Entered CNET Catalog: 06/29/2005
SKU: DIM51MIN
Manufacturer: Dell, Inc.
Product summary
The good: Updated appearance; removable side panel provides easy access to case interior; quiet operation.
The bad: Dual-core CPU not an option; FireWire not offered; limited graphics-card options; too little storage for a media PC; stingy standard support.
The bottom line: Dell's mainstream Dimension 5100 looks good from the outside, but surprisingly limited configuration options dampen our enthusiasm.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/29/2005
The Dell Dimension 5100, like its predecessor, the Dimension 4700, is a well-priced, decently powered option for family-room computing. In addition to a striking new design, the 5100 adds modern essentials such as a BTX motherboard and a 64-bit CPU that should keep you from having to replace your system for a few years. You can configure a Dell Dimension 5100 for less than $700, but our test system included the Media Center version of Windows XP, dual TV tuners, two-piece speakers, and a 15-inch LCD, among other upgrades, that bring the price to a still reasonable $1,136. Even so, the Dimension 5100's lack of a dual-core CPU makes the trim 5100C a better option. And if you want the expandability of a midtower case, the AMD-based mainstream HP Pavilion d4100e is a better choice.
With this release, Dell updates the look of its midrange home PC, and we like what we see. The case has been recast in a silver-and-white design, and a removable side panel makes accessing the internal components easier than ever. The insides are well organized, so it's easy to switch components or reach the sole free PCI slot or the two free RAM slots.
The 5100 is a quiet operator, even when performing noisy tasks such as ripping or burning CDs or DVDs on its double-layer, dual-format DVD drive. The reason is its BTX motherboard and what Dell calls its QuietCase technology, which provides better air circulation through a novel cutout section behind the front panel.
Our test system used Intel's 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 531 processor, giving the midpriced PC a 64-bit capability. With its not quite cutting-edge CPU, the Dimension 5100 turned in predictable, if uninspiring, performance scores. Its compact cousin, the Dimension 5100C, also has a 3.0GHz CPU, but that one is a dual-core Pentium D 830, which gave the 5100C a 17 percent advantage in CNET Labs' BAPCo SysMark 2004 benchmarks. The single-core AMD-based HP Pavilion d4100e, powered by a 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 4000+ CPU, had the same 17 percent edge.
(Subsequent to our testing, Dell stopped offering the Pentium 4 531 as an option. The closest current option is the Pentium 4 630, which offers double the L2 cache (2MB) and the same 3.0GHz clock speed and 64-bit capability.)
The supplied ATI Radeon X300 SE video card is underpowered for serious 3D gaming, although you can upgrade to the Radeon X600 SE for only $23. To its credit, the Dimension 5100 was able to run Half-Life 2, while our 5100C test system (with integrated Intel 950G graphics) could not. Still, 13.4 frames per second (fps) isn't what you'd call playable. Dell's top-of-the-line Dimension, the 9100, uses an Nvidia GeForce 6800 to churn out 64.5fps on the same test.
Our test system also featured a 160GB SATA hard drive, 512MB of 400MHz DDR2 SDRAM, and a dual TV tuner. The 160GB drive seems skimpy for a Media Center, and at 250GB, even the largest hard drive offered is really too small for a PC that will be recording lots of television shows. (Though our test system featured Windows XP Media Center, you can configure the system without a TV tuner and choose Pro.) We were pleased to see a multiformat media-card reader included as a $15 upgrade option, but on such a seemingly versatile mainstream PC, we wish Dell would offer it as standard equipment. It's easy to overlook in the Dimension 5100's lengthy online configurator.
The system offers seven USB 2.0 ports--two on the front and five on the rear--and our custom Dell multimedia keyboard offered another two; however, you won't find a single FireWire port, which strikes us as bizarre. More bizarre: a FireWire card isn't even listed as an option. The slight software bundle includes Musicmatch Jukebox Basic and Corel Photo Album Starter Edition.
