Dell Dimension 8100

At £1,899, the Dimension 8100 offers outstanding value for the new technology, especially with the Microsoft Works Suite 2000 software bundle taken into account. Overall, it's clear that the Pentium 4 has huge potential, but the Dell is severely limited by having only 128Mb of RAM. Application-based performance is surpassed by current solutions, and 3D performance is fast, but not class-leading. However, the Pentium 4 is designed to meet the needs of the future, in particular high-quality streaming media and next-generation 3D. Unfortunately, since few developers have optimised software specifically for the Pentium 4 yet, the Dimension 8100 doesn't offer striking performance for today's applications.

Author: Gareth Ogden