As a company, we probably have about 2000 Dell PCs situated across all sites. I have had the Optiplex GX520 for almost a year now without any problem of any description. Mine is primarily used for writing software with Visual Studio and writing database code in MS SQL Server which affects millions of rows of data. These applications would really test the machine to the limits but how would it perform? As this machine was bought as part of a batch, the price paid would not be the same as you would pay for a single unit. I would expect to pay around the £500 mark if buying from the Dell website.
-- Looks --
The Optiplex comes in Dells standard black coloured case. On the front there is a DVD Rom / CDRW drive and a floppy disk drive (which is a rarity these days, mine has never been used). Add to this 2 USB2 ports, a headphone socket and a microphone socket and it soon becomes apparent that you can perform most functions you will need to without even getting to the back of the PC.
On the back of the PC, there are a further 6 USB2 slots, an ethernet port for connecting to a local area network, 1 serial ports, 1 parallel printer port, mains power, onboard graphics and 2 PCI expansion slots for adding further devices such as dedicated graphics or sound cards.
The case is very compact. measuring 15 inches by 13 inches.
My system came with the Dell 1907FPt monitor which is not standard for this system. I have written a seperate review of this product so wont mention it here.
-- Under the bonnet --
Processor
My system shipped with a 3Ghz Pentium 4 Processor which is capable of hyperthreading (the processor can perform more than one task at a time by allocating portions of its processing time to each task).
Memory
There is 1Gb of DDR Ram installed which ensures the system runs very smoothly when handling the large amounts of data I mentioned earlier. If you are planning to run Vista with this system, I'd recomment paying a little bit more and upgrading to 2Gb.
Hard Disk
I went for a serial ATA 300Gb disk which was not part of the standard system specification. This disk would be adequate for most business users, even ones who handle large volumes of data.
Onboard Graphics
The Intel onboard graphics are adequate for business use but if you are buying this machine with the intention of playing games then you are going to struggle to get high resolution. For this purpose I would recommend buying a dedicated graphics card.
Onboard sound
Onboard sounds will be fine for most people. Dedicated gamers however would probably want to upgrade to a dedicated sound card for the ultimate gaming experience.
Miscellaneous
Boot time is extremely fast with Windows XP Professional, even with all my application software loaded. From turn on time to the login screen is probably just over a minute. The fan on these machines is also very quiet. There are 6 of these machines in my office and the noise output is very low, even when all 6 are running at the same time.
--The Verdict --
Dell are a worldwide brand which means that you will get all the support you will ever need should you encounter any problems with this system. I certainly think this would be a definate purchase for a business user but I'd probably point the games users and media hungry users in another direction as the graphics and sound cards will not be up to speed with the latest technology.
I have no problem using state of the art applications like Visual Studio 2005 and MS SQL server when processing millions of rows. This machine would be suitable for the IT professional or the general admin user.
More details
Reliability
Excellent
Memory / capacity
Excellent
Range of Extra Features
Good
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
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