Click on the items below to shop, compare and buy. Cons Poor monitor and performance. Verdict Solid, but relatively expensive and underpowered. A multimedia and communications suite, Flying Objects, provides answering machine functionality, and the modem is internally connected to the sound card, allowing it to replay messages through the system speakers. Other software includes IBM s excellent ViaVoice Gold, Microsoft s Home Essentials bundle, plus Thunderbyte anti-virus and Voyetra multimedia tools.
Build quality is good, but some internal cabling is unsecured.
As the motherboard occupies the full height of the case, the PSU overhangs the CPU slot, obscuring access to the DIMM slots and drive connectors. The graphics card is, however, carefully held in place with a plastic retaining strap. Expansion potential is good for a mini-tower PC, with two free externally accessible drive bays, one 3.5in. and one 5.25in. The keyboard has a wristrest and special keys for multimedia and launching applications, while the wheel-equipped mouse is a rebadged Logitech device. The Fujitsu monitor has a slightly dim and unfocussed image, which we were unable to correct.