ABS Ultimate V2

Our review unit, a black-and-silver midsize tower, came with both DVD±RW and DVD-ROM drives, and a combo seven-in-one media card reader plus floppy drive. Curiously, the card reader is installed directly above an unoccupied drive bay that has its own plastic cover (which slides up and down); this lower bay would have been a better place to install the card reader because the door would protect it (from dust and such) when not in use. Two USB 2.0 and two audio ports (for microphone and headphones) are near the center of the front panel and are easy to reach whether the case is on the floor or on a desk. Although no FireWire ports are on the front, two are on the back, along with four additional USB 2.0 ports.

Inside the case (easily opened using thumbscrews), I found a well-organized interior with wires and cables neatly tied, labeled, and secured along the sides. Expansion options include two open externally accessible drive bays, one open internal bay, four open PCI slots, and one open memory slot. However, two of the open PCI slots were not available (as this unit was configured) because a game port and a FireWire extender occupy the insert brackets. (You can relocate the game port to a different bracket to make use of at least one of the open PCI slots.) The motherboard lacks a PCI Express slot, so you can't upgrade to a higher-performing PCIe graphics card.

The 17-inch Sony SDM-S73 LCD monitor bundled with the system rendered text that was reasonably legible but not extremely sharp at the smallest sizes. Graphics screens were generally bright with vivid colors and good details in both test images and DVD movie playback, which also featured smooth motion. The audio quality from the Logitech X-530 5.1-speaker system was aurally dynamic, with no distortion in the high tones or low bass (even when playing high-energy Santana CDs). The Microsoft mouse and enhanced keyboard (which includes a welcome palm rest) performed flawlessly.

ABS earns kudos for a large binder that contains user manuals for the system and various components, and plastic sleeves for discs of bundled software including Microsoft Works and InterVideo WinDVD Suite. The package also contains a small video adapter box with built-in S-Video and composite-video connections for hooking the graphics card up to a TV, VCR, or camcorder.

Upshot: The ABS Ultimate V2 42 is a reasonably quick gaming system that also features great sound and a decent monitor, but upgrade options are slightly limited.

Richard Jantz