Dell XPS 420 Desktop
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Dell's XPS range has seen varied success over the
years. We loved the M1330 XPS notebook but its bigger
brother, the M1730, was much less well received. Moreover,
its desktops have always had trouble hitting the mark,
being generally a bit overpriced and underperforming.
However, with the XPS 420, Dell is hoping to change
all this and establish itself as a true contender
for the digital hub of your home.
Packing in such features as a hardware video transcoder,
a TV Tuner, nVidia GeForce 8800 GTX graphics, and
a mini LCD screen built right into the undeniably
eye catching case, it has the potential to be the
perfect match for the all-round power user.
Following in the footsteps of previous ‘400'
series models, the XPS 420 is a multimedia powerhouse
rather than a pure gaming behemoth like it's bigger
'700' series brothers. Not to say it's incapable when
it comes to the old runnin' and gunnin' though. Apart
from the bottom line base spec all the systems have
more than enough gaming performance, the only limitation
being the small chassis limits you to single graphics
card configurations - no SLI or Crossfire here.
The case itself is much the same design as previous
models with just a few tweaks here and there. It's
midi-tower sized (45cm x 46cm x 19cm) so will just
about fit on or under most desks and is made of the
usual combination of steel and plastic. The side panels
retain the matt silver paint of previous models but
this latest version now incorporates a shiny black
plastic strip that runs up the front and over the
back. The combination looks perfectly reasonable and
I wouldn't be averse to having it on my desk. However,
the plastic is an absolute dust magnet and would no
doubt pick up scratches very easily.
Incorporated into the top is a tiny LCD screen and
an accompanying array of buttons. This is actually
a SideShow panel (or MiniView if you're Dell), which
is something we've only ever seen before on laptops,
like the W5Fe. SideShow is basically an external equivalent
of the Windows Sidebar that comes with Vista. It uses
the same type of mini applications, called gadgets,
for displaying a variety of information at a glance.
Where it differs from the sidebar, though, is you
can use these mini apps while the computer is locked
(but not in sleep mode) and your monitor and other
peripherals are off or in standby mode. So, if you
just quickly want to check something, and you have
the gadget installed, all it takes is a quick glance
at the SideShow panel.
Default applications include a solitaire game, picture
viewer, media player, and system monitor, none of
which sound remotely useful. However, there are a
couple of dozen other applications you can download
from the Windows website and there are probably plenty
more to be found elsewhere. A couple that did catch
our eyes were the Live Messenger and email gadgets
- being able to quickly glance at your PC to see if
anyone's contacted you could be quite useful. Unfortunately,
without the ability to use these apps when the computer
is in sleep mode it is seldom going to be more convenient
to squint at a little screen than just unlock your
computer and look properly. Ultimately, SideShow was
designed for use with laptops and that's where it
should stay.
Another innovation that's new to the 420, and to
us, and which we think is rather more useful is the
rubberised recess in the top panel. It doesn't do
anything particularly clever, indeed it doesn't do
anything at all. It's there simply to securely store
USB hard drives, MP3 players, and all the other detritus
that collects on top of your PC. Considering the amount
of times I've nearly destroyed my various gadgets
by knocking them off the top of my PC, I can certainly
appreciate this subtle little addition.
Moving back round to the front we find the standard
combination of two USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire 400 port,
and two 3.5mm jack sockets for your headphones and
a microphone. These are accompanied by a multi-format
card reader, the Xcelerator panel, and two flip down
drive bay covers behind which sit, at least in our
case, a DVD-/+RW drive and a DVD-ROM CD-/+RW combo
drive. The whole lot is nicely incorporated into the
front panel so as to maintain the sleek black lines
as much as possible and, though it doesn't come close
to the likes of Apple's iMac or Mac Pro when it comes
to making normally ugly connections and drives bays
look good, it certainly looks pretty decent.
This Xcelerator front panel is actually part of a
combined upgrade that includes a hybrid digital/analogue
TV tuner expansion card that's situated round the
back. As well as giving you the ability to watch TV
on your PC, the S-Video and composite video inputs
also enable you to record video from analogue sources
like your VCR or old camcorder. As well as this, though,
the Xcelerator incorporates a video transcoder chip
that purportedly speeds up the re-encoding of certain
video formats so you can quickly convert your video
ready for playing back on your PSP or iPod, for instance.
