IBM's NetVista range of PCs is available in a variety of flavours, with different displays, processors, software and other components. The one we looked at, the A40, is aimed at the SME (small- to medium-sized enterprise) market.

Inside the unique, black, mini-tower case is an Intel Pentium III 866MHz processor, socket-mounted on one of Intel's 815 ATX motherboards. This board has two DIMM memory slots, one of which is used in the standard specification, with a 128MB SDRAM module. Providing storage for the PC is a 20GB Quantum Fireball LCT15 hard drive - not stunningly fast, but quick enough for general business use, and it helps keep the price down. There's a black-fronted LG CD-RW drive built into the case, which can handle 8-speed write operations and 32-speed playback.

Continuing the black design theme set by this PC's case is the keyboard, which has its own wrist-rest, and also the mouse. Even the monitor, a 17-inch IBM-branded unit, has a black casing. This is actually a very nice display, at least up to a resolution of 1024 x 768. Contrast and colour balance are good, and the screen is almost perfectly flat in both dimensions. The image is pretty sharp, too, and the on-screen menu system is easy to navigate.

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This monitor is driven by an Intel 82815 graphics adapter, which is built into the motherboard and forms part of the main chipset. This is not a particularly fast graphics controller, at least relative to many of the dedicated graphics cards on the market, although it will suffice for standard 2D business applications. It's certainly not cut out for 3D gaming, but as this machine is primarily aimed at the business market, that's exactly the point. Gamers, be off with you...

There's not a huge amount of expansion potential offered by the Intel motherboard. There are two free PCI slots and an AGP port free, but that's all. The only expansion card in the system is a PCI V.90 fax modem, while sound support is provided, but not by an expansion card. Instead, like the graphics adapter, 16-bit sound is built into the motherboard. Colour-coded ports at the rear of the system should make it easy to set up.

Cunningly, the system features a backup and restore system, which stores a copy of the main drive partition on a hidden partition, for simple restore should you need it. Since the machine gives the option of restoring this partition at boot time, there's no need to mess around with boot disks should things go horribly wrong. Still not an excuse for failing to back up your data, but it's a sensible feature nonetheless.

The NetVista PC comes equipped with Windows 2000, along with a pre-installed copy of MS Office Small Business Edition. For those who prefer it, a licence is included for Lotus SmartSuite, but you have to send off for the actual product.

For business users, a few tweaks to the specification would have to be made - for example, a network adapter would be more appropriate than the modem. On the other hand, the price is fair, the monitor is good, performance is acceptable and there's a level of attention to detail that's often lacking in this sector of the market. The built-in hard drive partition restore function is a good idea, as is the provision of a CD-RW drive for backups. All things considered, then, it's not a bad effort from Big Blue.