
Dell Dell Dimension 8300
| Overall rating | 87 |
| PC WorldBench 4: Performance word scores reflect comparisons of PCs in the same category (power or value) running the same operating system. See Your Guide to the Top 100 for more details. | Good: 128 (Windows XP Home) |
| Configuration | Very good |
| CPU | 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 |
| System memory | 1024MB of DDR400 SDRAM |
| Hard drive (GB): Total capacity. May represent multiple hard drives. | 120GB |
| Monitor size and model | 17-inch Dell 1703FP LCD |
| Graphics: Most integrated graphics systems use the PC's main RAM. | 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro |
| Case type: Vertical cases are towers (over 20 inches), midsize towers (15.5 to 20 inches), or minitowers (under 15.5 inches). Horizontal cases are desktops (5 inches or taller) or compacts (under 5 inches). | Midsize tower |
| Open internal, external bays, slots | 1 internal bay, 2 external bays, 3 slots |
| Removable-media drives | 16X DVD-ROM drive, 48X/24X/48X CD-RW drive |
| Sound card | Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 SB0350 |
| Speakers | Altec Lansing ADA-995 |
| Communications | Network adapter, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 1 FireWire port |
| Software | Microsoft Office XP Small Business |
| Other | N/A |
| Graphics quality: Based on new testing begun in the November 2002 issue. Insufficient data for systems tested in previous months. | Very good |
| Setup and ease of use | Very good |
| Vendor's reliability/service: A vendor's score is based on surveys of PC World readers. Vendors receiving insufficient data scores did not generate enough responses to our most recent survey for us to make a determination. | Good/Fair |
| Support Policy | One-year parts and labor warranty; lifetime 24-hour daily toll-free support |
Bottom Line
Business-oriented system includes a copy of Office XP. Dell's 17-inch LCD displays clean text, while the speakers pump out great-sounding audio.
Dell Dimension 8300
Dell Dimension 8300 Review, by Mick Lockey December 18, 2003
The Dimension 8300 is the second Dell PC we've seen that combines Intel's high-end, 3.2-GHz Pentium 4 CPU with a gigabyte of DDR400 SDRAM. This time around, our test configuration earned a PC WorldBench 4 score of 128--a virtual tie with the 127 score that its 8300 sibling (which we tested for our October Top 15 Desktop PCs chart) earned.
To render graphics, the 8300 uses an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro graphics board with 128MB of memory. Our gaming tests revealed solid performance, signaling that the 8300 is suitable for a variety of graphics tasks.
The ultraslim 17-inch Dell 1703FP Ultra Sharp monitor, which can work either as an analog or a digital display (though Dell includes only a DVI cable), comes with four USB 2.0 ports--two on the left side of the bezel and two on the back of the monitor. The panel rotates 90 degrees into portrait mode, so you can view Web pages lengthwise with less scrolling. Tested in analog mode, the monitor displayed vibrant hues on a test photo and crisp, easy-to-read text on both a newsletter and a screen with several font sizes.
The Altec Lansing ADA-995 5.1 THX-certified speaker system--Dell's beefiest speaker offering--and the Creative Audigy2 sound card yielded fantastic sound in our audio tests. Explosions and a roaring engine in a DVD movie almost matched cinematic audio quality.
FireWire and DVD rewritable drives are common fare in most high-end systems these days, and the 8300 has both. The sound card has a FireWire port, and the system provides a 4X DVD+R/RW drive for burning videos and backing up data. The standard hard drive provides a relatively modest (by today's standards) 120GB of storage space, but you can opt for a 250GB drive for $230 extra if you plan to archive an extensive video collection, say.
The 8300's case opens like a book after you depress latches at the top and bottom. Drive bays are installed in the swing-out section of the case, so you have easy access to the cages. We thought the interior could have been tidier, but upgrading the memory or installing a card in one of the PCI slots should not cause any aggravation.
The system's comprehensive manual has sections on performing upgrades and troubleshooting, with helpful illustrations.
Upshot: This Dimension 8300's full set of components will appeal to power users seeking a do-it-all machine.
Mick Lockey
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