Dell OptiPlex 745

One of Dell's major strengths as a supplier is its direct business model, which allows it to provide a huge number of different SKUs. The OptiPlex 745 range can be ordered in one of four chassis, from a semi-tower to a system even smaller than this one. And you can specify CPUs from the E6300 to the E6700 - any Core 2 Duo will be acceptable for business use, so it's worth spending some time on Dell's website trying out different configurations to get the best price.

The OptiPlex is a great system, and if money were no object we'd be perfectly happy fitting out an entire business with it. But there aren't many offices that can afford that kind of thinking and, unless you're fully committed to vPro as an IT strategy (and visit www.intel.com to see why the chip maker thinks you should be), the OptiPlex, like the vPro machines that have gone before it, is currently too expensive for most small businesses to take seriously.

Author: Dave Stevenson