Content area
Full Text
Product Reviews
Desktop PCs shouldn't be any larger than they have to be, especially since they must compete with the glut of desktop replacement notebooks flooding the market. The extra bulk is just a waste of space. While IBM's ThinkCentre is a highly recognized, small-form-factor machine, there are models from other manufacturers that solution providers should consider. CHN Test Center engineers evaluated two new small-form-factor desktops. One is a fairly small yet still upgradable businessclass system from MPC Computers, and the other is a flashier system from AOpen that's better suited for smaller companies that want some visible flair in their office space.
MPC CLIENTPRO 365
MFC's ClientPro 365 desktop doesn't take up much space, yet it still has room for expansion. The PC is based on a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor and runs Windows XP Professional. The chassis measures 4 x 13.7 x 16 inches and can be set up in either a vertical or horizontal configuration. The ClientPro features one 5.25inch external drive bay loaded with a 52X CD-RW drive, one empty 5.25-inch internal/external bay and one 3.5-inch internal/ external bay that houses the system's hard drive. Inside the system are two PCI slots: one xl PCI Express slot and one x!6 PCI Express graphics slot.
MPC equipped the system with 512 Mbytes of memory (expandable to 4 Gbytes), a Seagate 80-Gbyte Serial ???-150 hard drive, integrated Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and an integrated Intel GMA 900 graphics card. The system also features eight USB 2.0 ports (two in front, four in back and two internal),...