ABS Conquest GL

WHAT'S HOT: With an Athlon-850 processor inside, this ABS earned an above-average score of 150 on our PC WorldBench 2000 tests. Its 19-inch Lite-On B1996NSL monitor delivered deep, rich colors and crisp text. Only slight blurring occurred at the extremely high resolution of 2048 by 1536 provided by the Guillemot Cougar Video Edition graphics card (which also offers S-Video input and output and composite input). With the exception of those who work with CAD applications, most people will find text at that resolution too eye-straining to work with for 8 or more hours a day. The system's neat interior contains four open PCI slots and four open drive bays. Extras include a microphone, a 10X DVD-ROM drive, and Creative SoundWorks Digital speakers that deliver solid sound despite their unimpressive size.

WHAT'S NOT: To open the GL's sturdy case, you must remove two screws. The system manual contains no model-specific information.

WHAT ELSE: Though generic, the manual offers helpful upgrading details and lots of color illustrations, and ABS packs all the paperwork in a large but handy binder. Corel's WordPerfect Office 2000 anchors the software bundle. The fairly large multimedia keyboard, which houses many programmable buttons and includes an attachable wrist rest, supports smooth typing with only a little clacking from the responsive keys.

BEST USE: Excellent multimedia features and speedy performance make this ABS a good choice for any small office with a penchant for graphics work.

SUMMARY

ABS Conquest GL PC WorldBench 2000 score of 150, AMD Athlon-850 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 512KB L2 cache, 20GB hard drive, Windows 98 SE, Guillemot Cougar Video Edition graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM, 19-inch monitor, 10X DVD-ROM drive, V.90 modem, Creative Sound Blaster Live Value sound card, Cambridge SoundWorks FPS2000 Digital speakers, Corel WordPerfect Office 2000; 3-year parts warranty, lifetime labor warranty, free unlimited support, 24/7 toll-free support. $1439 800/876-8088 www.buyabs.com