Rich Brown,
Senior Editor
November 10, 2008
The slim tower PC trend makes perfect sense to us. For those who only need a basic desktop, why bother with a clunky midtower design?
Each of these trimmed-down PCs will provide all you need to get online, create documents, and play around with your digital media. And all but two of these units (bad show, Slimline and Inspiron) invite you to bring them into your living room and connect directly to your television via an HDMI output.
None of these sub-$1,000 desktops is a multimedia powerhouse, so forget about watching HD video, 3D gaming, or intensive editing. But for the basics, in a small, easy-to-like package, these slim tower desktops have a lot of appeal.
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| Price | Check Prices | Check Prices | Check Prices | $499.00 | Check Prices |
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| Review date | October 28, 2008 | October 20, 2008 | September 22, 2008 | July 28, 2008 | October 16, 2008 |
| The Bottom Line | The Asus Essentio is perhaps the best conceived of the recent round of living-room-friendly slim tower desktops. It's just powerful enough, and it comes with the right mix of features to allow it to do what living room PCs do best, without overreaching. | As much as Acer's Aspire X3200 surpasses other pricier PCs with its wide array of useful inputs and outputs, you'll have a hard time choosing between it and its otherwise identical dual-core Acer linemate of the same price. If you're a multitasker on a budget, you'll likely prefer this model's triple-core CPU. | As opposed to previous Slimline models, the HP Pavilion Slimline s3500f tosses aside home theater aspirations and targets budget buyers looking for a compact, cheap PC. | If you're considering all of the computers in the $700 to $1,000 price range, the Dell Studio Hybrid is not very compelling. However, if you limit yourself to the very specific niche of small PCs, you'll appreciate this system's clever design and its relatively powerful hardware. | On certain tests, Dell's off-the-shelf Inspiron 530s comes out ahead of its slim-tower competition, but its situational performance edge isn't dramatic enough to overcome its underwhelming features. You can find cheaper systems that might be a tick slower on certain tasks, but on balance they'll let you do more. |
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| Features | |||||
| Graphics Controller | Info unavailable | NVIDIA GeForce 8400 | NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE | Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 | Intel GMA 3100 - 128 MB |
| Storage Removable | Info unavailable | None | None | None | None |
| Floppy Drive | Info unavailable | None | None | None | None |
| Storage Controller | Info unavailable | Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 ) | Serial ATA ; None | Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 ) ; None | Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 ) |
| Type | Info unavailable | Personal computer | Personal computer | Personal computer | Personal computer |
| Hard Drive (2nd) | Info unavailable | - None | - None | - None | - None |
| Printer | Info unavailable | None | None | None | None |
| Optical Storage | Info unavailable | DVD?RW (?R DL) / DVD-RAM | DVD?RW (?R DL) / DVD-RAM / BD-ROM with LightScribe Technology | DVD?RW | DVD?R (?R DL) |
| RAM | Info unavailable | 4 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - PC2-5300 | 4 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 800 MHz - PC2-6400 | 2 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz | 4 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM |
| Cache Memory | Info unavailable | L3 cache | 1 MB L2 cache | 3 MB L2 cache | 1 MB L2 cache |
| OS Provided | Info unavailable | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition | Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Service Pack 1 | Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition |
| Processor | Info unavailable | 1 x AMD Phenom X3 8400 / 2.1 GHz ( Triple-Core ) | 1 x AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ / 2.8 GHz ( Dual-Core ) | 1 x Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 / 2.0 GHz ( Dual-Core ) | 1 x Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 / 2.2 GHz ( Dual-Core ) |
| Hard Drive | Info unavailable | 1 x 320 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 | 1 x 500 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 | 1 x 160 GB - Standard - S-ATA | 1 x 320 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300 |
| Product Description | Info unavailable | Acer Aspire X3200-U3600A - Phenom X3 8400 2.1 GHz | HP Pavilion Slimline s3500f - Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.8 GHz | Dell Studio Hybrid Hybrid - Pentium Dual Core T4200 2.0 GHz | Dell Inspiron 530s - Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2 GHz |
| Product Form Factor | Info unavailable | Small form factor | Tower | Desktop slimline | Slim tower |
| Communications | Info unavailable | Fax / modem - 56 Kbps | Fax / modem - 56 Kbps | None | Fax / modem - PCI - Plug-in card - 56 Kbps |
| Audio Output | Info unavailable | Sound card - 5.1 channel surround | Sound card - 5.1 channel surround | Sound card - 5.1 channel surround | Sound card - 7.1 channel surround |
| Monitor | Info unavailable | None. | None. | None. | None. |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
| Buying choices |
This configuration is no longer available from HP. |
This configuration is no longer available from Dell. |
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