Dell Dimension 2350

WHAT'S HOT: Dell's Dimension 2350 has solid, utilitarian design, and it comes with plenty of software, including Corel WordPerfect Office Suite 2002 for business work, Quicken 2002 New User Edition to keep track of finances, and Paint Shop Pro 7 for editing digital photos.

We saw a few improvements in the 17-inch Dell E772p CRT that shipped with our Dimension 2350--mainly the lack of faint horizontal bands we noted in an earlier review of this monitor. In image-quality tests, the colors of a photograph looked especially vibrant, and the text in our sample documents was sharp and crisp, even at smaller font sizes.

WHAT'S NOT: Like many systems with a minitower case, the 2350's capacity for upgrades is somewhat limited. With CD-ROM and CD-RW drives installed, it doesn't have any open drive bays. Also, the system has integrated graphics and no AGP slot, so you'll have to use a PCI graphics card should you want to upgrade later on. And like most systems we've tested that use integrated graphics, the Dimension 2350 posted low frame rates in our 3D gaming tests, but it should suffice for basic business tasks or working with still images.

WHAT ELSE: Running a 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 and 256MB of DDR266 SDRAM, the Dimension turned in a PC WorldBench 4 score of 110--about average for a PC with this processor and amount of system memory.

The 2350's black case is accented with a midnight-gray face panel, similar to other Dell desktops. The model does not have the easy-open, hinged case and tool-less servicing of the more expensive Dimension lines, however. To open it, you undo a large thumbscrew, pull up on an L-shaped lever, and lift off the side panel. Inside the system are the old-style traditional bays and slots--you'll have to get out your screwdriver to change components.

Dell's mouse and keyboard are standard issue. The two-button mouse lacked a scroll wheel, while the sturdy keyboard had no hot-keys. And the regular keys felt too springy when we were typing. The system's documentation, on the other hand, is top notch, offering a wealth of information. It includes a well-designed setup poster and a model-specific manual dedicated to servicing and to troubleshooting basic problems.

The bundled Harman-Kardon HK 206 two-speaker set produced fine sound, thought bass notes were weak and trebles sounded a tad thin at high volume.

UPSHOT: A utilitarian system with modest performance and a fine suite of productivity software, this Dimension is a good fit for small offices or homes running basic computing tasks.

SUMMARY

Dell Dimension 2350 $