WHAT'S HOT: The Medallion Micro, using the latest Pentium 4 processor with 2 GHz of processing power, posted a score of 224 on our PC WorldBench 2000 tests. That's fast, but it's 12 points below the mark posted by the Dell Dimension 8200, the other P4-2000-based system running Windows 2000 we tested this month. Colors looked bright and rich on the 19-inch Optiquest Q95 monitor, and text looked crisp and legible at 1024 by 768 resolution, though it began to blur slightly at the maximum resolution of 1600 by 1200.

WHAT'S NOT: The system doesn't lend itself to upgrading components easily. A crossbar blocks access to the one available PCI slot, and though the cabling is bundled together it still crowds the interior, making it difficult to reach the RAM slots and the two open drive bays. The generic system manual contains a thorough glossary, but it needs some updating. The myriad write-ups detailing possible system components don't include some of this Medallion's hardware, including its NVidia GeForce3 graphics board. Despite the falling prices for PCs these days, you still have to pay a little more for the latest components--in this case, $2695.

WHAT ELSE: The included 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/8X/32X CD-RW combination drive should please those who like to watch movies on their PCs as well as those who diligently back up their data, though by opting for separates you can get faster drives of both types. Those drives shouldn't cost much more than the included combo model, and the system has room for another external drive. The standard beige minitower offers a couple of uncommon features, including a pass-through cable that leads to two USB ports, a microphone, and a headset port on the front of the case. To open the minitower, you must unscrew a sliding latch and then pop off the side panel, which feels sturdy and goes back on smoothly. The Tangent keyboard has three hot-keys for Internet shortcuts.

UPSHOT: If you're looking to get your hands on a P4-2000-based machine, you can satisfy that urge with this Medallion. However, the Dell Dimension 8200 satisfies it as well, with even better P4 performance and better components.

SUMMARY

Tangent Medallion Micro PC WorldBench 2000 score of 224, Pentium 4-2000 CPU, 256MB of PC800 RDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000, 60GB hard drive, 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/8X/32X CD-RW combination drive, EVGA NVidia GeForce3 graphics card with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch Optiquest Q95 monitor, Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live Value CT4830 sound card, Altec Lansing ACS-45.2 speakers, network card, minitower case, three-year parts and labor warranty, free 16-hour daily tech support. $2695 800/342-9388 www.tangent.com