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Top 20 Budget Desktops

Older systems of 300 MHz or more dominate the budget list. Gateway's $2125 G6-300b steals the top spot, thanks to a 17-inch monitor, 8.4GB drive, and terrific performance.

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Gateway has tweaked its G6-266b--a two-time Budget Desktops champ--to come up with a pair of winning systems: the G6-300b and G6-266b. With a PC WorldBench score of 173, the $2125 G6-300b is faster than all other Windows 95 systems on the budget chart save for the ProGen Polaris PII-350, and offers twice the RAM and almost double the hard disk capacity of its PII-266 predecessor. The G6-300b's near twin, the new GP6-266b, includes a DVD-ROM drive and an enormous 10GB hard disk but only 32MB of RAM. At $2053, the 266b is nearly as pricey as the 300b, yet it lags in performance with a PC WorldBench 98 score of 152.

Amazingly, both machines are the fastest in their respective CPU classes. Because the two PCs are so similar, only the higher-rated 300b appears here. Outfitted with 64MB of RAM and a generous 8.4GB hard disk, it comes with a 13X­32X CD-ROM drive (the fastest-rated you can buy), and you save about $200 over the price of a DVD-ROM­equipped PC. The 4MB STB Velocity 128 graphics adapter has a TV-out port. The 17-inch monitor provides decent graphics at resolutions up to 1024 by 768.

The G6-300b's curvaceous chassis is eye-catching and easy to remove, but it prevents you from putting anything on top. Inside, two PCI slots and an ISA slot are available. Adding a second internal drive will require removing the existing one, but there's enough space on the inside end of the two available external bays to make installations of an internal Zip, tape, or CD-R drive reasonably easy.

The user guide integrates all components and is clear, concise, well illustrated, and complete. The company bundles Microsoft's Office 97 SBE, Bookshelf 98, Streets 98, and a couple of games. The Altec Lansing ACS41 speakers are fine for business use. Gateway system reliability and support quality rate as outstanding and above average, respectively. In recent anonymous calls, support personnel have answered promptly on the 24-hour toll-free lines. Gateway's warranty is for three years on both parts and labor.

Note: This review was updated in July, 1998.


SUMMARY
Gateway G6-300B


PRO: Terrific price, good speed for its CPU class
CON: Can't put peripherals on curved case top


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