Dell's Dimension E520 series of desktop computers for business users are versatile and customizable towers that start at a great price and offer reasonable upgrades to suit your small or medium business needs.

These business desktop computers are built around Intel's Pentium D processors featuring Dual Core technology. The default CPU is the 2.66GHz 805 CPU, although you can step up to the 2.8GHz 915 Pentium D for $80. You can also move up to Intel's latest Core 2 Duo E6300 processor which clocks in at 1.86GHz but is actually a better performer for a $200 upgrade. Whichever processor you choose, these systems are Windows Vista ready, so you'll be able to upgrade to Microsoft's new operating system smoothly.

Dell is currently offering a free 512MB of memory if you order directly through them. This gives you a full 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 memory, a great amount of RAM for multitasking or performing intensive tasks. The E520 ships with one Dimm slot, and an upgrade to four is $445, which you may want to consider for future memory upgrades.

Hard drive space starts out at a respectable 160GB on a 7,200rpm drive with these desktop computers for business users. You can beef up the storage to 250GB for a reasonable $40. Another option for users concerned about data loss is Dell's DataSafe drives. This setup features twin drives in a RAID backup configuration, automatically saving a copy of any new file created. This keeps a mirror of your data available in the event of a hard drive crash or even an accidental file deletion. The 160GB DataSafe configuration is $80 over the baseline price.

The optical drive on these business desktop computers is a 16x DVD-ROM drive with the capability to burn your own DVDs. Should you want to upgrade, a DVD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive is only $30 more.

Even with their sub-$700 price tag, these desktop computers for business users ship with a monitor. And not just a basic CRT - the default display is a 17-inch flat panel monitor. (For larger screen space, you can move up to a 19-inch display for $80.) The E520's baseline price includes an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 LE with 256MB of dedicated memory, which isn't common on business desktop computers, and will help immensely if you'll be doing enough graphics or video editing.

These desktop computers for business users start out at a great price, but part of that cost saving comes in the form of Windows XP Media Center '05 as the default operating system. Most businesses would benefit from the additional networking tools and other features that Microsoft includes in the Professional version of XP, which is a fairly costly upgrade of nearly $100.

There's no floppy drive on the E520, but most business desktop computers leave out these components. The integrated Ethernet interface lets you hook these systems up to your office network, and adding a 13-in-1 media card reader, an inexpensive upgrade, will transfer files from your PDA or peripheral onto the system easily.

The input devices that Dell includes with the E520 are rather basic, including a standard USB keyboard and a non-optical mouse. You can upgrade to a multimedia keyboard and an optical mouse for $25 and $10, respectively, or you can cut the cords and get the Dell Bluetooth wireless mouse and keyboard combo for $75.

Dell includes only Microsoft Works 8 with these business desktop systems. If you need Microsoft Word, you can upgrade to the Works Suite 2006 at reasonable cost. Or, if you need more Office applications, you can upgrade to the Basic Edition of Office which includes Word, Excel, and Outlook.

The E520 comes with a one-year limited warranty with on-site service, a bit shorter than we like to see on business desktop computers. But if you're looking for a low-cost, well-rounded small or medium desktop computer for business, the Dell Dimension E520 is an excellent buy.

Pros: Good core power, very customizable, nice starting price
Cons: Some upgrades a bit expensive

Warranty
1-year limited