Desktop roundup: here's how to find the perfect PC for your small business buck.For small business owners, a desktop PC is an essential tool for running a successful company. But how do you get the best for your office without breaking the bank? BLACK ENTERPRISE tested PCs from eMachines, Sony, Dell, and HP for ease of setup, functionality, and farm. Each manufacturer was expected to meet a $700 price point, which didn't include the monitor. (Some manufacturers asked us to allow them to add more money to bring the machine up to business standards.) We also investigated the quality of technical support. Furthermore, we looked at what came standard, what was necessary, and what was lacking in the hardware and soft ware packages. eMACHINES T2615 The eMachines T2615 has "the look," and at $649.99 you can probably envision it residing happily in your office. Besides looking good, this desktop features color-coded plug-ins and a handy poster-size installation guide. We especially liked that the PC came with USB ports on the front for easy plug-in of peripherals. The T2615 came with an AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, www.amd.com) A major manufacturer of semiconductor devices including x86-compatible CPUs, embedded processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices and networking chips. Athlon XP A family of Pentium-compatible CPU chips from AMD introduced in 2001. Departing from the traditional MHz designation, Athlon XP chips use model numbers that combine clock speed and architectural features into a numerical rating. 2600+ Processor, dual drives, a 48x CD-RW (CD-ReWritable) The only rewritable CD technology. CD-RW disks look like other CD media, but with close inspection, they have a more polished surface with a very dark blue-gray cast. drive and a 16x DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. drive, DDR RAM See DDR. , a 120GB hard drive, a 56K Modem, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet connection, six USB ports, and a $3 Pro Savage8 card. We found the bundle more than adequate to meet our small business needs. For $100 more, you can upgrade to the T2625, which comes with a DVD-RW (DVD-Read Write) A rewritable (re-recordable) DVD disc for both movies and data from the DVD Forum. Also called "DVD Dash RW" and "DVD Minus RW," DVD-RW uses phase change recording. The media hold 4.7GB per side and can be rewritten 1,000 times. and an additional DVD drive. Along with Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. XP Home Edition, the software bundle includes Microsoft Works An integrated software package for Windows and the Macintosh from Microsoft. It provides file management with relational-like capabilities, word processing, spreadsheet, business graphics and communications capabilities in one package. 7.0, Microsoft Money Microsoft Money is Microsoft's personal finance software for computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system. A version is also available for Windows Mobile (available for Money versions 2000-2006, and up to, but not including Windows Mobile 5.0). 2003, Encarta Online, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Interact Explorer, and a free 90-day trial of America Online and Norton AntiVirus 2003 software. Although the package would work, we still think the small business user needs Microsoft Word and a higher level accounting software. The eMachines also features BigFix, which monitors a wide range of hardware and software characteristics. The Customer Care program includes free parts for one year, labor, technical support, and on-site service for a two- and three-year extended service plan for $89 and $139, respectively, [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SONY VAIO (Video Audio Integrated Operation) Sony's trade name for its desktop and laptop PCs. In mid-1998, Sony introduced its 505G series of subnotebooks that were the first in ultra-thin Pentium portables. RS310 The Sony VAIO RS310, the newest VAIO on the block, was the heavyweight in our roundup--and not just in price ($849.99). This PC is a multimedia powerhouse if yon want to maximize your use of photos, digital music, and video. We liked the silver-gray design, which added a professional yet stylish look to our small test office. Setting it up with a flat panel monitor See flat panel display. was a definite bonus. The RS310 came with a 2.40GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, an 80GB hard drive, 256MB of RAM, a DVD-RW/CD-RW drive, and four USB ports. The RS310 has more than enough power to accomplish business tasks, with the fast Pentium 4 processor and ample hard disk space for storage. But the RS310 was a bit light on business-grade software. It came standard with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, and software such as Microsoft Works 7.0, PictureGearStudio, Microsoft Money 2003, SonicStage, McAfee Security Center, Inuit Quicken 2003, Adobe QuickTime, Network Smart Capture, and Java Web Start A mechanism from Sun for delivering full-blown Java applications from a Web server. The programs are initially downloaded using the browser, but run outside of the browser. Contrast with Java applets, which require an open browser window to stay active. . Including both Microsoft Money 2003 and Inuit Quicken was a nice touch, but we thought the package was really geared toward the personal consumer rather than business users. As far as technical support, we were impressed with the VAIO Support Agent. It offers updates to users while they are connected to the Internet. