Budget PCs group test
(Big Red, Carrera, Hi-Grade, NEC, Simply, Viglen)
Introduction
Big Red - Explorer 550
Carrera - Lynx M533
Hi-Grade - Ultis PV3-600
NEC - Direction SP-533V
Simply - Systemax C600RV
Viglen - HomePro C600PLr
Features table
Verdict
Features table
(08/08/2000)
| Model | Big Red Explorer 550 | Carrera Lynx M533 | Hi-Grade Ultis PV3-600 | NEC Direction SP-533V | Simply Systemax C600RV | Viglen HomePro C600PLr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telephone number | 08700 711117 | 020 8307 2805 | 020 8532 6100 | 0870 333 6329 | 08707 297644 | 020 8753 7000 |
| Price | £704 (£599 + VAT) | £704 (£599 + VAT) | £704 (£599 + VAT) | £704 (£599 + VAT) | £704 (£599 + VAT) | £704 (£599 + VAT) |
| Warranty | 5 years, first on-site, rest b-to-b, labour only | 2 years on-site | 1 year on-site | 1 year on-site | 3 years back to base, 2 and 3, labour only | 1 year on-site |
| Delivery | £29 | £34 | £15 | £35 | £29 | Included in price |
| Processor type | 550MHz Pentium III | 533MHz Celeron | 600MHz Celeron | 533MHz Celeron | 600MHz Celeron E | 600MHz Celeron E |
| Supplied memory (MB) | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| Secondary cache (KB) | 256 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
| Hard drive | 9.51GB Maxtor | 12.6GB IBM | 12.7GB Fujitsu | 19.0GB Quantum | 14.2GB Maxtor | 9.5GB Fujitsu |
| DVD/ CDROM make & speed | Acer, 50x CD | Panasonic, 10x DVD | Pioneer, 10x DVD | Samsung, 40x CD | Pioneer, 10x DVD | Pioneer, 10x DVD |
| Other drives and devices | Floppy, V.90 modem | Floppy, V.90 modem | Floppy, V.90 modem | Zip 100, floppy, V.90 modem | LS-120 Superdisk, V.90 modem | Floppy, V.90 modem |
| Free expansion slots | 2 ISA, 3 PCI | 3 PCI | 3 PCI | 1 ISA, 3 PCI | 2 PCI | 2 PCI |
| Monitor | 15-inch Smile CA6525DL | 17-inch Hansol 710A | 17-inch Hi-Grade CM700 | 17-inch NEC VR17 | 17-inch CTX PL7 | 17-inch Viglen CM700 |
| Video adapter | 16MB S3 Savage 4 | Main mem Intel 810 | Main mem Intel 810E | Main mem Intel 810 | Main mem Intel 810E | Main mem Intel 810E + 4MB |
| Ports: Serial, USB, Parallel | 2 x 9, 2 x USB, 1 | 2 x 9, 2 x USB, 1 | 2 x 9, 2 x USB, 1 | 1 x 9, 1 x USB, 1 | 1 x 9, 2 x USB, 1 | 1 x 9, 2 x USB, 1 |
| Mouse | Microsoft | Microsoft | Logitech Pilot Plus | Logitech Pilot Plus | Logitech Pilot Plus | Microsoft |
| Bundled software | Smart Suite ME, WP Suite 2000, Via Voice, 3 games CD/ modem/ sound utils | Smart Suite ME, DVD/ modem/ sound utils | Smart Suite ME, Norton AV, Norton Ghost, CD/ modem/ sound utils | Works Suite 2000, Act!, AND Route 99, Norton AV, CD/ modem/ sound utils | Works Suite 2000, ACID music, 4 games CD/ modem/ sound utils | Works Suite 2000, DVD/ modem/ sound utils |
| Sound card | ESDX CMI 8738 | Intel/ Crystal Audio | Intel/ Crystal Audio | Intel/ Crystal Audio | Intel/ SoundMax | Intel/ SoundMax |
| Speakers | Navigator AN-2000 | Altec Lansing ACS22 | TEAC Pmax 80/2 | Labtec LCS1016 | Creative SBS52 | Altec Lansing ACS33 |
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