Joel Strauch

Compaq Evo D300v

Coming in at under $1000, our Evo D300v test unit covers the basics of office computing without looking cheap. It came in a slick black minitower with matching monitor, keyboard, and mouse. And its integrated Intel PRO/100 network interface is Wake-on-LAN capable, making it ready for any office network, though Compaq doesn't provide an intelligent manageability agent (as found on Compaq's Evo D500 series).
Of course, "basic" often translates to unimpressive components, and in this cost-saving configuration, that's what we got. Our test system came with a basic 24X-48X CD-ROM drive, instead of a rewriteable drive, and a petite 15-inch Compaq V570 CRT monitor. You can upgrade at initial purchase to the 17-inch S720 for $56 or to the 19-inch S920 for $140. However, we have found comparably equipped systems from other vendors (albeit not national name brands) for a bit less.
The smallish monitor did impress us with realistic, accurate flesh tones and vibrant colors in our test photo and easy-to-read (though slightly fuzzy) 12-point Arial text in our test document. While many value systems come with Celeron processors, this Compaq packs a faster-clocked 1.6-GHz Pentium 4 CPU. But combined with 128MB of PC-133 memory and Windows XP Professional, our review system managed a score of only 80 on PC WorldBench 4--eight points (10 percent) lower than a Premio Aries 845M system we tested with a 1.5-GHz P4 processor and the same amount of RAM. An extra dose of memory would likely help the Evo D300v's score. Despite its petite minitower case, this D300v unit leaves some room for expansion or upgrades, with three open PCI slots and one open bay for a removable media drive. The sound system and network interface are already integrated on the motherboard. The graphics system is also integrated. But unlike many PCs that borrow from main system memory for processing graphics, this Evo uses NVidia's Vanta graphics chip with its own dedicated 16MB of RAM.
If you're looking for an inexpensive system to handle routine office tasks, this handsome D300v will look good both on your desktop and in your budget.

Buying Information

Compaq Evo D300v PC WorldBench 4 score of 80, 1.6-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows XP Professional, 20GB hard drive, 24X-48X CD-ROM drive, integrated NVidia Vanta graphics with 16MB of SDRAM, 15-inch monitor, integrated sound, network adapter, minitower case. 1-year parts and labor warranty; free, 24-hour daily tech support. $ 938 PC WorldBench 4 score of 80, 1.6-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows XP Professional, 20GB hard drive, 24X-48X CD-ROM drive, integrated NVidia Vanta graphics with 16MB of SDRAM, 15-inch monitor, integrated sound, network adapter, minitower case. 1-year parts and labor warranty; free, 24-hour daily tech support. http://www.compaq.com 800/345-1518