Unfortunately, the way this is implemented leaves
a lot to be desired.
Rather than having a dedicated mini app that enables
you to quickly and easily convert your video, Dell
has chosen to bundle in Roxio Media Creator to perform
this task. The upshot of which is you need to rummage
through the thoroughly unintuitive software to perform
a simple file conversion. And even then, I couldn't
actually find the file formats I wanted. Moreover
the usefulness of the analogue video input seems to
be very limited as nearly all video sources are now
stored digitally. In other words, unless you're planning
on converting your old home video or VHS collections
then don't bother with the Xcelerator.
To either side of the front panel are two ventilation
openings for the intake fan that sits behind. There's
no particular merit in having this gaping hole in
the side but it does give the 420 series a unique
style and I wouldn't say it's a disagreeable look.
Furthermore, if you happen to have a bowling alley
in your living room you can use the gap as a convenient
hand dryer.
Round the back things are very sparse with much of
the standard motherboard output panel blanked out
by a plastic insert. That's not to say the 420's lacking
in connections though. You still get six USB 2.0 ports,
a 10/100/1000Mbps (yes, that's Gigabit) Ethernet port,
eSATA and Firewire 400 ports, five analogue audio
outputs and an optical digital audio output. The nVidia
GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card also provides you with
two dual link DVI outputs for connecting up to two
monitors. And, courtesy the optional Xcelerator/TV
card, there's also inputs for a TV aerial, S-Video
and composite video. All in all, unless you have some
particularly old peripherals that require serial,
parallel, or PS/2 ports, or if you particularly require
wireless networking, the Dell XPS 420 has all the
connectivity you should need.
There are a number of keyboard and mouse options
available on the Dell website with the Logitech EX110
keyboard and MX Revolution mouse being about the best
of the bunch. However, we received just the basic
wired keyboard and mouse as well as a Windows Media
Center Remote.
The keyboard is the usual cut-down design that Dell
has been using for a while but this time with an array
of multimedia buttons added to the top right. Being
used to slim style keyboards in this day and age,
I find the high keys a bit difficult to work with
and the action is rather spongy - making it difficult
to tell if you've pressed a key or not - but I've
certainly used worse.
Likewise, the mouse is better than some cheap bundled
affairs but is far surpassed by more enthusiast devices.
Using the included mouse mat it tracks well and is
OK for desktop use but if you plan on doing a bit
of gaming I'd look elsewhere. Also, the shape of the
mouse feels very odd with its cutaway sides and symmetric
shape leaving very little to actually get hold of.
Being a Dell, it's highly unlikely you will ever venture
into the bowels of your PC but if you do fancy a rummage
around, the chunky handle-cum-lever on the top makes
it very easy to pop the side panel off. Unusually,
the case is arranged in a BTX form factor so all the
components are in odd positions and it's the right
side panel that's removable as opposed to the left.
Unfortunately, the rarity of BTX means upgrading your
motherboard will be a complete no-no and the odd internal
arrangement means adding extra expansion cards will
be difficult and extra storage impossible. However,
swapping hard drives, adding extra RAM, or upgrading
you CPU should just about be manageable.
Looking at the internal hardware in a bit more detail,
the 420 range starts with the D01X401, which will
set you back £549. This gets you a dual-core
Intel E4400 processor (2GHz, 2MB, 800MHz), 1GB of
RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and very basic ATI 2400 Pro
graphics. Suffice to say, this isn't a configuration
we'd recommend as you can get the same low power hardware
in a much smaller and prettier chassis.
The system we're looking at, the D01X409, costs $1,999
and has a number of significant upgrades. First is
the processor that is quad-core and runs at a higher
clock speed - it's an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 running
at 2.4Ghz, with 8MB L2 Cache, to be precise. This
is accompanied by 3GB RAM running at 667Mz, and 640GB
of hard drive space (actually 2 x 320GB hard drives
configured in a RAID-0 for lightening fast read/write
speeds). Completing the package is a super fast 8800
GTX graphics card and the Xcelerator module. This
is a top notch set of hardware that will be more than
enough for most people's needs, even if you're past
times include video editing and playing the latest
games.
