(Editor's Note: The WinMag Box Score rates products on installation, usability, supporting materials, functionality, performance and utility. We use a 5-point scale:
1 poor, 2 fair, 3 good, 4 very good and 5 outstanding. A list of recommended desktop systems is at the end of the Reviews section; in future months, other hardware and software products will be added to the Recommended list.)
Micron P166 Millennia Plus and P150 Millennia
Dell Dimension XPS P166c
Robotech Cobra XLT p150
Quantex QP5/133 SM-2
Dell OptiPlex GXMT 5133
Dell Dimension XPS P133c
Digital Celebris GL 5133ST
HP Pavilion 7090
Gateway 2000 P5-133XL
CompuTrend Premio Triton P133
HP Vectra VL Series 4 5/100M T
Gateway 2000 P5-120
NEC PowerMate V100
Dell Dimension P100t
Quantex QP5/120 SM-1
Quantex QP5/100 M-2
IBM Aptiva PC Model M51
Gateway 2000 P5-75 Best Buy
NEC Ready 7022
Robotech Cobra XL-100
Digital Venturis 575 Slimline
by: Jonathan Blackwood and Janice J. Chen
If time is money, then these new 166MHz and 150MHz Pentium-powered mini-towers from Micron look like a million bucks. The Micron P166 Millennia Plus includes fast SCSI peripherals such as a 2GB, 7200rpm Quantum Grand Prix hard drive, a Plextor 6PleX CD-ROM drive and a very cool 1GB Iomega Jazz removable cartridge drive.
The Micron P150 Millennia, an IDE system, includes a 1.2GB Quantum Fireball hard drive and a TEAC quad-speed CD-ROM drive (6X CD-ROM drive by the time you read this). Both systems have 16MB of EDO RAM, expandable to 128MB, and 256KB of synchburst level 2 cache, expandable to 512KB. Add this to the Micronics motherboards with the Intel Triton chip set, and you've got two Pentiums that practically perform like Pros.
On our Wintune 95 benchmarks, the P166 Millennia racked up 306.33 MIPS and 11.33Mpixels per second video, while the P150 scored 269.67MIPS and 9.8Mpixels per second. The P150 Millennia's disk scores were also admirable: 3.33MB-per-second uncached speed and 20MB-per-second cached speed.
Our tests of the P166's hard drive and Jazz drive revealed an anomaly: Throughput remained virtually unchanged whether measured cached or uncached, at about 24MB per second. This may have been caused by the Fast/Wide SCSI adapter, but we could not verify this by press time.
In any event, this is stellar performance, particularly for the Jazz drive. At $399 a pop--including a 1GB cartridge loaded with utilities--the Jazz drive gives you the flexibility of a removable drive with a very fast hard drive's speed. Additional 1GB cartridges are $99 each. Average times to execute our Microsoft Word 7.0 and Excel 7.0 benchmarks were 10 and 11 seconds, respectively, for the P166 Millennia Plus, and 17 and 13 seconds, respectively, for the P150 Millennia system.
As usual, Micron has assembled two impressive packages, though expansion options are more limited than usual. For example, both systems have only two ISA slots available, and they are limited to half-length cards because of the SIMM banks' location. A full-length Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32 card occupies the other ISA slot in each system. These units also have three PCI slots and one combination ISA/PCI slot. In the P166 Millennia Plus, the Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM video card and the BusLogic FlashPoint LT Ultra SCSI adapter take up two of the three PCI slots. In the P150 system, only the Diamond card fills a PCI slot, leaving two free besides the shared slot.
Both systems have four external and two internal drive bays. The P150 fills all but two external and one internal. The P166 fills all but one external bay with its 6X CD-ROM, floppy and Jazz drives. The P166's 2GB Quantum Grand Prix is thicker than the 1.2GB Fireball in the P150, so you won't be able to squeeze anything into the second internal drive bay either. Not to worry: The Jazz drive offers infinitely expandable storage with hard disk performance, so you might not need more drive bays.
If you've been wasting time, you've been wasting money. Spend a little on the P166 Millennia Plus or the P150 Millennia, and you may just make up the difference.
