UKZan Pulsar64

Over the past year we've seen many computer manufacturers shying away from traditional 'tower' PC designs in favour of smaller, more desk-friendly models. While these mini computers are great for keeping things neat, their compact design means they don't offer much in the way of upgrades. The Pulsar64 PC is a conventionally styled computer that comes with some good hardware and has enough versatility to add more bits at a later stage.

It's powered by an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor, which runs at 2GHz. Although there aren't many software applications that currently support 64-bit technology, you can be sure that when they do arrive, this PC will be ready to take advantage. There's 512Mb of memory, which is plenty, and two extra memory slots for adding more in the future.

With digital photos, music and video becoming increasingly popular, a lot of storage space is also crucial. To this end, we were pleased to find a 120Gb hard disk shoehorned into the PC. This is a handsome amount to get on with but if things do get tight in the future, the Sony recordable DVD drive can be used to archive files and folders. What's more, it's a dual-format drive, so both plus and minus DVD standards are supported.

Graphics-wise, the Pulsar64 is reasonable. The 128Mb GeForce FX5200 is not the best card on the market but it's certainly no slouch either. There's no doubt it will play all the latest 3D games but don't expect it to run smoothly at super-high screen resolutions or with all the fancy 3D trimmings turned on.

There's no digital DVI port on the graphics card for connecting to a TFT monitor, but then the Pulsar64 doesn't come with a flat-screen display.

Instead you get a 17in CRT monitor, with an actual viewable area of 16.1in. This is the first PC we've seen in a long time to come with a CRT monitor and for many this will be a turn off. However, for the £650 price tag, we can't really find any cause for complaint.

As previously mentioned, the Pulsar64 comes with a recordable DVD drive, which can play DVD movies. There's 5.1 onboard sound to complement Dolby Digital soundtracks, but only stereo speakers are supplied. So, to get true surround sound, you'll need to fork out for better speakers.

Where the Pulsar64 does shine, though, is with its support. Unpacking the PC reveals a handy photo-led set-up poster, useful tips for getting the most from the PC, and an invaluable Pulsar64 user guide. This booklet includes a section on troubleshooting should things go wrong and sections on how to email, connect to the internet, upgrade and other guidelines. Another nice touch is the numbered cables and sockets, making it simple for those with no computer experience to set up this PC.

Opening up the case reveals plenty of upgrade potential. There are three accessible PCI slots, three external 5.25in drive bays and an internal 3.5in bay for adding another hard disk. Naturally it comes with all the usual ports and sockets, including two USB 2 ports on the front of the case for easy peripheral connectivity.

Accompanying Windows XP Home is a varied bundle of software such as Panda Antivirus, Serif Design Studio, OpenOffice and the Nero CD and DVD Burning Suite.

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