Carrera Lynx M500 - 500MHz Celeron

This is one of the first two 500MHz Celeron PCs we have seen in the Celeron chip. PCW labs so naturally we were interested to see how it performed.

In line with Intel's policy of phasing out the Slot 1 form factor for Celeron chips, this particular sample arrived in the now familiar Socket 370 format hidden discreetly behind the PSU. It was mounted onto a Socket 370 board rather than on a so-called 'Slocket' adapter, which means you're not going to be able to upgrade to a Slot 1 chip at a later date without also changing your motherboard. That said, Intel seems determined to drop the Slot 1 configuration, so striking a PC off your list because it doesn't allow this upgrade option is, these days, rather foolish.

The processor is backed by 128Mb RAM, which is more than ample for most users. It will easily meet all the requirements of Office 2000 and will probably save you opening up your case for another couple of years.

If you do decide to peep inside, though, you'll find an exceptionally tidy interior giving easy access to the two spare memory slots and the expansion slots, of which there are four - two of each type. Around the front you'll find a couple of empty 5.25in drive bays and an empty 3.5in bay, so there's plenty of room for adding another three drives.

Graphics are handled by a Guillemot Xentor Maxi Gamer TNT2 Ultra card with 32Mb RAM on-board. This card incorporates TV out for DVD playback at 30fps and was designed with gamers in mind, making light work of heavy textures. This no doubt helped it to achieve a very respectable 3756 3DMarks in our graphics tests.

Carrera selected a 17in CS788C monitor from LG that, like every LG monitor we have seen recently, performed very well in our DisplayMate tests. It had excellent geometric and corner linearity, no discernible loss of focus at the periphery of the screen, and flawless horizontal and vertical colour registration. Best of all, it also had rock-steady screen regulation.

Applying a flashing white block to the screen had absolutely no effect on the image width, as is often the case with less impressive displays.

The on-screen menus were extensive, and included moire reduction, a couple of pre-set colour temperatures and a choice of five languages.

The Rockwell-chipped 56K PCI modem is complemented by a copy of Computer Associates' BitWare software, allowing communication by fax, data, voice and paging.

Storage is capably handled by an IBM Deskstar 22GXP UDMA 66 drive running to a generous 22Mb. This is an impressive workhorse aimed, during its launch, at video editors, engineers and scientists. With a 7200rpm spin rate it will happily handle streamed media and 3D graphics with ease, making this PC not only a very capable business machine but also a sensible option for the gamer and media enthusiast.

It houses a 6X Panasonic DVD for watching movies on the desktop.

The Aureal Vortex2-based PCI soundcard has no SPDIF or optical digital-out connections so it's unlikely to be the choice of the serious musician, but it's more than enough for the home gamer.

It drives a pair of Altec Lansing speakers.

A generous software bundle includes IBM World-Book 99, IBM ViaVoice complete with headset and mike, and for the business user, Lotus SmartSuite Millennium - a worthy competitor to Microsoft Office.

This is a very impressive PC at a highly competitive price. The sub-£1000 price point is a very competitive part of the PC market, and three months ago it would have stretched little further than a 433MHz Celeron with a smaller monitor and half the hard-disk space. After close scrutiny we have been unable to find fault in what is without doubt an excellent early implementation of the 500MHz Celeron. It comes highly recommended.

PCW DETAILS

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Price £1,173.83 (£999 ex VAT)

Contact Carrera 0181 307 2800 www.carrera.co.uk

Good Points Large hard drive. Loads of memory. Great monitor.

Bad Points None.

Conclusion Never before have you got so much for so little.