-- Info File --
Micron P166 Millennia Plus
Price: $4,446
Pros: SCSI; Iomega Jazz drive; performance
Cons: Only one free drive bay; location of SIMM slots
WinMag Box Score: 4.5
-- Info File --
Micron P150 Millennia
Price: $3,047
Pros: Performance; construction
Cons: Location of SIMM slots
Micron Electronics
800-243-7615, 208-463-3434
WinMag Box Score: 4
by: Cynthia Morgan
There's something to be said for a PC that looks like a PC. The Dell Dimension XPS P166c, a 166MHz Pentium multimedia system, lacks the trendy decorator touches I've been finding on new PCs lately. But the attraction here isn't case shape, mouse color or kitchen-sink integration; it's 166MHz Pentium power, 512KB pipeline burst cache and 128-bit accelerated PCI graphics.
Though this simple mini-tower may not be much to look at, it offers well-arranged internal components and plenty of room for expansion. Pretty much everything you may want to upgrade in the future--including cache memory, processor and RAM--is out in the open and unobstructed. The only thing I'd caution against using in the Dell Dimension is a full-size ISA card, since the waffle-iron heat sink over the Pentium probably will collide with two of the three ISA slots.
Only two of the seven expansion slots (three ISA, three PCI and one shared PCI/ISA) were filled on my test system, and the addition of the hard drive, floppy drive and CD-ROM drive left one internal and two external drive bays free. The durability of the thumbscrewed plastic case concerned me, but it emerged intact after my repeated attempts to mangle it.
My evaluation system came with 16MB of EDO RAM, a 1.08GB hard drive, a 3.5-inch floppy drive, a 17-inch monitor and an NEC quad-speed CD-ROM. As tested, it's $3,399 from Dell. Although the quad-speed CD-ROM certainly is adequate, given the system's other performance characteristics I'd probably opt for the 6X CD-ROM drive, which will cost an extra $100 when you have it installed at the Dell factory.
Although this system's 128-bit PCI FX Motion 771 graphics adapter from Number Nine and the Vibra 16 sound card are more than adequate for mainstream uses, Dell's decision to place them in separate expan-sion slots will let you swap them out later for fancier models, with very little fuss. A high-performance system shouldn't bother integrating graphics and sound on the motherboard, and thankfully the Dell Dimension doesn't. And even with the cards installed, there's still plenty of space for network cards, SCSI adapters and other fun stuff.
Dell ships a good speaker system with the Dimension XPS: the Satellite 31 kit from Altec Lansing. Combined with the sound card and a subwoofer the size of a small ottoman, it offers high-quality, solid sound. The speakers are boxed separately from the CPU, with a spaghetti snarl of cords that are fortunately long enough so that you can put the subwoofer on the floor and out of the way.
While it packs lots of power, the Dimension XPS doesn't skimp on user-friendliness for the novice. A lavishly illustrated, easy-to-read Quick Start brochure greets you when you first open the box. And the Dimension's user manual and troubleshooting guide are among the best PC guides I've read. Although I don't normally recommend hardware manuals for casual reading, glancing through the Dimension docs is a good way to familiarize yourself with your machine's capabilities. Dell's online documentation--a Windows 95-style help file that's more phone numbers and ads than solid, technical data--is no substitute for the paper version.
Intel's 166MHz addition to its Pentium line, primarily a move to stave off Pentium clonemakers, may not sound all that fast now that 200MHz Pentium Pros are just around the corner. But with scores of 303MIPS and 97MFLOPs on our Wintune benchmark, the Dimension P166c still travels with a pretty fast crowd. As expected, it averaged performance scores about 20 percent faster than you'd get from most 133MHz Pentium systems. Thanks to Number Nine's 128-bit graphics and 4MB of VRAM, the machine scored a bit more than 13Mpixels per second on Wintune's video benchmark--as fast as many video-optimized CAD machines.
Disk read/write speed was much better than average for this Dell, though not of the same speed-demon class as the rest of its Wintune scores, with an average 3.6MB-per-second uncached read/write transfer time. The machine completed our real-life simulation 32-bit Microsoft Word and Excel macros in just under 16 and 12 seconds, respectively.
Packed with power and excellent peripherals, the Dell Dimension XPS P166c will make you the envy of every PC owner around. Life in the fast lane should always be this nice.
--Info File--
Dell Dimension XPS P166c
Price: $3,399
Pros: Performance; 128-bit PCI graphics; documentation
Cons: Location of heat sink
Dell Computer Corp.
