The Compaq Evo D510 E-pc is small fry compared to other corporate system designs we've seen--at least in size. Weighing a little over 9 pounds and measuring 12.2 inches in depth and 3.8 inches in height, it's one of the smallest corporate PCs available. The box has many of the same system management features as in others from the D510 line. Compaq's array of manageability tools, dubbed Intelligent Manageability, includes such features as remote system diagnostics via a Web browser, remote system wake-up, and the ability to disable USB and serial ports and to lock down the BIOS to secure boot-up sequences, among many others. The black-and-silver 15-inch Compaq 5500 CRT monitor included with our review unit delivered above-average image quality. Colors looked especially bright, and text was crisp and sharp. The E-pc, which is ideal for corporate data-entry applications, can be easily mounted on a wall or placed under a desk (a bracket is included with the unit). There's no internal floppy drive, and expansion options are minimal. Our unit had no open drive bays and no free memory or PCI slots. The model we tested included a 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 and 512MB of 266-MHZ DDR SDRAM. With a score of 105 on our PC WorldBench 4 benchmark tests, it performed well below the average score of about 111 for systems with this processor. Although our test unit's CRT monitor produced fine images, we think a 15-inch LCD would be a better match for such a small PC. The case is tightly designed, but adding memory is easy enough; to access the motherboard, however, you'll first have to remove a series of components, including a large fan and a tray that holds the internal hard drive--and accessing and removing components isn't as simple as in the E-pc's sibling model, the D510 Small Form Factor. The E-pc has a fine selection of management tools and enough options to satisfy basic computing needs--but it's best suited for situations where the first question asked is: "Where will the PC go?"
Buying Information
Compaq Evo D510 E-pc PC WorldBench4 score of 105, 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of DDR266 SDRAM, Windows XP Professional, 40GB hard drive, 24X-48X CD-ROM drive, integrated Intel 845G graphics using system memory, integrated sound, 15-inch Compaq 5500 CRT monitor, network adapter, compact case; Intelligent Manageability software suite. Three-year parts and labor warranty; lifetime 24-hour daily toll-free support. $ 1147 PC WorldBench4 score of 105, 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of DDR266 SDRAM, Windows XP Professional, 40GB hard drive, 24X-48X CD-ROM drive, integrated Intel 845G graphics using system memory, integrated sound, 15-inch Compaq 5500 CRT monitor, network adapter, compact case; Intelligent Manageability software suite. Three-year parts and labor warranty; lifetime 24-hour daily toll-free support.
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