Review: Dell Dimension 9150 £899 dual-core PC

Intel’s Pentium isn’t terribly well represented in this group of dual-core PCs. The Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) Dimension 9150 and the Nitro 840D from Panrix are the only two here.

Dell’s Dimension 9150 PC is attractive with an easy-to-maintain BTX-based internal design and tool-free access to most components.

Dell has used a 3GHz Pentium D dual-core processor, whereas Panrix installed the slightly faster 3.2GHz model.

The Geforce 7800GTX graphics card is also slightly slower than the 7900GT in the Panrix, but still top-notch. As a result, the Dimension 9150 lags slightly behind Panrix in tests, and comes in a little behind some of the faster AMD-based machines.

The difference in performance really isn’t that great, however, and with 2GB of DDR2 Ram the 9150 is more than powerful enough to handle demanding tasks such as video editing and games.

Hardcore gamers might prefer a machine with a second PCI Express x16 slot that would allow them to upgrade with a second graphics card, but this won’t bother most mainstream users.

Besides, Dell’s focus is clearly more on its multimedia capabilities. It is one of the few PCs in this group that uses Windows XP MCE.

To help cope with its multimedia capabilities, there are two 160GB hard disks, providing 320GB of storage space, and an analogue Hauppauge TV tuner card that allows video input and output.

This makes it good for multimedia work such as video editing or audio recording, which require lots of memory and disk space.

While the Dimension 9150 may not be the winner in terms of raw horsepower, its specification and multimedia features make it a great choice for a wide range of users, whether you’re looking for a solid workhorse or simply to use it as part of your home-entertainment system.

This article is part of a group test of £899 dual-core PCs. Other articles include:
Panrix Nitro 840D

Other reviews can be read via our PDF downloads above

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