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The top half of our Budget chart remains intact this month, with Micro Express's MicroFlex TB850B retaining the top spot for a third time. The Dell Dimension L800r also stays put in second place. PC Connection's Epiq BVS 4000 debuts at number six, thanks to its outstanding base configuration and reasonable price. Also new this month is the very compact Tiny Custom Business 850, which squeezes onto the chart at number ten.

Also of Note

Beyond the chart this month lie some small-footprint systems that are easy on the wallet. Kingdom's compact 1700N, which also stands on its side as a minitower, offers two front-mounted USB ports and two more on the rear. Kingdom throws in Microsoft's Works Suite 2000, too--all for a reasonable $1399 price. The compact design means limited expandability, however, and the PIII-667 processor and measly 64MB of RAM translate into poor performance, as the system's PC WorldBench 2000 score of 115 attests.

Another compact model, the $1368 Toshiba Equium 8000S, shows excellent design foresight: A cage for the PCI slots swings up to allow easy access (though you can use only two of the four slots due to cramped space), and the hard drive and CD-ROM drive snap in and out without tools. The system ships with LANDesk Client Manager for network manageability and a loop-style case lock for added security. Unfortunately, its performance lagged, resulting in a 119 PC WorldBench 2000 score. That's not bad for a Celeron-700 system, but it's ho-hum compared to the performance of other systems in the 8000S's price range.

Though not a compact model, Compaq's $1191 Deskpro EXS's desktop case won't crowd your workspace. Running Windows 98 and using a PIII-733 processor with 64MB of RAM, the Deskpro EXS earned a 129 on our PC WorldBench 2000 tests--competitive with the few other systems we've tested with such a chintzy RAM allotment. However, that same score falls 13 points below systems with a more suitable 128MB of RAM.

Another Compaq Deskpro EXS, number eight on the chart, still holds on to its spot because of its dirt-cheap $927 price tag. Its performance won't win any awards, but you won't get much better at this low price point.

Otherwise, this month's chart didn't change significantly. The top five systems hold their ground, and all three of January's newcomers--Dell's Dimension L800r, NuTrend's Athlon Special 2, and Sys's TaskMaster 750D--retain their positions, thanks to strong performance. The TaskMaster 750D's WorldBench score stands out as the fastest on the chart.

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