Dell's new Dimension E310 series of home computers provides entry-level multimedia performance in a complete system at an excellent bargain price. Starting at around $499, the E310s ship with a monitor and a decent laundry list of components.

Those components include a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 processor and 256MB of 400MHz DDR2 memory. Both of these can be upgraded inexpensively, and you'll probably want to take the memory up to at least 512MB, which will add $40 to the sticker price. Another $40 will get you the 3.0GHz P4 while $90 will take you to the 3.2GHz processor.

Dell uses Microsoft Windows XP Media Center edition for the E310's operating system, giving you advanced multimedia tools. You can also opt to add a TV tuner for $100 that includes a remote control and lets you record and watch TV on your system.

There's an 80GB 7,200rpm hard drive providing decent storage space, although if you do go with that TV tuner, you'll find that video will fill that drive up rather quickly. For $50, you can double the storage space up to 160GB.

Dell also offers their DataSafe technology on this system line. By using Norton Ghost 10 and the built in RAID 1 hard drive interface, DataSafe mirrors your primary drive with a second "hidden" drive, letting you completely restore your system in event of a hard drive crash, virus infection, or other problem. The 80GB version of DataSafe is $99 over baseline, while the 160GB version is $160.

The E310's optical drive starts out rather basic, with only a 16X DVD-ROM drive on the system, letting you play DVD movies and not much more. You can make it a combination 48X CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive for $40, letting you burn your own audio and data CDs. For $80, you can step up to a 16X DVD+/-RW drive that will burn to CD, DVD, and even double layer DVD media with 8.5GB capacity that will house up to four hours of video.

Dell doesn't include a floppy drive on the E310, although you can add one for a rather hefty $30. A more practical option may be the 13-in-1 media card reader for $20, which can handle almost any type of removable storage media that you use in your digital camera or PDA including new formats like Mini-SD and Memory Stick Duo Pro. You can opt for both floppy drive and media card reader for $50 over the baseline price.

Gamers might be disappointed by the integrated graphics on the E310. The graphics share system memory with the main RAM, so if you'll be gaming on this PC, it's another strong argument for a memory upgrade. They're also not the best for 3D gaming, and some of today's newer games won't even run on the system. The motherboard doesn't have an AGP slot or a PCI Express 16x slot, so if you want to upgrade the graphics down the road, you'll have to find a PCI or an even more rare PCIe 1x graphics card for the system.

Dell packs all these components inside a well-designed black and silver chassis. The tower features six USB 2.0 ports, with two of them up front for easy connection of high-speed peripherals. There's also a headphone jack on the front of the system, so you can listen to music or movies in private without having to reach around behind the tower.

The system starts cheaply and, incredibly, includes a monitor at that price point. Admittedly, it's only a 15-inch flat panel, but it's a respectable display that will work well for most users. If you're looking for a little more glitz and glamour with your system, you can upgrade the monitor for a modest addition in price. Dell offers their LCD TVs as options to pair with the E310. They're great to look at and perfect if you're going for that TV tuner upgrade, but the 19-inch LCD TV more than doubles the system price at $270.

Like the graphics, audio is also integrated and it's only two-channel sound. Dell offers a $25 upgrade to SoundBlaster Audigy audio--it's still integrated, but it gives you 5.1-channel sound output which enhances your movie watching and game playing experience. There aren't any speakers bundled with the system, although you can add a two-speaker set to the E310 for $25.

Input devices are rather basic, with a plain USB keyboard and two-button non-optical mouse provided. Dell offers an upgrade to a wireless keyboard and mouse combination for $50 which not only cuts the cords, but gives you an optical mouse and a keyboard with a range of programmable hotkeys.

Dell includes Corel's WordPerfect word processor with the system, and you can upgrade to a more full-fledged suite of office applications. For example, Microsoft Works Suite 2006, which includes Microsoft Word, is included. And the Basic Edition of Microsoft Office with Word, Excel, and Outlook is a reasonable $80.

Dell offers a one-year warranty on the E310 with extensions available. Two years of coverage is an extra $80 while three years with the addition of night and weekend tech support is $150.

Dell's Dimension E310 series of home computers aren't for everyone. But if you don't care about playing the latest 3D games, this inexpensive systems offer decent multimedia performance in a complete package.

Pros: Monitor included, excellent price
Cons: Integrated graphics

Warranty
1 year limited