Product Reviews

If you won't be using your PC for strenuous tasks such as playing the latest games or editing lots of home video, there's little point buying one with a fast processor and graphics card. Dell's Dimension 3100c is inexpensive, but comes with a 17" LCD monitor and speakers and is quieter than most PCs.

The 3100c is about the size of a granny trolley and is more than capable of basic tasks such as browsing the web and working with spreadsheets and text documents. It also managed respectable scores in most of our benchmarks, even our demanding video- and image-editing tests. The Celeron D processor sits in a LGA775 socket, so you can replace it with a faster processor such as a Pentium 4 in the future.

As expected, the 3100c isn't capable of playing the latest 3D games because it has integrated graphics. There's no PCI Express or AGP graphics slot, so you won't be able to install a faster graphics card later. Even if you don't want to play

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games, you won't be able to connect monitors using DVI since the 3100c has only a D-sub socket.

The 17" flat-panel monitor is bright and clear with rich blacks, although it is slightly grainy, and there was some coarse banding in our greyscale and colour transition tests. Tilt and height adjustment are also limited. The bundled ball mouse should be replaced as soon as possible, since even inexpensive optical mice are more accurate and don't have to be cleaned regularly. The slim 2.1 Dell speakers are attractive and have plenty of bass. We were able to crank up the volume quite loud before the sound distorted.

Although the 3100c lacks a DVD writer, you can write CDs and watch DVDs using the combo drive. You can replace this drive with a DVD writer, but there are few other expansion options. There are two free PCI slots and a PCI Express x1 slot, but these are half-height, which limits your choice. Although there's space for a floppy drive, there aren't any free PATA or SATA sockets or free drive bays for adding extra hard disks. If you want more storage space, you must either replace the existing 80GB SATA hard disk or add an external USB model.

If your computing needs are modest, the 3100c is an inexpensive option but the short 90-day warranty is poor. PC Nextday's Zoostorm 1-2302 Economy PC doesn't come with speakers and isn't quite as quick as the 3100c, but it has a one-year warranty. It also has a DVD writer and more expansion options. As it's also £64 cheaper, the Zoostorm is a better budget buy.