Dell's standard limited-support option could be called "extremely limited support," because it offers only a 90-day limited warranty and 90 days of tech support and onsite service (which Dell calls at-home service). An additional $275 gets you up to four years of support; you should at least spring for the 12-month plan, which will cost an extra $22. Dell's Web site offers a variety of user guides, FAQs, and forums. Phone support is available 24/7, but be prepared to wade through endless menus. As we've noted in other Dell reviews, most manuals come preinstalled on the hard drive, which makes them harder to reference in a pinch.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
BAPCo's SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation rating | |
SysMark 2004 office-productivity rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
Half-Life 2 1,024x768 4XAA 8XAF | |
Half-Life 2 1,600x1,200 4XAA 8XAF |
N/A
N/A
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations
Dell Dimension 5100
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 531; Intel 945G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Radeon X300 SE; Maxtor 6L160M0 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Dell Dimension 5100C
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2; 3.0GHz Intel Pentium D 830; Intel 945G chipset; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; integrated Intel 950G; Maxtor 6L160M0 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Dell Dimension 9100
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2; 3.2GHz Intel Pentium D 840; Intel 945GP chipset; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6800 (PCIe); two WDC WD160JD-75HBB0 160GB Serial ATA 7,200rpm; integrated Intel 82801GR/GH SATA RAID Controller (RAID 0)
HP Pavilion d4100e
Windows XP Home SP2; 2.4GHz AMD Athlon 64 4000+; ATI Radeon RS480 (ATI Radeon X200 Xpress) chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 6800 (PCIe); Seagate ST3400832AS 400GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Sony VAIO VGC-RA842G
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2; 3.0GHz Intel Pentium D 830; Intel 945G chipset; 1GB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; Nvidia GeForce 6600 (PCIe); 250GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14out of 14 user reviews
you've got a lemon!
Pros: specs on the paper look great for a mid-range entertainment package.... ( I customized mine on dell.com)
Cons: the hardware is not compactible with the computer... dell does not use standard equipment... there is a reason that there is ONLY 3 Month warranty on this comp...
Now the Sound Card (SoundBlaster) will not function, have to un install drivers in order to hear any sound . Ok, I can live with few extra steps when first powering up the computer.
But the latest development was when the screen flickered and would not turn on. The display works fine when connected to the computer. So now it is either bad Motherboard ( which has been my fear since when this all started), bad memory , or something made the graphics card malfunction again?
Sick of it all, recycling the parts I added myself and building a brand new comp?
Stay away from Dell? My old Gateway, even though the front I/O panel power button is broken, STILL works fine on Win 98?
Dude, I am never getting another Dell?.
out of 14 user reviews
Best Machine Ever
Pros: A Magic Worker
Cons: I haven't run into one yet
out of 14 user reviews
Nice design, horrible in every other way
Pros: great pc for office use
Cons: Horrible customer service, cant handle large photoshop projects, Limited upgrades, no firewire
out of 14 user reviews
They Tried
Pros: Its got ok out of the box speks and should satisfy the not so hard core gamers and the average family.
Cons: Just try looking for parts to replace or upgrade at a time like this. Buy a new barebone and upgrade, dont go looking for this computer to be a good buy.
out of 14 user reviews
junk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !
Pros: none.........
Cons: everything.......
out of 14 user reviews
Very nice system...
Pros: ...does everything I need it to do at a reasonable speed.
Cons: ...after seeing the scaled down computer sizes Dell has to offer, the Dimension 5100 seems HUGE
out of 14 user reviews
A nice solution to lightweight multimedia computing and family computing
Pros: Fast, Quiet, Easy to Open, Works well with add-on PCI Video Capture Card
Cons: Expandability (Only 1 PCI slot)
Cost: I paid approx. $1,490 (includes tax & shipping) for the hardware and warrantees listed below. The list price was $2,223 so I thought I got an excellent deal.
Hardware: I took advantage of their Employee Purchase program and a 30% off deal they had running for a few days (I haven’t seen this deal since), so I loaded up on some of the extras. Here is the complete list.
