Which PC Do You Need?

On the Small Side

Instead of favoring a PC that offers infinite expansion possibilities and sky-high performance, you may prefer a small, unobtrusive system--to save space, perhaps, or for portability. Some of these PCs look like Mini Coopers next to SUV-like tower systems, but they manage to pack all their components into compact cases, making them much easier to move around. While some of these little systems are designed for use by company field representatives on the road, others are often aimed at users who need a fairly portable but high-powered PC.

One of the small systems we looked at for this review, the Falcon Northwest FragBox Pro, comes equipped with a powerful processor and graphics card to satiate the needs of performance-hungry gamers. A 2.8-GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 1GB of RAM helped it earn a score of 123 in our PC WorldBench 4 tests. The FragBox Pro's graphics test results were quite fast, though not as impressive as the speedy scores turned in by the Alienware and Cyberpower tower machines.

Another small system we examined, the Stealth Computer Littlepc LPC-401X, had a 3.2E-GHz Pentium 4 processor (Intel's latest version of the Pentium 4) and 512MB of RAM. It earned a PC WorldBench 4 score of 121--a little slower than other systems with a similar configuration, but still quick enough to handle most tasks. Unlike the FragBox, the Littlepc uses integrated graphics, and it lacks an AGP slot that would allow you to upgrade to a graphics card.

According to Stealth Computer, the Littlepc was designed for users who need top processing power and portability. The unit is just 3 inches thick, under 6 pounds, and smaller than a box of crackers.

Though the Littlepc ran quietly, it came with only one small fan for the CPU. Using such a powerful processor in such a petite case without a phalanx of fans causes heat issues: The Littlepc's black aluminum chassis became very hot while the system was on. Stealth Computer insists that the heat is not a problem.

As you might imagine, upgrading a small PC such as the Littlepc would be next to impossible. Because of its diminutive size, you won't find many things on it that are standard on other PCs, like a floppy disk drive, and there's no room to add such components, either.

In fact, expansion is often limited--if not at times out of the question--with small systems. The shape and size preclude room for extra bays to hold additional drives or slots to take extra expansion cards. The Littlepc does, however, have an open slot for extra RAM. Falcon Northwest's slightly bigger but still diminutive FragBox Pro, on the other hand, offers a little more: one open 3-inch drive bay and one open expansion slot.

The FragBox Pro is a tad bulkier than the Littlepc, and it ran cooler in our tests, thanks to a few fans serving the processor and graphics card. It measures 8.3 inches wide, 9.5 inches high, and 12 inches deep, and comes with a handle on top for easy toting. At 14 pounds, it's light enough to carry around. (But don't forget: You still have to lug along a monitor, speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse.) Like many tower PCs, the FragBox has clear side panels, allowing you to peek at its slightly cramped interior, which is illuminated by blue lights.

Falcon's entry-level FragBox comes in at a relatively bargain price of $1095 (not including a monitor), but to get the configuration we looked at, you'll have to shell out a little over $2200, including the price of a monitor. The Littlepc models also start out at around $1095, but the model we tested, with a 200GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination drive, costs $1965, not including a monitor. The company doesn't sell regular monitors, but it does special-order units for industrial applications.