800-289-3355, 512-338-4400
WinMag Box Score: 4.5
by: Jim Forbes
There are some things I really like about my job. Getting a sneak peek at the Robotech Cobra XLT p150 is one of them. This baby can take on any processor- or graphics-intensive application you throw at it without even breaking a sweat. Based on a speedy 150MHz Pentium processor, the XLT p150 I reviewed sports a configuration that'll draw drool from anyone who uses power-hungry programs like computer-aided drafting applications and desktop publishers.
I tested a prototype of this computer when the 150MHz Intel chip had just shipped. The review unit was configured with a 1-gigabyte Quantum Fireball hard drive, a Teac 6X CD-ROM, a 17-inch monitor, a 16-bit sound card, a 28.8KB-per-second modem and a whopping 32MB of RAM. The Cobra XLT uses a PCI architecture and came with a Diamond Stealth 64 graphics card with 2MB of video memory.
The motherboard on this machine uses Intel's Triton I chip set and has a total of eight expansion slots--four 16-bit ISA, three PCI and one shared ISA/PCI slot--as well as two serial ports and one parallel port. The layout of this machine's components requires that you pay attention to where you put expansion cards. I found that cables and wires were often in the way. The system also has ample 5.25- and 3.5-inch expansion bays, which is important if you want to add additional devices. The machine uses a 230-watt power supply, which should be more than adequate for most users' expansion needs.
One of the things I liked best about the Cobra XLT was its full-size tower case, which opens with a snap of the front bezel. No more screws to lose; there aren't even any thumbscrews to slow you down.
The other thing I liked, of course, was performance. The Cobra XLT blew the barn doors off our benchmarks. The processor clocked an average of 272.33MIPS, while the hard disk subsystem had an average uncached throughput of 3.43Mbytes per second. The video subsystem's throughput of 12Mpixels per seconds was also excellent. The results of our Office 95 applications benchmarks were consistent with those of other similarly configured 150MHz Pentium-based PCI systems.
Although this machine was running Windows 95, its 32MB of RAM would allow it to function well as a Windows NT workstation. Whatever it's running, though, the Robotech Cobra XLT p150 is sure to be fast.
--Info Files--
Robotech Cobra XLT p150
Price: $4,199
Pros: Snap-off case, performance
Cons: Component layout
Robotech
800-255 2215, 801-565-0645
WinMag Box Score: 3.5
by: James Alan Miller
In music industry lingo, an album is "loaded" when it's packed with potential hits. The Quantex QP5/133 SM-2 is a loaded system in any language.
The QP5/133 performed well on our Wintune benchmark tests, with a CPU score of 240MIPS and a video score of 10.3Mpixels per second. The Quantex machine completed the WinLab Word and Excel macros in 15.3 and 13 seconds, respectively.
Put this power to use right out of the box with an impressive array of bundled software. The system arrives with Windows 95 and a multitude of other programs preloaded or on CD-ROM. Add the Garnet 288 V.34 internal fax modem, and you're set to tackle the online universe.
My QP5/133 was configured with an ample Western Digital Caviar 1.6GB hard disk and 16MB of EDO RAM with 256KB of pipeline burst cache. The system also includes an Ensoniq Wavetable sound card, ATI's Mach 64 video accelerator with 2MB of VRAM and an Aztech 6X CD-ROM drive. The Altec Lansing speakers and subwoofer round out the multimedia.
The keyboard included with the system provides excellent tactile feedback and has a new 104-key design. Although the Mag InnoVision 17-inch monitor isn't equipped with on-screen controls, its large, clear picture provides excellent color reproduction.
Although the QP5/133 uses a midsize tower case style, you'll be surprised at the roomy and uncluttered interior--a twist of the thumbscrews provides easy access to the system's innards. There's also plenty of room for expansion: one free ISA and two free PCI slots, three available 5.25-inch external bays and two 3.5-inch internal bays. The easily accessible SIMM slots let you expand the amount of RAM to 128MB.
My only complaints are the skimpy manual and the lack of a free serial port.
