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Dell XPS 420

81

Very Good

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Pros
Front panel video transcoder
Strong performance
Cons
Only one free bay

Pricing: Average: $3568 (8/8/2008)
Performance: Superior: 96
Features: Good: 73
Design: Good: 79

Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing

Average: $3568

Performance

Superior: 96

WorldBench 6 Tests - Superior: 126

WorldBench 6 Component Results (seconds)
Adobe Photoshop CS2	308
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 DirectX	332
Autodesk 3ds max 8.0 SP-3 Rendering	300
Firefox 2	205
Microsoft Office 2003 with SP-1	344
Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 9.0	188
Multitasking	231
Nero 7 Ultra Edition	269
Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5	191
Winzip Computing WinZip 10.0	182

Graphics Tests (frames per second)
Overall Graphics Score	Superior
Doom 3, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	168.6
Doom 3, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	169.6
Doom 3 with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	157.7
Doom 3 with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	142.87
Far Cry, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	215.57
Far Cry, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	212.86
Far Cry with AA, 1024 by 768, 32-Bit	204.04
Far Cry with AA, 1280 by 1024, 32-Bit	182.26

Features

Good: 73

Basics
CPU	3-GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9650
System Memory	3072MB Memory

Video & Display
Graphics Adapter	nVidia GeForce 8800 GT
Graphics Board Type	PCI Express
Graphics Board RAM (MB)	512
Graphics Board RAM Type	DDR3
Monitor Model	Dell SP2208WFP
Monitor Type	LCD
Monitor Size	22

Storage
Hard Drives	2
Total HD Size (GB)	640GB Hard Drive
RAID Type	striped
Optical Drive Type	BD-R/RE/DVD±R DL/DVD±RW
Optical Drive Speed	4

Expansion
PCI Slots	3
PCI Express Slots	3
Open PCI Express X16 Slots	0
Open PCI Express X1 Slots	1
Open Slots	4
External Drive Bays	4
Open External Drive Bays	1
Internal Drive Bays	2
Open Internal Drive Bays	0

Ports
Serial Ports	0
Parallel Ports	0
Front USB Ports	2
Rear USB Ports	6
Front FireWire Ports	1
Rear FireWire Ports	1

Other
Audio Adapter Model	Integrated SigmaTel High Definition Audio
Audio Channels	7.1 surround
Network Adapter	gigabit network adapter
Case Type	Midsize tower
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)
Other Included Hardware	USB cable
Included Software	Microsoft Works Suite 2006; Adobe Elements Studio (Premiere 4, Photoshop 6); Roxio Creator Premiere; CyberLInk PowerDVD

Warranty & Support
Labor Warranty (years)	One
Parts Warranty (years)	One
Weekday Support Hours	24
Saturday Support Hours	24
Sunday Support Hours	24
Toll-Free Support	Yes

Reliability & Service
Summary of results for all of brand's products in this category	The company earned decent marks for reliability overall here, but it also attracted more gripes about long hold times for phone support. Once again, Dell's tech staff is good at solving problems.

Reilability of brand's products in this category
Reports of products with core component problems	Average
Reports of products with failed components	Average
Reports of products with any significant problems	Average
Reports of products arriving with problems	Average
Overall satisfaction with reliability of brand's products in category	Average

Service & Support Quality
Time spent holding for phone support	Worse than Average
Overall quality of vendor's phone support	Average
Reports of problems unresolved after contacting service	Better than Average
Overall quality of service	Better than Average

Design

Good: 79

Dell XPS 420 Desktop Computer [Penryn QX9650 version] Review

by Jon L. Jacobi

- This $3729 (as of January 3, 2008) configuration of Dell's XPS 420 multimedia computer featured a top-of-the-line 3-GHz Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9650 Intel CPU, but its other performance-enhancing components are strictly second-tier.

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