Dell's new Inspiron 530 desktop computers start out at an excellent budget price, although the components you get for the $400 original sticker price aren't exactly cutting edge.

For example, the default processor at baseline is only a 1.6GHz Intel Celeron 420. If you want more oomph for running Vista and other applications, you can upgrade to a dual-core CPU for a reasonable price. Dell includes fairly fast memory on these desktops: you get 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM. For more core power you can double it to 2GB for an extra $100--and while these two upgrades add 50 percent to the system cost, they give you a completely different machine for a still respectable $600.

The rest of the components on these desktop computers start pretty low-end as well. The optical drive is a combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive that can burn CDs and play DVD movies, but does not have any DVD writing capabilities. You can upgrade to DVD writer for a reasonable cost.

Storage is a bit more respectable on these desktop computers, with a 160GB 7,200rpm hard drive. It'll give you a decent amount of room to install applications as well as house multimedia files. Dell also offers their DataSafe secured storage and data recovery options on these desktop computers. Basically preconfigured RAID 1 hard drives, DataSafe comes with a second hard drive that mirrors the first to keep a constant backup of your data.

Graphics are integrated on the 530, so they will not be good gaming desktop computers by default. You can upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS with 128MB of dedicated video memory for a quite respectable $50. It's not the most cutting-edge graphics option available, but it&'ll definitely give you a boost over the integrated graphics.

But by the time you've made all of these upgrades, another option to consider is to buy a pre-built 530 from Dell online or at one of their brick-and-mortar stores. This can actually help you get the best deal. For example, they offer an Inspiron 530 that's powered by a 2.0GHz Pentium Core 2 Duo E4400 processor, ships with Windows Vista Home Premium edition, and offers a better set of components than their bare-bones desktop computer.

This pre-configured 530 ships with a 320GB hard drive, the DVD writer, and the 19-inch monitor, so if you were considering adding one or more of these upgrades to your system, you're better off getting the pre-built version. Just the processor and the monitor alone make up for the extra cost and you get the rest of the components as part of the bargain.

Either way, the system will ship with a basic mouse and keyboard combo from Dell. If you want more robust input devices, it's another upgrade. The front of the silver mid-sized tower features four USB ports for connecting high-speed peripherals easily. There's no floppy drive or media card reader, although you can add a 13-in-1 media card reader for $20, letting you transfer files and photos from a digital camera or PDA easily.

The software bundle includes Microsoft Works 8 but doesn't have any of the Office software that you might be used to. You can upgrade to the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 edition for under $150 if you need to have the full-fledged suite.

Dell offers one year of warranty coverage on these desktop computers which includes in-home service if necessary and 24/7 telephone tech support. They also offer a year of online backup where you can store up to 3GB of your files in a protected location.

The Dell Inspiron 530 desktop computers start out at a very budget-oriented price, but if you're considering any upgrades--and you probably should--purchasing a pre-built model from Dell is a much better deal.


Pro: Great starting price, good pre-built options available
Con: No monitor included

Warranty
1 year, limited