--Info File--
Quantex QP5/133 SM-2
Price: $3,099
Pros: Features; performance; software
Cons: Monitor controls; lack of serial ports
Quantex Microsystems
800-632-5022, 908-563-4166
WinMag Box Score: 3.5
by: James E. Powell
It's all in the name: Dell says the OptiPlex is "optimized for complex network environments." I tested the OptiPlex GXMT 5133 and it has just about everything you'll need for a network workstation, including a 3Com EtherLink III ISA connection, and a Creative Labs Vibra 16 sound chip set and 2MB of S3 Trio 64+ video RAM built onto the motherboard.
The 133MHz Pentium OptiPlex was configured with 16MB of EDO RAM, 256KB of pipeline burst cache, a Western Digital 1.6GB hard drive, an NEC 4X CD-ROM drive and a pair of Altec Lansing speakers. The system also includes a 101-key keyboard, a Microsoft mouse and an Ultrascan 17LS color monitor.
Because so much is built on the motherboard, six expansion slots are available in this Plug- and-Play compliant mini-tower: four ISA and two shared ISA/PCI slots. The motherboard is inaccessible, except to add memory, but is positioned below the slots so each slot can accommodate a full-length card. Having so many features built in is both a blessing and a curse: You may be locked into what you're buying today.
Even though it's a mini-tower, there's plenty of room for moving about. You can remove each side and the top of the unit separately, which makes servicing easy. Of the five full-sized bays, three are external and two are internal, and one of each is free. One half-height external bay is also free.
The 0.28mm dot-pitch monitor provides crisp images with brightness and contrast controls on the front, and adjustments for degauss, distortion, color temperative, position and size behind a fold-down panel. The monitor is MPR II compliant for reduced emissions.
The OptiPlex shipped with Windows 95, several Creative Labs utilities and some Dell diagnostic utilities. There is also an applet for creating your own diskettes for the drivers and utility programs, though Windows 95 shipped on a CD-ROM. For network administrators, the OptiPlex includes the Desktop Management Interface for monitoring, accessing or configuring desktops locally or with a remote network management application.
The OptiPlex GXMT performed well in our benchmark tests, completing the Excel test in under 13 seconds and the Word macro in an average of 15 seconds. Wintune results averaged 245MIPS for the CPU, 3.3MB per second for the uncached disk speed and 10.67Mpixels per second for the video.
The unit is incredibly compact and quiet. Although documentation is preliminary, the information is sufficient to troubleshoot most common problems. As a network workstation or standalone desktop, the Dell OptiPlex GXMT 5133 has the features and performance you need to get your work done.
--Info File--
Dell OptiPlex GXMT 5133
Price: $3,809 ($199 additional for Windows NT)
Pros: Compact; quiet; network-ready
Cons: Documentation is preliminary
Dell Computer Corp.
800-365-5329, 512-338-4400
WinMag Box Score: 4.0
by: James E. Powell
Power, performance and pizzazz make this Pentium 133 a favorite. The Dell Dimension XPS P133c is an update of a system we reviewed last year. The 16MB of EDO RAM, 512KB of pipeline burst cache and 1.6GB hard drive in the upgrade I reviewed were all impressive.
There's also a 6X TEAC CD-ROM, Creative Labs sound card and a pair of Altec Lansing speakers. There's a Dell-branded mouse and a standard 104-key keyboard with Windows 95-specific keys.
The Dell Ultrascan 17LS color monitor features easy-to-use controls placed where you want them. It's a good match for the Number 9 video card.
There are three ISA slots and three PCI slots (two of each are free), as well as a shared ISA/PCI slot. While that sounds like plenty of room for expansion, the unit will accommodate only one full-length ISA card due to the position of the heat sink.
There are two half-height internal drive bays (one is free) and one external half-height bay for the 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, as well as three full-height external bays, one of which is taken by the CD-ROM drive.
The Dimension made it through our macro tests in good time, averaging 12.67 seconds for Microsoft Word and 9.44 seconds for the Excel test. Our Wintune benchmarks verified this speed, giving an average score of 245MIPS for the CPU, 3.37 MB per second for the uncached disk test and 11.5MPixels per second for the video test.
The documentation does a good job of explaining how things work, and the troubleshooting guide will help you fix basic problems.
--Info File--
Dell Dimension XPS P133c
Price: $3,849; $3,279 without monitor
Pros: Setup; ergonomics
Cons: Position of heat sinkDell Computer Corp.
