WHAT'S HOT: Fitted with Windows XP Home, a 1.6-GHz Athlon XP 1900+ processor, and 512MB of DDR SDRAM memory, our MicroFlex 1900A test model earned a whopping score of 125 on PC WorldBench 4. That's the second highest score we've recorded for an office PC running either flavor of Windows XP.

Complementing the system's raw power are high-end components. With a nod toward video editing, the system includes Pinnacle's Studio DV editing software and two IEEE 1394 FireWire ports on an expansion card (to facilitate importing digital video). You also get Hewlett-Packard's DVD 100i DVD+RW drive, which can burn rewritable 4.7GB DVDs only. This type of rewritable disc can play back in approximately 70 percent of the DVD-ROM drives and home DVD players currently in use. Unfortunately, there's no support for writing to single-use media, which is more widely compatible.

WHAT'S NOT: Though Micro Express includes a setup poster and a spiral-bound system manual with detailed explanations of how to set up and upgrade the MicroFlex 1900A, the screenshots used in both the physical manual and the software manual didn't reflect the XP operating system installed on our unit.

WHAT ELSE: The system shipped with only a 17-inch CRT monitor, but it's a good one. The Samsung SyncMaster 700NF that arrived with the unit we reviewed is a former Best Buy on our Top 10 17-Inch Monitors chart (for more information, read our review). It produced sharp, clear 12-point Arial text in our test document and brilliant, natural-looking colors and flesh tones in our test photograph.

The included Microsoft Natural Keyboard doesn't offer any extra hot-keys, but it does allow smooth, accurate, comfortable typing for users at ease with a split-keyboard design.

Opening the generic gray midsize tower requires little effort: You loosen a single thumbscrew on the top panel, pop the panel off, and then snap off both of the sturdy metal sides. Two open PCI slots and four open removable media drive bays accommodate future expansion. Interior cabling is bundled and pulled out of the way, permitting unobstructed access to slots, bays, and memory sockets.

UPSHOT: With its stellar performance and high-end components, the MicroFlex 1900A is a bargain for just $1499.

SUMMARY

Micro Express MicroFlex 1900A PC WorldBench 4 score of 125, 1.6-GHz Athlon XP 1900+ CPU, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows XP Home, 60GB hard drive, DVD+RW drive, 12X/10X/32X CD-RW drive, NVidia GeForce 3-based graphics card with 64MB of DDR SDRAM, 17-inch Samsung SyncMaster 700NF monitor, Creative Sound Blaster Live SB 0100 sound card, Juster 3D-109 speakers, network adapter, V.90 modem, midsize tower case. Four-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited, 24-hour daily toll-free tech support. $1499 800/989-9900 www.microexpress.net