Dimension 5100: Intel(r) Pentium(r) 4 Processor 531 w/HT Technology (3GHz,800FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (4x256M)
Dell Wireless Keyboard and Optical Mouse
19 inch UltrasharpTM 1905FP Digital Flat Panel
128MB PCI ExpressTM x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
9 in 1 Media Card Reader
Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP Media Center 2005 Edition
Mouse included in Dell Wireless Package
Integrated Intel(r) PRO 10/100 Ethernet
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe(r) Acrobat(r) Reader 6.0
Dual Drives: SAVE $59! 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/dbl layer write
Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
Dell AS501 10W Flat Panel Attached Spkrs for UltraSharpTM Flat Panels
Microsoft Works Suite 2005 - Includes Word 2002, Streets & Trips 2005
McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months
Musicmatch(r) Jukebox Basic
Photo Album Premium - Archive, remove red-eye,create calendars and more
SAVE $60 (After Rebate) 4 Yr Ltd Warr, 4Yr At-Home plus Nights and Weekend
6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP Media Center 2005 Edition backup CD
Free Dell Color Printer 720
Add-ons: I bought a $9.95 refurbed floppy disk drive to transfer some files from my older PC. I purchased Pinnacle’s Studio 9 AV/DV software/card for $89 and had no problem installing and using it. It works great w/ my older analog camcorder and my new digital camcorder. I have also captured VHS tapes from my VHS player using the analog capture port.
out of 14 user reviews
Absolute bargain - Total powerpc
Pros: So much hardware for so little cash. I paid £550 for a p4 3.0ghz 630 processor, thats the 64bit one. An x300 graphics card, gig of ram, 17" flat pannel and 16x DVD-RW
Cons: They delivered it at 7.00 in the morning and I had no confirmation email or contact from dell at all until then
out of 14 user reviews
Decent Dell Box
Pros: New Box Design. Quiet!!
Cons: Limited upgrades. Needs bigger PSU. Outsourced tech support from other countries is a BIG NEGITIVE!
Dell could have offered a better video card option. The X600 ATI 256meg card is weak. I ended up buying a ATI X800XL 256meg PCIe card from another source.
Lack of a firewire built-in ports is a negative too. I got the SB Audigy 2 sound card just to have ONE firewire port.
Overall it is a nice machine. Easy to open up and swap out cards. Runs real quiet! Even after I installed the X800XL video card I can hardly hear it.
Paying extra for a resource disk was a gouge in my opinion. That should ALWAYS be included for no extra charge.
Also, Dell should offer different Power supply options. The 305w PSU is better then my older Dim 4600's 250w, however, We as consumers should be able to pick and choose a beefer power supply. This way we can put in better, more powerful Graphic cards.
I just ordered a 2Gb PC-4200 kit of 240 pin DIMM ram. If Dell would offer a fair price for their ram I would have gotten it from Dell. A 2gb kit of good reliable ram from Crucial.com was $238.61. Also Dell would NOT allow me to pick what SIZE of ram sticks I wanted installed. I ordered 1GB of ram from Dell and they would only send me 4x256meg sticks. Even though I wanted to have 2x512meg sticks installed. This filled my ram slots.
out of 14 user reviews
Machine has performed decently...
Pros: Sleek look, well put together (generally speaking)
Cons: some quirks, need to add some things on to make really useful
A couple of musts - added in a firewire card and another gig of memory. Machine hums pretty well - using it for my home office machine hooked up to a 20" and a 19" lcd panel. Can drive both with the 128M card fairly decently.
Buyers should strongly think about what they would potentially use this machine for. If you're looking for a gaming machine, this is probably not for you. If you're looking for a "well rounded" machine that can be used for home office, light software development, photoshop/editing, etc... i think you'll be fine...
out of 14 user reviews
Nice Computer...AWFUL customer service
Pros: sleek new design. easy to access inside components
Cons: Dell became a success due to it's great customer service. Those days are over!
out of 14 user reviews
So Far, So Good
Pros: BIG upgrade
Cons: no parallel port
out of 14 user reviews
No OS CD, No Parallel, No PS/2
Pros: Dell hardare typically works good together
Cons: Terrible support and terrible package
out of 14 user reviews
It's a DELL
Pros: Great replacement for the 4700
Cons: BTX chassis is cramped
Roger
