Best Multimedia Desktop with Processor Type Intel Pentium 4

The Dell Dimension 4700 is one of the first mainstream desktop computers to use the new Intel CPU and PCI Express technologies which is both its benefit and its disadvantage.

Dell's new mainstream Dimension 4700 is an affordable, forward-looking PC that's well suited for the home or the small office.

The welcome 17-inch LCD monitor that comes with the system is fine as is, putting out a crisp image. The Intel integrated graphics is adequate for most 3D apps, but gamers and video fans may want to upgrade to a PCIe graphics card and a set of 5.1 speakers (though the included 2.1 set was surprisingly rich in tone). Its 3D gaming performance is somewhat lackluster, owing to its integrated graphics with shared memory (the 4700 uses some of the system's 512MB for graphics). *

The XPS is extremely quiet, and the blue-and-charcoal color scheme gives it a decidedly cool look for a PC from a mainstream vendor. You won't be able to complain about what comes on the hard drive. An additional 120GB of deep storage is present in a third ide hard drive. Not everyone is convinced the TV tuner/PVR component of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition is ready for prime time. *

The XPS is extremely quiet, and the blue-and-charcoal color scheme gives it a decidedly cool look for a PC from a mainstream vendor. You won't be able to complain about what comes on the hard drive. An additional 120GB of deep storage is present in a third ide hard drive. Not everyone is convinced the TV tuner/PVR component of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition is ready for prime time. *

Gaming performance was very good, thanks to the state-of-the-art nVidia GeForce2 GTS Ultra graphics subsystem. *

The core of the Dimension 4100 system is very strong, with a fast processor coupled to a very fast graphics processor, plenty of memory and a high-capacity hard drive. Dell bundles a full copy of Works Suite 2000 with the Dimension 4100 1GHz system and this is a good starting point for the major applications you're likely to need at work. The machine is more than capable of playing back DVD movies at full frame rate - a feature well illustrated by the DVD of movie trailers supplied by Dell. *

The speakers sound wonderfully clear even when turned way up. *

Audio is similarly excellent, thanks to the Creative Labs Audigy 2 sound card and Altec Lansing ADA-995 5.1 speaker system. *