IBuyPower Lan Party PC

On the plus side, the LAN-Party Mini PC has an available AGP slot for adding a dedicated graphics card--and its 350-watt power supply should provide enough juice for an add-in card and other hardware upgrades.

The "Mini PC" part of the name does hold up: The system's small and slender case makes it easy to transport to a LAN party. The bulbous silver-and-black plastic door on the front makes the unit look a bit like a boom box, too. Alas, the small case makes accessing or upgrading internal components a bit tricky. Despite IBuyPower's efforts to bundle and tie down cables, the cramped interior inevitably looks messy. The RAM slots aren't even visible; to access them, we had to loosen several screws and remove the PC's CD-RW drive. Another drawback is that the system has no room for an additional optical drive or a second hard drive.

Our test PC had neither notable software bundles nor Windows XP Service Pack 2, which installs several valuable patches for security holes and bugs. Upgrading via Microsoft's Windows Update service is usually a painless affair, but glitches can occur with some configurations, and buyers should back up their systems before making the upgrade.

Upshot: The LAN-Party Mini PC packs a lot of power into a small and reasonably priced package. But it needs a graphics upgrade to live up to its name.

Seán Captain