Mesh Matrix D900

With the needs of the family growing, the home computer needs to be all things to all people. Mesh traditionally makes good machines for doing just this and the Matrix D900 is the latest to lead the line. Mesh has had some stick recently for poor customer service but the computers it builds are always well specified and keenly priced. The D900 is no exception.

Although the AMD Duron is seen as a lightweight alternative to the more muscular Athlon, it still offers high performance. In our system tests, the 900Mhz Matrix nudged 850Mhz Duron machines out of the way but lagged behind the standard 900Mhz Athlon - as we'd expect.

PC prices are coming down because PC components are getting cheaper and, as a result, £1000 buys a lot more computer than it did even six months ago. Memory is a good case in point and the 256Mb installed in the Matrix goes a long way to boost its performance. Two spare memory slots mean adding even more will be easy, if a little unnecessary.

Apart from image editing, the only thing that can do justice to this amount of memory is playing games. To that end, the D900 has a graphics card based on the GeForce2 MX. Like the processor, this is considered something of a budget solution by PC snobs but the performance from these cards is astounding for the price and offers all that the casual gamer needs. Whether games, music or film is your favoured media, the Creative Live Player 1024 sound card achieves great results through the PC Works surround sound speakers.

To store all the music files, games and important work documents there's an ample 28Gb hard disk. Windows only takes a fraction of this so there's lots of growing room.

Upgradeability is a strong point as well. The side of the case is easily removed using a keylock and latch rather than a screwdriver and, once inside, three spare PCI slots are there for anything you feel necessary. Curiously, it also has two spare IDE plugs, which in plain English means you could have up to eight hard disks plugged in simultaneously, given enough room.

Mesh has taken the popular route by adding both a DVDRom and CD-RW drive. The Pioneer DVDRom drive is fine for watching films and the Teac CD-RW drive can record to CD-R and CD-RW discs at 8-speed - that means a 74 minute music CD could be made in a touch under 10 minutes.

The 17in Mitsubishi monitor is a smart performer. Like any display, it needs tinkering with to get the settings right but the result is a bright, sharp image with minimal reflections from the flat screen. The PC also comes with a Microsoft IntelliMouse and Internet keyboard.

Overall, the Mesh Matrix D900 is a good computer for the whole family. Games aren't a problem, the internet comes via the 56K modem and the bundled Microsoft Works Suite productivity package is great for all your admin tasks.

Contact: Mesh Computers
020 8208 4709
www.meshplc.co.uk

Also consider: Evesham AXIS 1000. Not very exciting but everything about it is just right. Recommended. £1175.