Dell Dimension 8300

The Dimension 8300 we received was moderately expandable beyond its tested configuration, offering two open front-panel bays (out of four) and one open internal bay (out of two). Moreover, the case is easy to open: You simply press a large gray button on the top of the PC to pop open the left cover, and the system then opens like a book. Inside our test system, we found four RAM slots to increase the unit's memory. Big green clips hold the drives in their bays, letting you remove components with great ease by just squeezing both sides.

A good-looking Dell MMS-5650 5.1 speaker system delivered rumbling audio in games and in music playback. The satellite speakers are a rich blue and shaped like champagne flutes. The speaker connectors, which are not only color-coded for the front, back, left, and right, also have different small plastic spokes so that only the appropriate connector fits each speaker. It's an almost foolproof system for a normally complicated setup. The standard Dell keyboard offered multimedia controls, such as for adjusting volume or turning on the default music player.

Upshot: The Dell Dimension 8300 delivers top-notch components and good speed for a reasonable price.

Roy Santos