Review: Dell Dimension 8200 dazzles

From...

By Joel Strauch

(IDG) -- WHAT'S HOT: Dell's latest Dimension 8200 is easy on the eyes and ears. A black-and-silver, THX-certified Altec Lansing ADA995 5.1 speaker set -- with a subwoofer bigger than the PC itself -- delivered powerful, crisp sound and strong bass from our test audio tracks. The 19-inch Dell P992 monitor impressed us with sharp details and no dark spots during DVD playback; it displayed excellent colors in our static-image test, too, with very realistic flesh tones.

Thanks in large part to its NVidia GeForce3 Ti 500-based graphics card, the system posted top-tier gaming results. In our judges' view, the monitor did the best job ever of displaying images in Unreal Tournament, and we saw smooth game play at even the highest screen resolutions in all games.

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WHAT'S NOT: Unfortunately, the same monitor that stunned us with great graphics sorely disappointed us on text. Characters appeared fuzzy in our test document. And while a price of $2857 isn't unreasonable for a high-end, well-stocked system, we've seen similarly equipped models that cost less.

The unconventional case (which is also used by PCs in Dell's 4400 line) doesn't make clear that you must lay the system on its side and press two buttons to open it. In fact, all indications are that you should open it from a standing position -- but Dell does not recommend that. Because the case opens so wide, the long interior cables sometimes get caught on components or pinched between the system sides when you close it.

WHAT ELSE: Armed with Intel's new 2.2-GHz Pentium 4 and 256MB of RDRAM, this Dimension 8200 earned a PC WorldBench 4 score of 113, beating out all previous Dimensions and coming within striking distance of all but the fastest Athlon-based systems. But given that this processor is supposed to be Intel's best yet, with a new manufacturing process and the highest clock speed ever, we expected even better performance.

The black-and-gray case features two front-mounted USB ports (for a total of four) and an easy-access headphone port under a flip-open cover. Inside, the case offers modest expansion room -- with one PCI slot and two drive bays (one for a hard drive only) open -- but you can get to everything without tools. Green tabs mark the release levers on all the components that have tool-less access, including the pop-off PCI slot cover and sound-dampening rails that hold the drives. The drive cables have color-coded flags to distinguish IDE channel 1 and channel 2.

Getting our Dimension 8200 up and running was a cinch, thanks to a color setup poster and well-labeled rear ports. Other documentation included a sheet of helpful hints and tips and a thick manual with information specific to this PC, including plentiful illustrations and detailed chapters on troubleshooting and upgrading.

A lack of storage space probably won't be a problem. Our review unit came with an 80GB hard drive, and you can opt for a 120GB drive if that doesn't sound like enough. The system also has a fast-as-they-come 24X/10X/40X CD-RW drive for data backups and burning CD music mixes.

No entertainment applications (other than the software DVD player) came bundled with our Dimension 8200, but Dell did throw in Microsoft Works 2002, which will serve home-office workers and telecommuters adequately.

Dell's sturdy black keyboard, an upgrade from the standard shipping model, houses seven hot-keys for Internet and multimedia shortcuts and allows smooth, crisp, and accurate typing. We liked it better than the regular Dimension keyboard.

UPSHOT: While this 8200 will set you back some green and its monitor isn't the best display for text, it more than holds its own against the competition as a gaming and entertainment system.