Joel StrauchArtwork by: Rick Rizner, John GoddardAcer Veriton 7200DWith a 1.7-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 256MB of DDR
memory, and Windows XP Professional, Acer's Veriton 7200D earned a score of 99
on our PC WorldBench 4 tests--slightly faster than the two 1.8-GHz Pentium 4
systems we've tested (although these systems utilized PC133 memory, not DDR
SDRAM).
Acer prepared this model for a variety of business environments by
including Intel's LANDesk Client Manager software and providing the option to
start up in either Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional.
The system's blue-and-white minitower is aesthetically pleasing as
well as functional, with two USB 1.1 ports in front (two more ports are at the
rear), plus front-mounted headphone and microphone jacks.
To keep this $1115 Veriton system's price down,
Acer cut some corners. For instance, you get only a 21X-52X CD-ROM drive,
instead of a CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive.
The Acer-branded keyboard has a small Backspace key--you can
easily hit other keys around it accidentally.
The system we evaluated shipped with a 17-inch
Acer V771 monitor, which displayed natural-looking flesh tones and rich colors
in our test photograph, and readable text on word processing screens. We
noticed some ghosting of icons and characters, however.
To get into the system you need a screwdriver to remove two screws
that hold down the metal side panel. The three open PCI slots, two open bays
for removable-media drives, and one open hard drive bay can all be reached
without digging around too many wires. The unit has a twin-loop case lock and
chassis-intrusion detection for security.
Despite its small Backspace key, the blue-and-white matching
keyboard offers some nice touches, including an attachable wrist rest and 13
Internet-access and multimedia hot-keys. The system's optical mouse is
similarly color-coordinated.
Documentation includes a handy setup guide as well as a
system-specific manual, which details the upgrade process nicely.
For corporate users looking for a low-cost managed
system with high performance, the Veriton 7200D will do nicely.1115PC WorldBench 4 score of 99, 1.7-GHz
Pentium 4 CPU, 256MB of DDR SDRAM, Windows XP Professional, 40GB hard drive,
21X-52X CD-ROM drive, Riva TNT2M64 graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM, 17-inch
Acer V771 monitor, integrated sound, network adapter, minitower case; Norton
AntiVirus 2002, System Management Solution. Three-year parts and labor
warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour daily toll-free tech support.www.acer.com800/733-2237
