real computing
Power
With Windows Vista here demanding our PC’s run at speeds previously unheard of, we look at five of the best
computers on the market at the moment. Does the new OS make these machines better than their XP
predecessors? Yes. Does Vista make it any easier to make a purchasing decision? Absolutely not -- if anything,
it's even more difficult. Mark Prigg investigates...
Dell XPS 420 HP Pavillion m9000
£549 - £1,349 £840
dell.com hp.com
The Pavilion Elite m9000 series is de-
You know what to ex- signed to be a good all-rounder, deliv-
pect when you buy an ering 'outstanding entertainment and
XPS: good looks, high top performance' to all and sundry.
performance, and a
substantially lighter Not much forethought has gone into the
wallet. Dell's latest ef- basic shape of the m9000 series -- it
fort, the XPS 420, deliv- looks like every other PC that came before
ers all these things and it. Get a little closer though, and you'll likely be
should appeal to any- swayed by the modern piano black finish and the abundance of
one with a desire to edit extra bits, bobs and flapdoodles to fiddle with.
video and images, and
play games. It features an integrated SideShow display, a BTX The most interesting additions include the top-mounted power
chassis and an Xcelerator2 hardware transcoder. button. This is far easier to reach than front-facing switches, par-
ticularly when the PC lives under a desk. The top of the chassis
The XPS 420 is attractive by desktop PC standards. The glossy is rubberised to make it less slippery, so external hard drives and
front panel and silver side panels are attractive in their own right, cups of coffee don't accidentally slide off.
but we personally think Dell should have chosen one colour or The front panel of the m9000 has a few clever tricks, too. Firstly
the other -- not both. the 15-in-1 memory card reader sits near the top, making it easy
to access without getting on your hands and knees. Then all flap
At the top of the case you'll find a rubberised strip, designed to hell breaks loose: There's a flap concealing the optical drive, a
accommodate an external hard drive, MP3 player, or any of the flap concealing the USB and front-facing audio ports, and flaps
miscellaneous shrapnel that normally ends up at the top of your for hiding 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HP removable Media Drives. Fi-
PC. This is lined with non-slip rubber and is slightly recessed so nally, there's an HP Backup button, which launches software for
most things stay put. making copies of your most precious files.Thankfully, that's not
protected by a flap.
The XPS 420 is designed to handle media, so it's no surprise to
learn it can accommodate some high-end components. Various Overall, it's a well-balanced specification but there are a couple
CPU options are available, all of which are stonkingly quick. The of oddities. Firstly, HP provided 3GB of RAM, not 2GB or 4GB as
Premium Chassis, which sports the Dell MiniView screen, comes is more common. This is supplied across two 1GB DIMMs and
with either a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, or for an extra £60 two 512MB DIMMs, so all four memory slots on the Intel G33 ex-
you can have a 3GHz Core 2 Duo E6850. press-based motherboard are occupied. Upgrading memory in
the future will involve throwing some of the existing RAM in the
dustbin.
PROS: Very powerful high specification machine
CONS: A pretty costly option PROS: Good solid tower PC
CONS: Not a cost-effective process to upgrade the RAM
58 • issue 164 Business Matters
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