Polywell Poly 850GB-1400

WHAT'S HOT: Equipped with a 1.4-GHz Pentium 4 processor, 128MB of RDRAM, and Windows 2000, this Polywell earned a PC WorldBench 2000 score of 197--only six points below the average mark posted by similarly configured 1.5-GHz P4 systems we've tested.

WHAT'S NOT: Polywell has earned only a Fair rating in our anonymous tech support calls: Reps had some difficulty troubleshooting the problems we described to them. An unusually small Backspace key on the system's rattly keyboard could lead users to hit the neighboring backslash key inadvertently.

WHAT ELSE: Color quality was good on the 19-inch AOC 1995 monitor, and 12-point text appeared sharp up to a resolution of 1280 by 1024 (blurring slightly at 1600 by 1200). The sturdy side panel of the standard beige-and-gray midsize tower slides on and off smoothly. Though cluttered, the spacious interior offers plenty of room for expansion, with four available PCI slots and four open drive bays (three externally accessible). A text-heavy, spiral-bound system manual contains general information applicable to any PC. The MicroStar MS-8818 graphics board offers both S-video and composite output, so you can send signals to a capable television. A modem and a network adapter provide Internet connection options. Lotus SmartSuite comes bundled.

BEST USE: Though its components aren't top-tier, this Polywell offers small businesses solid performance for the price.

SUMMARY

Polywell Poly 850GB-1400 PC WorldBench 2000 score of 197, Pentium 4-1400 CPU, 128MB of RDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000, 46GB hard drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive, MicroStar MS-8818 graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM, 19-inch AOC 1995 monitor, Sound Max integrated sound, Cambridge SoundWorks Sound Force 100 speakers with subwoofer, network adapter, V.90 modem, midsize tower case. Three-year parts warranty, five-year labor warranty; free, unlimited, 24-hour toll-free tech support. $1695 800/999-1278 www.polywell.com