Mick Lockey

Xi 4256 MTower

The newest member of Xi's Pentium line is the shiny, brushed aluminum-toned 4256 MTower. Powered by Intel's 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 processor (currently its fastest CPU) and teamed with 512MB of PC1066 RDRAM, this MTower turned in a championship performance score of 126 in our PC WorldBench 4 test. Like fame, performance scores are fleeting; but at this writing, the MTower 4256 is the fastest P4 system we've tested. For home and small businesses, the PC comes stocked with a solid software bundle that includes Corel WordPerfect 2002 and StarOffice, a suite of basic office applications. Other software such as a financial management package and a virus scanner can be found on the included PC Works 2002 CD-ROM.
This Mtower's 40GB hard drive is relatively small for a power system: Digital libraries of video files and high-bit-rate encoded MP3s will fill that up quickly. Fortunately, you can order the computer with a 75GB drive instead for an additional $64. Still, this MTower seems a bit pricey, considering that ABS's $1925 Conquest G4 offers triple the hard drive space and, with a 1.73-GHz Athlon XP 2100+ processor, earned a PC WorldBench score of 125. Our test machine had no open memory slots, and cables obstructed one of the three available PCI slots, so adding PCI cards or hard drives could be a little awkward.
The front panel holds an illuminated neon blue LED gauge that lets you monitor the temperature of the processor so you can see if the system is getting too hot. Unfortunately, no documentation was included that describes what is an acceptable temperature and what to do if things get hot. A pitch-black 19-inch ViewSonic G90fb CRT monitor nicely complements the system's silver tones. It rendered the 12-point Arial text we use in our tests crisply and legibly, and colors on photos looked bright and accurate. The black-and-silver keyboard, also by ViewSonic, features rounded edges and an extra-wide size for comfortable typing, as well as a four-direction mouse wheel and three sets of hot-keys to access and control common tasks such as cutting and pasting, doing e-mail, surfing the Web, and adjusting audio volume, among others.The Xi 4256 MTower provides six USB 1.1 ports, four of which are on the rear of the case. There are also two front-mounted USB 2.0 ports, but on our test unit, they weren't connected to the motherboard. No modem was included with our unit. Xi's midsize tower case gives this MTower a fairly roomy interior with six open drive bays (three for hard drives and three for devices such as CD-RW drives). Opening the case is relatively easy--you undo two thumbscrews to slide the side panel off; replacing it proved more difficult, however, as it has to be properly aligned--and fitting the tabs on the side panel into the slots took some effort.
The Xi 4256 Mtower is a stylish system with plenty of processing power and an ample software bundle for general office use, but many users will want to go for a bigger hard drive.

Buying Information

Xi 4256 MTower PC WorldBench 4 score of 126, 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of PC800 RDRAM, Windows XP Professional, 40GB hard drive, 12X DVD-ROM and 40X/12X/40X CD-RW combo drive, Leadtek WinFast Titanium 200 graphics card with 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch Viewsonic G90fb monitor, Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 sound board, Altec Lansing 220 speakers, network adapter, midsize tower case; PC Works Suite 2002. Three-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support. $ 2719 PC WorldBench 4 score of 126, 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of PC800 RDRAM, Windows XP Professional, 40GB hard drive, 12X DVD-ROM and 40X/12X/40X CD-RW combo drive, Leadtek WinFast Titanium 200 graphics card with 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 19-inch Viewsonic G90fb monitor, Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 sound board, Altec Lansing 220 speakers, network adapter, midsize tower case; PC Works Suite 2002. Three-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour toll-free tech support. http://www.xicomputer.com 800/432-0486