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Written by RotoSequence
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Good for what it was designed for. Bad at doing anything else, especially high demand games.
Dell
Computers have long been infamous as piss poor players in the computer
market. Many people tend to view these machines as garbage that are not
worth the time or money used to get them. This is a reputation that is
hardly deserved, but these complaints have scarred the company among
many who are looking for a new PC.
Enter the Dell Optiplex
series. These computers have been made in several incarnations over the
years, their purpose being for business activities such as making Excel
Spread Sheets, Power Point Presentations, and Word Documents. I'll
summarize the review right here; They do office tasks very well, and
thats about it.
The
Dell Optiplex that we at The Moditory reviewed was a GX-270; the latest
version of the long running series. These machines come stock with an
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz Northwood CPU, 256 MB of DDR RAM, a 24x12
CD-Burner, and a 40 Gigabyte hard drive. These computers are available
in three form factors, with the components varying slightly between
which one you choose. The model reviewed is their small form factor
mini-tower.
Dell Computers has taken great care in making sure
you get what you want. Their online page for making orders is well laid
out, and allows you to tailor your computer exactly the way you want
it-for a price of course. Options include adding a bigger Hard Drive,
more RAM, faster CPU, better peripheral components, software, and
monitors.
The computer arrived in a nice package. Ill give them
points for packaging quality; the software, keyboard, mouse and the
system itself each arrive in their own little box inside of the main
box, making unpacking and set up a simple task with very little risk of
problems or hassles.
The Dell was set up quite quickly, and we
were running the machine within a half hour. Its very nice to be able
to get the system set up and running and ready for work in such a short
period of time. It is especially convenient since the system comes with
Office XP; a prerequisite for the modern business office. Another plus
is how quiet this machine actually is. Its quieter than most water
cooled systems!
The quality of construction in the keyboard and mouse is very high.
Dell chose wisely in having these vital items produced by Logitech, and
I have never had a problem with these devices. The Dell branded monitor
is a good looking piece of equipment, and the image quality is superb.
The amount of effort spent making these things attractive, especially
for a product produced in such huge quantities is very impressive
indeed.
This system is more than adequate for word processing,
internet surfing, and other standard office tasks. Unfortunately,
unless you want to spend about $130 more on this system, you most
definitely arent going to be gaming very often. The RAM and video on
this system can be best described as paltry for gaming. The Integrated
Extreme II graphics integrated onto the motherboard give low framerates
and low image quality in virtually all games. There is no need to post
benchmarks; this system frankly is almost unusable for any game made
after 2001, the exceptions being low system requirement games like
Unreal Tournament 2004, thanks to scalable quality and performance
settings on the producer's end.
 In
the end, this system is great if you are looking for a quick and
relatively cheap way to get your office tasks done quickly and
efficiently, with the option available for some internet surfing and
solitaire while you work on the spreadsheet for tomorrow's meeting. If
you plan on playing any game however, look somewhere else, because that
is not what this system was designed for; not without some hefty
hardware upgrades.
PROS:
Comes with Microsoft Office XP
Will run all the stuff necessary for work lickity split
Extremely easy to set up with good support if you are having trouble
Silent!
CONS:
Fairly Expensive
No Video Card
Not very much RAM
Sucks at gaming
Final Score: 85 out of 100; it does what it was meant to do very well, but it doesnt do much else when you order them stock.
Check out Dell and see if they meet your needs!
NOTE:
Dell Computers is highly reccomended for those who are new to the
computing scene. They are very reliable compared to other computer
makers that sell cheaper machines, with excellent customer support just
in case you start to have trouble.
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