Labs

Famous as the most successful mail order PC company, Dell has recently begun to sell computers through selected high street shops. We reviewed the Inspiron 1520 when it first appeared (issue 198) but this time we looked at a slightly different configuration, currently available from PC World. Ours came in red, one of a number of colours available in addition to silver and black. The rubberised finish with this choice looks able to fend off everyday wear and tear - not that the Dell is likely to face the rough and tumble of the road all that often. At 3.35kg, we could just about manage to lug it on the train, but we certainly wouldn't to make it an everyday travelling

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companion.

Aside from the coloured lid, the machine looks unremarkable, with few buttons or lights - but that's not to say it doesn't include a few nice touches. It has a built-in webcam and a set of audio playback buttons along the front edge. There's a decent complement of four USB 2 ports and mini-FireWire, plus a multi-format memory card reader to import photos from your digital camera. And the 15.4 inch display, while not the best here, is serviceable.

What makes the Dell stand out is what's going on behind the scenes. Its core components, an Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 teamed with 2GB RAM, produced an excellent score of 166% in our general (2D) benchmark. It was just pipped to the post by the HP Compaq 6820s, but there's really nothing in it. Also worthy of note is the hard disk: with a capacity of 250GB, you're unlikely to run out of room any time soon. And while the Dell's 3D score of 21.5fps wasn't quite up to that of the MSI GX610, it's fast enough to play most recent games.

This all-rounder will happily handle the business and entertainment duties of a desktop PC, and turn its hand to a spot of gaming too. If you like the colour options, that's a bonus. It's just a fraction too pricey to claim the top spot for value.