Finally, topping out the range is the D01X406 that
is basically identical to the review system but includes
a Blu-ray drive, ships with a copy of Adobe Elements
Studio and is aimed at the video editing enthusiast.
At the moment this system has a whopping $650 off
the normal asking price ($2,100down from $2,600) and
comes in at only $95 more expensive than the model
we're looking at so if you can stretch your budget
just a tiny amount I'd recommend going for that one
as it's a bargain. Indeed, even comparing to a DIY
system, that price is very impressive.
Given the quality array of components in this PC,
it's no surprise performance is impressive and during
general use we were never left wanting. The RAID-0
configured hard drives make boot times, video editing,
and game loading times noticeably faster and the combination
of the Q6600 processor and 8800 GTX graphics powered
through everything we could throw at them. Crysis
still remains a real challenge when it's cranked up
to its fullest but this is certainly not something
that can be held against Dell - there's simply no
single graphics card on the planet that can cope with
Crysis when played at its highest settings at high
resolutions.
Dell has for a while had a partnership with Google
whereby its PCs come preloaded with Google Desktop
Sidebar in place of Vista's usual sidebar. Unfortunately,
many of the SideShow mini apps also use the Windows
Sidebar so you'll have to revert back to the Windows
version if you want to get the best from MiniView.
You also get the aforementioned Roxio Media Creator
software and Microsoft Works 8.0 so, even taking into
account my earlier misgivings, you at least have enough
software to do most common tasks straight away.
Adding further to the sense of value, these systems
come with a one year on-site XPS premium warranty
that includes gaming support. Essentially, this means
you can call Dell's hotline and receive help and advice
on how to get the latest games and applications working,
as well as receive other general help. This is a big
step above what most warranty services provide.
Verdict
Dell's latest midi-tower powerhouse is a bit of a
mixed bag. It has a few innovative features, like
the Xcelerator and SideShow display, but they feel
like a bit of an afterthought and only one of them
is really any use and that's the rubber tray. However,
there's no denying the great value of these systems,
especially considering the current discounts Dell
are offering. In particular, the Blu-ray equipped
D01X406 is an absolute steal and if it stays at its
current $2,399 price, I'd definitely recommend it.
And even our review model is well worth a look, with
its £60 off.
Normally we include in the main body of a PC review
a section about the speakers that come with it, if
there are any. However, the ones that we got with
the XPS 420 aren't actually available as an option
with the 420, even though you can get them separately
on the Dell website. So, we've tacked on this short
separate review of the set instead.
Oops! The remote is actually the Media Center one
that ships with the PC and not part of the speaker
set.
Coming in at $2,500, the WL6000s are fairly cheap
for a 5.1 set and, considering they sound pretty decent
and include wireless rear speakers, they aren't bad
value either.
I say speakers, the rear channels are actually incorporated
into one unit (the large, wide one), which houses
the speakers, a wireless receiver, and amplifier.
Of course, wireless power has yet to be perfected
so the rear set still requires a power adapter. However,
for the space conscious this simple solution saves
most of the hassle of a surround set.
To compensate for their narrow placement, the two
speakers are angled outwards to utilise the acoustics
of the room to fill out the rear soundstage. The effect
is quite satisfying though you obviously don't get
the kind of special placement you'd get from a properly
positioned separate set.
Also the center speaker is meant for connecting to
the underside of Dell monitors - which explains the
strange clip on its top - but does have a universal
attachment so it can be used with any monitor. Unfortunately
all said attachment consists of is a flat plate to
replace the clip, to neaten it up, and there seems
to be no sensible way of resting it atop or under
a normal monitor. I gave up in the end and used sellotape.
So, it's probably a safe bet to only go for this set
if you have a matching Dell monitor.
Overall the set excelled, all things considered,
when watching films and playing games and it was only
the music performance that let things down a bit.
This is due to the noticeable separation of the low
frequencies coming from the subwoofer and the upper
frequencies coming from the satellite speakers. The
hole that's left in the middle makes music sound rather
hollow.
Verdict
Dell's WL6000 are a good compromise between sound
quality, ease of use, and price and would perfectly
complement any Dell monitor quipped multimedia PC.
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