800-289-3355, 512-338-4400
WinMag Box Score: 4.0
by: Lori L. Bloomer
They'll take it from me when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. No, that's not an NRA member talking about his shotgun. It's your humble reviewer, talking about the Digital Celebris GL 5133ST, a 133MHz data screamer with 16MB of EDO RAM, a 1.6GB hard disk and a 4X CD-ROM drive. Not enough? Okay, then how about sound, SCSI and Ethernet capability right on the motherboard?
The PCI local-bus model motherboard has a maximum transfer rate of 132MB per second. Up to 512KB of level 2 cache memory is supported in the on-board caching controller, adding further speed to an already swift system.
But don't let all this power scare you. The Celebris is so easy to set up a novice could do it with little help. From sealed boxes to boot-up, the whole process took me all of 10 minutes.
The Energy Star-compliant 15-inch monitor supplied with this system is the worst component. Its flicker is no sight for sore eyes that have been working for a few hours. Go for the 17-inch model Digital offers as an option--it's worth paying more for a far superior display. The on-board video comes with a standard 2MB of WRAM (Windows RAM), upgradable to 8MB, for those with more demanding graphics needs.
An ESS 1688 chip set with 16-bit stereo sound and 20-voice FM synthesis provides the on-board audio. Also included are a clip-on mini-microphone, as well as a pair of shielded, self-powered Labtech speakers. Full multimedia capability is completed with a 4X caddyless IDE CD-ROM drive.
A single PCI Ethernet controller chip provides Ethernet capability and offers both 10BaseT (twisted pair) and AUI (thick wire) support. All you do is plug in the cable, get the network protocols into line and get connected. It's networking made simple.
The included Fast/Narrow SCSI-2 controller supports transfer rates of up to 10MBps. It resides on the computer's riser card and saves you a needed slot.
As you'd expect, the Celebris performed admirably on WINDOWS Magazine's benchmark tests, especially Wintune 95, scoring 244MIPS on the CPU test and 11Mpixels per second on the video test. It didn't do as well on the Word and Excel macros, but still finished them in an average of 20 and 16 seconds, respectively.
The Celebris GL 5133ST is a tower of power, loaded with most of the extras you'd expect for the premium price. With tons of features like SCSI and Ethernet built in, you'll have everything you might want.
--Info File--
Digital Celebris GL 5133ST
Price: $4,128
Pros: SCSI and Ethernet on the motherboard; easy to set up
Cons: Premium price; 15-inch monitor
Digital Equipment Corp.
800-642-4532, 508-642-6400
WinMag Box Score: 4.5
by: James E. Powell
It's hard to find anything missing from Hewlett-Packard's top-of-the-line Pavilion 7090. The 7090 sports everything you need either at home or in the office--or in a home office.
The mini-tower system has a Pentium 133 Triton chip, 16MB of Fast Page RAM, a 1.6GB Maxtor hard drive, a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive and a quad-speed CD-ROM. It's no surprise, then, that the Pavilion performed well on our Wintune benchmarks, scoring 239MIPS for the CPU and 7.9MPixels per second for the video subsystem.
The Pavilion also includes a 28.8Kb-per-second modem and a telephony software suite that provides answering machine capabilities and a full-duplex speakerphone. With built-in wavetable sound, a pair of Altec Lansing speakers and MPEG playback support on the video chip set, the machine clearly takes multimedia seriously. The speakers are designed to mount on the multimedia monitor, which also has a built-in microphone. Unfortunately, the largest monitor available is 15 inches, and monitors are sold separately.
Beginners will appreciate the system's Personal Page software, which makes it easy to access pre-installed applications. The prototype unit I reviewed lacked printed documentation, but color-coded cables make setup a snap.
Upgradability is key: If you plug in a different video card, that card will take precedence over the on-board video, but there is no equivalent for replacing the sound system. All in all, the Pavilion is a sturdy, feature-packed PC that's built to last.
-- Info File --
HP Pavilion 7090
Price: $2,999 (street) without monitor (15-inch multimedia monitor reviewed, $449)
Pros: Performance; software
Cons: 15-inch monitor is largest available
Hewlett-Packard Co.
