WHAT'S HOT: If you like to perform your own upgrades or if you don't have a lot of money to spend, this Premio might fit your plans. Priced at under a grand, the Apollo 815EP we looked at comes with an Intel 1-GHz Pentium III processor and basic components, plus lots of room to grow. It earned a score of 161 on our PC WorldBench 2000 tests--6 points above the average for comparable systems running Windows Millennium Edition. The accompanying software bundle includes Microsoft Office XP Small Business Edition, and Intel's LANDesk Client Manager for connecting the system to a corporate network. The vast and well-organized interior of the plain gray midsize tower has five open PCI slots, three open externally accessible drive bays, and two free internal drive bays.

WHAT'S NOT: You might want to use one of two of the open drive bays to add a CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive; the system comes with only a 22X-52X CD-ROM drive. Premio's tech support earned a rating of Fair in our anonymous calls because its reps gave inaccurate answers to our more difficult questions. And tech support isn't available on weekends and evenings. The flimsy keyboard that came with our test system permits quiet typing, but its keys feel sluggish; and when you try to press its small Backspace key, you may accidentally hit the neighboring key instead.

WHAT ELSE: After you remove two screws, you can smoothly slide the sturdy metal side panel of the midsize tower off and on along guide rails on the top and bottom of the case. The 17-inch Premio 719 monitor that came with our test system produced brilliant, rich colors, but its text blurred somewhat at the maximum resolution of 1280 by 1024. The system ships with an older ATI Rage Fury Pro graphics card, which doesn't contain any of the frills of the latest cards, but it takes care of the basics.

UPSHOT: The Apollo 815EP is an inexpensive, corporate-ready system with lots of room for add-ons, though slightly more-expensive systems carry better components and offer equal roominess.

SUMMARY

Premio Apollo 815EP PC WorldBench 2000 score of 161, Pentium III-1000 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows Millennium Edition, 30GB hard drive, 22X-52X CD-ROM drive, ATI Rage Fury Pro graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM, 17-inch Premio 719 monitor, integrated sound, Altec Lansing ACS33 speakers, network adapter, V.90 modem, midsize tower case, Microsoft Office XP Small Businesses Edition, Intel LANDesk Client Manager. Three-year parts and labor warranty, free 10-hour weekday tech support. $899 800/677-6477 www.premiopc.com