Dell OptiPlex 5060 Small Form Factor Don’t call it boring A story often told by civil engineers is that if you looked up ‘Boring’ in the Yellow Pages, it used to say ‘See Civil Engineers’. Of course, this was in recognition of their expertise at making big holes in the ground. Civil engineers didn’t like … Read more
Once upon a time, all PCs were beige. Read our CCL Reaper GT. No matter what brand you picked, your computer came wrapped in the same putty-coloured, grainy-textured plastic. Then laptops got small enough to be carried around like a briefcase, and somebody noticed briefcases were black, not beige. So portable PCs became black, and gradually … Read more
Dell offers a flexible mini tower design to interest business customers DETAILS • Price: £289 ex. VAT and shipping • Manufacturer: Dell • Website: www.dell.co.uk There is something delightfully retro about the Dell Vostro 3900 Mini Tower. The designers placed the PSU at the top of the case where they all once resided, and a mini bay … Read more
PC Specialist Vulcan X 02 – Illogically capable, Captain How much do you need to spend for a good PC? It sometimes feels like one of those unanswerable questions, like how long is a piece of string or why do people still watch Big Brother. If we had to give a number, though, based on nearly … Read more
DELL XPS 27 All-in-One – all-in-one windows pc VERDICT A great-looking, great-sounding all-in-one with a fast processor, but it is exceptionally expensive WE’VE SEEN PLENTY of PC manufacturers try to emulate the success of the iMac, but far fewer have attempted to make something completely different that plays to Windows’ strengths. That changes with the … Read more
A fast PC without breaking the bank There are two ways to build an above average PC for a given price. One previously favored by Crewe-based manufacturer Palicomp is to buy a relatively affordable processor from AMD, Intel’s distant rival, and overclock it – much like those enthusiasts who install jet engines on the back … Read more
Kaby Lake may sound like a new out-of-town shopping mall somewhere in the Midlands, but actually it’s Intel’s latest range of processors. On the face of it, a new out-of-town shopping mall in the Midlands would be more exciting: these chips aren’t a huge step forward from the Skylake series that’s been worming its … Read more
Just as a Chromebook is a laptop that runs Google’s web-based Chrome OS instead of Windows, a Chromebox is a low-cost desktop PC based on Chrome’s operating system. Most people will need Windows for their main PC, but if you want an extra machine simply to browse the web, use email and social media and … Read more
Tiny body, big power Corsair’s no stranger to PC building. Apart from having a wide range of components under its belt, from cases to power supplies, it’s also had a go with the Bulldog kit PC. It was an odd first choice for the company, and a product that seemed to be a solution in … Read more
A simpler all-in-one computer Compared to Dell’s bigger and pricier XPS 27 all-in-one, the 24in Inspiron looks more restrained and businesslike. Instead of an in-your-face multi-speaker grille, you get a neat, dark grey front with elegantly slim bezels and a more conventional grille below the screen, through which the built-in audio sounds decent. [wpsm_toplist] [sc … Read more
Plenty of modelling power in a small package, but not the best choice if you’re after all-round ability Lenovo inherited IBM’s workstation with its ThinkPads, so the division along ThinkStation P310 Tower sits in a rather illustrious line of computing. The P310 looks tiny compared to the towers elsewhere, but don’t imagine it lacks potency. With an Intel … Read more
This very capable desktop PC manages to keep its top-end components cool with the aid of just one 120mm fan, which is barely audible except for a low whine when hard work calls it into action. That’s less surprising when you peek through the glass side panel of the Phanteks Eclipse P300 case and do … Read more