800-PC-HOME-1, 810-357-1219
WinMag Box Score: 4.0
by: James E. Powell
When Gateway 2000 says "new and improved," it's serious. The Gateway 2000 P5-133XL has been upgraded with new looks and greater expandability. The case has been redesigned, giving the system a more up-to-date look. But it's not just a pretty face; the slick new design hides a feature-packed unit.
The tall tower now has seven internal drive bays, six of which are empty, and five external bays, three of which are free. Expansion slots are not as plentiful, however; there are two ISA slots, three PCI slots and a shared ISA/PCI slot. The Telepath 28.8Kb-per-second modem takes up one ISA slot and the Ensoniq sound card takes another, leaving you with just one free ISA slot. Since
most of my existing cards are ISA cards, something had to go. An MGA Millennium video card takes one of the four PCI slots.
The 17-inch Vivitron Model 1776 monitor is a Trinitron-based system with controls for adjusting horizontal and vertical position as well as trapezoid and convergence. Settings can be programmed into memory.
I found the location of the power switch--at the rear of the monitor--inconvenient.
I was pleased with the keyboard, which includes Windows 95 keys and can record and play back keystrokes. This is particularly helpful with Win95, which no longer has the Recorder applet that I used for handling such chores as signing my name and address at the end of e-mail messages.
The biggest disappointment was the 6X CD-ROM drive. Though its transfer rate puts it in the 6X category, the drive's access time was so slow that two benchmark programs put its performance in the 3X range. Not a good sign.
The system performed well in our Wintune benchmark tests, logging an average of 243.67MIPS for the CPU, 13 Mpixels per second for video and an uncached disk speed of 3.03MB per second. Performance was also good on the Microsoft Word test, completed in 13.67 seconds, and the Excel test, which took about 12 seconds.
Gateway stuffs the PC with software, including a bevy of Microsoft titles: Money, Works, Golf, Encarta 96, Cinemania 96 and all four Entertainment Packs. Yes, there's even Microsoft Bob (groan).
Though the Gateway 2000 P5-133XL has plenty of room for extra peripherals, there aren't enough ISA slots. And the CD-ROM's performance, while fast enough for working with titles like Encarta, will vary by application. Otherwise, this system's solid construction and good video and benchmark performance make it a welcome new face at home or in the office.
--Info File--
Gateway 2000 P5-133XL
Price: $3,644
Pros: Drive expandability; features
Cons: Few ISA slots; CD-ROM drive
Gateway 2000
800-846-2000, 605-232-2000
WinMag Box Score: 4.5
by: Jim Forbes
Like my souped-up vintage Volkswagen, the CompuTrend Premio Triton P133 is deceptively powerful. It packs the horsepower to get me quickly from point A to point B into a tin-can chassis.
The Premio feels like a VW with the heart of a Porsche. The case seems almost too flimsy to hold such fast processing power. Nevertheless, the Premio is made up of good components like an Intel 133MHz Pentium processor and Triton chip set, a Diamond Stealth Viper 64 PCI graphics card and a Quantum Fireball hard drive.
My review system was configured with 16MB of RAM, 256KB of secondary cache, a 1GB hard disk, a Goldstar 4X CD-ROM drive, a 16-bit sound system and 1MB of video memory on the Diamond Stealth Viper 64 PCI graphics card. The PCI motherboard has a total of eight expansion slots, and there are two serial ports and one parallel port.
I was impressed with the number of open slots in this system. Only two of the eight expansion slots were used, leaving open three PCI and three ISA slots.
If you want to add more peripherals like tape backups or extra hard drives, there's plenty of room: There are five external drive bays--two 3.5-inch and three 5.25-inch--three of which are available (one 3.5- and two 5.25-inch).
The results of our Wintune 95 tests were comparable to those for other speedy 133MHz clones: The processor generated an average of 241.33MIPS and 77MFLOPS, the video subsystem averaged a throughput rate of 10.2 Mpixels per second and the hard drive put through 3.26MB per second, uncached. This machine took an average of 13 and 12 seconds, respectively, to run the 32-bit versions of our Word and Excel benchmarks.
The Premio is a hot little number indeed, and when it comes to value, the numbers add up well.
--Info File--
CompuTrend Premio Triton P133
Price: $2,299 (street)
Pros: Expandability; components
Cons: Construction; charge for packing material
CompuTrend Systems
800-677-6477, 818-333-5121
WinMag Box Score: 3.5
by: William Gee
This is a computer that even an engineer will love. With its quality construction and clever features, the Hewlett-Packard Vectra VL4 mini-tower will satisfy even the most demanding user.
