HP dc5100 SFF PW187ET

This particular bundle of the dc5100, promoted by WStore, comes with an HP L1702 TFT display (code: P9621T), an entry-level 17in business model with tilt adjustment only. It does an adequate job, fine for general office tasks, but not much more. Auto setup initially left some text hard to read - noticeable particularly with black text on a grey background, such as in menus. However, turning ClearType on improved matters - just don't expect super-sharp results. If you want to choose your own monitor, the system will cost £449 without it.

There's a PS/2 keyboard and mouse set. Small businesses wanting to connect several peripherals will appreciate the eight USB ports (two of them handily placed on the front), and there's the usual complement of VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, parallel, serial and audio.

There's very little to criticise here, with solid, if unremarkable, design throughout. It's quiet running, mostly easy to work on, and with modern internals such as PCI Express and SATA it's also fairly up-to-date. The specification is certainly modest, as is the warranty, but more than enough for most back-office tasks, and the price is in line with that. It's a decent choice for day-to-day jobs, although we'd still opt for NEC's PowerMate ML7 for those needing to do more than the basics, especially as it includes a three-year on-site warranty.

Author: Roger Kirkwood