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] HP COMPAQ d330 MICROTOWER This $649 PC with its sleek, silver and black design, looks almost as impressive as its price. The HP d330 comes with a 2.66GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 40GB (7200 rpm) hard drive, a DVD-R (DVD-Recordable) A write-once (read only) DVD disc for both movies and data endorsed by the DVD Forum. DVD-Rs are often called "DVD Dash Rs" or "DVD Minus Rs" to distinguish them from the competing "Plus R" format (see DVD+R). drive, and 256MB of RAM. The other PC we tested offered two drives. We got used to the idea of having that feature as a standard. The HP came bundled with Windows XP Home Edition (make the upgrade to Windows XP Pro for $70), software that is similar to the others in the roundup such as Microsoft Works 7.0, Norton AntiVirus, and Windows Movie Makes. It also came with a nifty administrative tools section, which allowed us to act as our own IT specialists. We were disappointed, however, that the unit didn't include any accounting or publishing software. We were impressed with the remote assistance feature. This function allows someone to chat with you about an issue, view your screen, and if invited, access your computer remotely. There are also three-year parts, one year labor and one-year next day business on-site warranties. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DELL DIMENSION 4600 Remember when beige boxes ruled? We're happy that computer manufacturers have caught on that beige is, well, boring. The $849 Dell Dimension 4600 is a solid machine. It features a 2.40GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 256MB of DDR SDRAM, a major DDR (Double Data Rate) Refers to an SDRAM memory chip that increases performance by doubling the effective data rate of the frontside bus. For more details, see SDRAM. DDR - Double Data Rate Random Access Memory NVIDIA GeForce4 MX with TV out, a 40GB hard drive, and a CD-RW. We were also pleased Chat the Dimension 4600 came with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition and Word Perfect Office 11--finally, a desktop with business-level software, The one missing option is accounting software. However, there is another helpful feature: the Dell Picture Studio, which offers Image Expert 2000 to view, find, and organize all your digital prints. We found the Dell Solution Center to be one click away. It helped to find information on Dell support, customer care, and more. Depending on which warranty you purchase (a one-year, two-year, three-year, or four-year warranty), you're covered for any defects in materials or workmanship. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] RELATED ARTICLE: A less-expensive alternative. Although not part of the desktop roundup, the NetVista A30 is helping Big Blue keep its old school image. The sleek, black desktop PC comes with big speakers and a sound to match. The Net Vista A30 came in at $579.00, which is less expensive than the PCs in our roundup. Adding a few more features (such as an additional drive or a faster processor) would have increased the price point on this machine to compete with the likes of the eMachines or the Sony VAIO. The Net Vista came with a 2GHz Intel Celeron processor, a 400MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. front side bus, 128MB of SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) A type of dynamic RAM (DRAM) memory chip that has been widely used since the late 1990s. SDRAM chips eliminated wait states by dividing the chip into two cell blocks and interleaving data between them. , a 60GB hard disk, a 48x CD-RW, and a 56K modem. From the start, there was a snag with the software. We expected the NetVista A30 to arrive with Lotus SmartSuite Millennium, but it did not. It was after hours, so we called the support line (we received an immediate response without long menus or waiting times). The machine was equipped with Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition. Access IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , IBM Rapid Restore PC. and Norton AntiVirus 2003. The Access IBM tool provided useful information about our machine, how to reach IBM and much more. Overall, the IBM support was exceptional. The NetVista is a strong alternative if your business budget is limited. --C.G. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion