Mick Lockey

Best Buy Vpr Matrix 253R

The 253R, the first system we have evaluated from Best Buy subsidiary Vpr Matrix, looks slick with a black and brushed-silver case. Our test unit came with a massive amount of disk space--160GB on twin 80GB hard drives attached to an IDE RAID card. It's a good setup for disk-intensive operations like editing digital video. In addition, a DVD/RW drive lets you burn movies to discs that will play in most home DVD players. One handy feature is the placement of two USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire port on the midsize tower's bottom left edge--an area where we don't usually see them. That allows you to easily plug in digital camcorders or USB devices without having cables drooping down the PC's front.
The two matching, globe-shaped Vpr Matrix speakers didn't deliver much punch--a conspicuous shortcoming considering the system's Creative Sound Blaster Live Value 5.1 sound card, which can output Dolby 5.1 surround sound to a high-end speaker set. At moderately high volumes we heard scratchy sound. With no subwoofer, bass notes sounded flat.The black and silver keyboard felt insubstantial, too. It doesn't offer any shortcut keys, and it's narrower than others we've seen. Those with big fingers may find typing on it slightly constricting.
Equipped with a 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 512MB of 266-MHz DDR SDRAM, the Model 253R garnered a score of 119 on PC WorldBench tests--average for systems we have tested with the same processor and RAM.The suave-looking Vpr Matrix 17-inch CRT monitor delivered acceptable image quality. In our tests, we judged its text to be easily readable and fairly crisp at all font sizes. Flesh tones looked realistic in a photo, though colors weren't as bright as those on other 17-inch monitors we've seen. If you want a different monitor, you'll have to choose from non-Vpr Matrix models (which probably won't match the case) because Vpr Matrix sells only the this 17-inch CRT. Check our Top 10 Monitors charts for other options. The system's insides were neatly organized, but our configuration had only one available bay for a removable media drive and one for a hard drive. It had a trio of unoccupied PCI slots, however. Vpr's documentation includes a well-illustrated setup poster and a slim setup guide with a brief troubleshooting section.
If the stylish 253R is any indication, the new Vpr Matrix line shows promise. The basic construction and features are quite good, but we'd like to see a better speaker and monitor selection be available with future models.

Buying Information

Best Buy Vpr Matrix 253R PC WorldBench 4 score of 119, 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of DDR266 SDRAM, Windows XP Home, 80GB hard drive, DVD-RW drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive, NVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200 graphics card with 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 17-inch Vpr Matrix 1796 monitor, Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1 sound card, Vpr Matrix speakers, network adapter, V.92 modem, midsize tower case; Microsoft Works 6.0. 1-year parts and labor warranty; 24-hour/7-day toll-free support. $ 2100 PC WorldBench 4 score of 119, 2.53-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 512MB of DDR266 SDRAM, Windows XP Home, 80GB hard drive, DVD-RW drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive, NVidia GeForce4 Ti 4200 graphics card with 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 17-inch Vpr Matrix 1796 monitor, Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1 sound card, Vpr Matrix speakers, network adapter, V.92 modem, midsize tower case; Microsoft Works 6.0. 1-year parts and labor warranty; 24-hour/7-day toll-free support. http://www.vprmatrix.com 800/332-4800