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This month, a refreshing change: There are first-time Best Buys atop both the power and value charts. The 2.2-GHz Pentium 4 Gateway 700XL ascends to number one in its third month on the chart. This system continues to impress us, thanks in part to such features as a DVD-RAM/R drive (which is useful for recording DVD videos as well as data DVDs), high-end graphics, and a roomy 120GB hard drive. The Gateway 700XL is also one of only a handful of systems we've tested to offer USB 2.0 ports.

Close behind is the first 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 system we've tested for this chart, a Dell Dimension 8200. Replacing last month's 2-GHz Best Buy of the same name, this model boasts a slightly faster CPU and has a bright 17-inch LCD screen in lieu of a 19-inch CRT monitor--but it's also $574 more than its predecessor.

Both the Gateway and the Dell carry Intel's latest iteration of the Pentium 4 CPU--with, among other things, double the on-chip Level 2 cache (from 256KB to 512KB) of earlier Pentium 4 processors.

Dell and Gateway--each with a new offering--switch positions for top honors on our value chart. In first place, the impressive $1329 Dell Dimension 4400 offers much the same aesthetic appeal--as well as the same easy-to-service case design--as the company's more expensive 8200 series. In second place, the similarly priced Gateway 700L lacks Dell's chic charcoal-gray chassis and comes with Microsoft Works Suite 2002.

Meanwhile, high-end models from Tangent and Polywell debut at number six and number seven, respectively, on the power chart. The Polywell model is one of four systems on the power chart that include an LCD monitor.

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