WHAT'S HOT: Upgrading or performing maintenance on Dell's OptiPlex GX150 is easy. Pressing a button on either side of the curvy, gray-and-black desktop case releases the lid, which swings up to reveal a small but well-arranged interior. You can remove cards, drives, the power supply, or the motherboard, simply by flipping the appropriate green lever. No slowpoke, the GX150 earned a score of 190 on our PC WorldBench 2000 tests, 11 points above the average for similar 933-MHz Pentium III systems running Windows 2000.

WHAT'S NOT: The system's rear wall--which supports the PCI slot cage--is a bit flimsy. Printed documentation consists of a monitor manual, an OS manual, and a system guide with only basic setup information. (You can get additional documentation on the included OptiPlex Resource CD-ROM or on Dell's Web site.)

WHAT ELSE: This system holds a number of corporate extras: remote Wake-on-LAN, Dell's OpenManage software, a sturdy twin-loop case lock, and chassis-intrusion detection. It also gives security-conscious administrators remote control over user access to various ports and drives. The 17-inch Dell E771p monitor rendered our test images in vibrant colors, and text was clear and legible at 1024 by 768 pixels, though it blurred a bit at the maximum resolution of 1280 by 1024. A basic 8X/4X/32X CD-RW drive, though not a top performer, lets you copy CDs and burn data backups. Two of the system's four USB ports are within easy reach on the front of the case.

BEST USE: This feature-rich system offers something for everyone in your company--from system administrators to cost accountants to end users.

SUMMARY

Dell OptiPlex GX150 PC WorldBench 2000 score of 190, Pentium III-933 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000 Professional, 20GB hard drive, 8X/4X/32X CD-RW drive, Dell NVidia TNT2 Pro graphics card with 16MB of SGRAM, 17-inch Dell E771p monitor, integrated Soundmax Digital Audio sound card, Harman Kardon 19.5 speakers, network adapter, desktop case. Three-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour tech support. $1312 800/388-8542 www.dell.com