My 100MHz Pentium evaluation unit was equipped with a 15-inch monitor, 16MB of EDO RAM (two 8MB SIMMS), a 256KB L2 pipeline burst synchronous cache, a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive and a 1GB hard disk. Also included were a Sony ATAPI CD-ROM drive and an S3 Trio 64V+ graphics/video accelerator on the motherboard with 2MB of video memory.
The Vectra's performance scores reflect this quality configuration: Wintune clocked an average of 185.33MIPS for the CPU, 3.3MB per second for the uncached disk score and 9.47Mpixels per second for the video. Elapsed times for the Word and Excel 7.0 macros were 16.67 and 16.33 seconds, respectively. These scores were better than those of the other 100MHz Pentiums that we reviewed this month.
Don't worry about spending an entire weekend installing your favorite add-in peripherals. The no-screw case pulls forward easily after you release two side-mounted latches. You separate the HP motherboard from the chassis simply by pulling a lever. But the system still has a solid feel. As configured, there are two available 5.25-inch external drive bays, one available 3.5-inch internal drive bay and six 72-pin SIMM sockets available (the motherboard can accept up to 128MB). The expansion slots are mounted on a riser card that allows you to install a board without turning the system on its side. A total of six slots--three ISA, two PCI and one shared slot--are available.
The Windows 95-specific keyboard is a pleasure to use. You can power on the system from the keyboard when it's attached to a Windows 95-enabled system. The only thing missing in my evaluation unit was a sound card. HP offers other Vectra VL4 configurations with multimedia capabilities. Options such as a Matrox Millennium PCI graphics card with 2MB or 4MB of WRAM are also available. The Vectra VL4 bundles Dashboard 2.0, an assortment of utilities, and a choice of either DOS 6.22, Windows for Workgroups or Windows 95.
The HP Vectra VL4 is a well-designed 100MHz Pentium mini-tower with room to grow. To top it off, this system comes with a three-year warranty.
--Info File--
Hewlett-Packard Vectra VL Series 4 5/100M T
Price: With 15-inch monitor, $2,940 (street)
Pros: Construction; performance; accessibility; keyboard
Cons: No sound card
Hewlett-Packard Co.
800-752-0900, 208-396-2551
WinMag Box Score: 5.0
by: James E. Powell
I don't want bells and whistles, I just want performance. The Gateway 2000 P5-120 gives me just that. It's a bare-bones system without a sound card, speakers or modem.
What the P5-120 does provide is 16MB of EDO RAM, a Mitsumi 4X CD-ROM drive, 256KB of pipeline burst cache, a 1GB hard drive and a 15-inch monitor. This configuration helped the 120MHz Pentium system fly through our application tests, averaging less than 19 seconds for the Word test and 15 seconds for the Excel test. The system's CPU averaged 214.67MIPS, while the hard disk averaged a healthy 3.03MB per second and the video averaged 10Mpixels per second.
The ATI Mach 64 video card with 2MB of DRAM works well with the 15-inch, 0.28mm-dot-pitch Vivitron monitor. The ATI board adds a tab to Win95's Display Properties dialog box. The tab lets you control selected video settings.
The P5-120 has seven slots--four for PCI boards and three for ISA boards. The unit's 3.5-inch floppy disk drive is mounted at a 90-degree angle, and there are two external full-sized drive bays available for future expansion. Unfortunately, adding a peripheral to either of these bays will be problematic since the back of the unit butts against the power supply.
Documentation has always distinguished Gateway machines, and this unit carries on the tradition. Individual booklets explain the CD-ROM drive functions and how to install a new hard drive. A technical booklet explains the IRQs used for the two serial ports and the parallel port.
The unit ships with only Windows 95 and Microsoft Office Standard. When you first boot up the system, Windows 95 goes through a modified setup procedure--something that should have been done at the factory.
The Gateway 2000 P5-120 is a basic but robust system with an excellent keyboard and documentation.
--Info File--
Gateway 2000 P5-120
Price: $2,499
Pros: Documentation; ergonomics
Cons: Serviceability
Gateway 2000
800-846-2000, 605-232-2000
WinMag Box Score: 3.5