Reviews: PCs with XP

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By Leigh Anne Jones

(IDG) -- While 2001 hasn't been the best year for PC vendors, it's been great for buyers.

Faced with a glut of super-powerful systems and soft demand, PC makers are dropping prices, throwing in extra and otherwise trying to make you an offer you can't refuse. Many of the systems we looked at are bundled with extra goodies, including printers, Web cams, and high-end sound systems. And they all come with Microsoft's new operating system, Windows XP, which vendors hope will be the killer app that motivates people to replace their old computers.

To check out the new offerings in time for the gift-giving season, we gathered as many XP-equipped home PCs as we could find -- most of them arriving at the PC World Test Center just days after Microsoft released the operating system to manufacturers. These early machines ran quite well, although not without a few glitches.

For example, the driver that Microsoft ships for several NVidia-based graphics cards caused images in our Quake III game test to break down occasionally into psychedelic-colored polygons. It's a neat effect, but clearly not what vendors intended. Such hiccups are bound to happen with a new OS, and we expect to see graphics quality improve in coming months as vendors install updated drivers.

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In total, we evaluated seven power and 11 value systems for speed, component quality, and features--keeping in mind the inevitable relationship between performance and cost. We found a lot to like, with power to spare. Most big-name home PC makers are represented, although a few, such as MicronPC and Sony, didn't have PCs ready in time for our story. Others, like Compaq and HP, had just one model available.

We haven't ranked our choices for this review -- we're reserving judgment until we see more XP-equipped machines. But we did consider factors such as speed, price, monitor, features and sound quality in picking best buys from the current field.

On the power side, Dell's Dimension 8200 impressed us most with its sexy design, a 19-inch monitor (the base model comes with a 17-inch monitor), and thundering Altec Lansing ADA-995 sound system. Among units in our value set, NuTrend's Athlon Mega 3 won our admiration by offering high speed and nice extras, including an LCD monitor and a printer.

Windows XP isn't the only new item to report here: This is the first review to feature our new benchmark, PC WorldBench 4. Note that scores from PC WorldBench 4 and its predecessor, PC WorldBench 2000, are not comparable. Our Test Center updated PC WorldBench 4's applications and now uses a baseline system that's more comparable to current PCs.

Our new baseline -- a Gateway Select 1200 running Windows 2000 with a 1.2-GHz Athlon processor, 128MB of PC-133 SDRAM, and a 20GB hard drive -- scores 100 points. All other system scores represent a percentage difference from the baseline score. For example, a score of 110 is 10 percent higher than our baseline system's score.

Changing to a new benchmark and a new operating system didn't alter a performance trend we've seen over the past few months: AMD Athlon-equipped PCs continue to blow away Intel Pentium 4-based systems -- even those boasting higher clock speeds. For this roundup, we tested a Falcon Northwest Mach V system with AMD's latest processor, the Athlon XP 1800+. The processor's name is a bit misleading, since it actually runs at 1500 MHz (see " AMD's Ratings Gambit," for more on AMD's XP CPUs). Nevertheless, the Mach V we tested scored 121 on PC WorldBench 4, setting a record for performance and beating the fastest 2-GHz Pentium 4 system we tested by 14 points. The Mach V was the only machine in this review running the costlier Windows XP Professional (the others used XP Home Edition), but we doubt the OS boosted its speed. If anything, XP Pro--with its additional services--may run a bit more slowly.

A PC for everyone

We separate power and value systems by performance and features, not necessarily by cost; but you naturally pay more for top-shelf features. Power systems offer the latest and greatest technologies and are best suited for high-end activities such as advanced gaming or video editing. Value systems, all falling between $1,000 and $2,000 in this review, are sufficient for most people's needs. They'll do for most types of home businesses, for telecommuting and often for some forms of digital entertainment such as burning music CDs or playing MP3s. Of course, they're also great for Web surfing, e-mail and word processing.

Whether your computing needs call for a dragster or a family sedan, you'll find plenty of options here.

Top 10 XP-loaded PCs (chart)

Top 10 PCs

ABS Performance 1: The Performance 1 is a great machine for both home-office tasks and recreation. You'll want to select a different monitor, but the other components are top-shelf.
Alienware Area-51: The Area-51 that Alienware configured for us is an attractive system with the chops for limitless gaming fun. Paired with a better monitor, it would make an excellent entertainment center as well.
Dell Dimension 8200: Dell's darkly handsome Dimension 8200 has luxury and power to spare, whether you're working at home, playing games, or watching DVD movies in the Batcave.
Falcon Northwest Mach V: Power users who know what they're doing -- and have the money to do it -- will want to hang on to that 1.5-GHz Athlon processor, choose another monitor, and let the games begin.
Polywell Poly K7-1400DDR: This speedy system has the power and gear for both office work and home entertainment, but you'll definitely want to select a better monitor.
Compaq Presario 5000Z: The Presario 5000Z is an attractive, fairly speedy home system that's suitable for a variety of tasks, from office work to digital entertainment.
Dell Dimension 4300: While not a powerhouse or a high-end multimedia center, the Dimension 4300 remains a reasonably priced all-around family system.
Falcon Northwest Talon 3.1: Equipped with a nice monitor, the Talon 3.1 is a blazingly fast system for gamers on a budget.
Gateway 500X: With its sharp text and audio extras, this 500X would serve students who enjoy music but don't demand top speed.
NuTrend Athlon Mega 3: While a bargain system at heart, this Athlon Mega 3 adds luxury where it counts. It's a well-rounded system for families and home-office workers, though not for gamers.

Beyond the Top 10: Other options

Gateway 700C: If you have big plans for your next PC, from supporting a small business to indulging your artistic impulses, the 700C would make a good choice.
HP Pavilion 7905: The Pavilion 7905's design is usable and attractive, and the wireless peripherals are convenient, but the system's performance disappoints.
ABS Performance 6: The Performance 6 would serve as a good PC for many people, since it offers value for the penny-pinchers, high performance for the speed demons, and (with a better monitor) entertainment for the movie and sound buffs.
Dell Dimension 2100: No performance or multimedia machine, the Dimension 2100 is a low-cost system that would serve well as a second PC or a basic workstation for word processing, e-mail and casual Web browsing.
NuTrend Intrepid LE: If you're on a budget, this machine provides lots of nice features, but you may want to spring for a different monitor, and gamers will want to upgrade the graphics card.
Polywell Poly 1000 DU: The Poly 1000 DU wrings respectable performance out of its budget processor, but for about the same price, you can have more power.
Systemax Venture M U17: This Venture M U17 is a solid, beginner-oriented PC for basic computing. With its TV tuner, bundled games, and DVD player, it can also double as a makeshift entertainment center for a small apartment.
Polywell Poly P4-1500: Although Polywell has included some good components and peripherals with this system, the unit's sluggish performance detracts from the overall package.
PC Alternative: The Apple Option: With both Windows networking and a new version of the Microsoft Office suite available for Macs, your other alternative is to buy an Apple.

Leigh Anne Jones lives in Northern California and writes about computing trends, consumer affairs, and social issues. PC World Associate Editor Sean Captain contributed to these reviews.