Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC

This Dell Vostro PC has good specifications for business users, but its 3D performance is not impressive

PC World Australia (online)

The Dell Vostro 320 is an all-in-one PC aimed at the business market. Our test PC had a dual-core Pentium Core 2 Duo E7400 processor running at 2.8GHz, 2GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive and integrated Intel G41 graphics running its 19in 1440x900 LCD screen — but it can be ordered in a range of specifications. Its performance makes it a good choice for general Web browsing and productivity applications, but if your business needs include 3D graphics processing then you’ll need to look elsewhere for more PC power.

Pros

  • Low price, innovative all-in-one design may appeal to businesses looking to steamline their office environment

Cons

  • USB keyboard/mouse receiver occupies a USB port, comparatively low screen resolution, 3D graphics performance poor

Bottom Line

Dell's Vostro 320 aims to bring an all-in-one PC design to the business realm, offering a steamlined look and feel, while still offering good computing power, for general business tasks. It can run business applications with ease, and it achieved reasonable performance benchmark scores in our tests. It doesn't have any major flaws, but we would have liked the wireless receiver for the keyboard and mouse to be built into the Dell Vostro 320's, not occupy a USB port.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 999.00 (AUD)

Special Offers

Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC design

The Dell Vostro 320 is a simple, business-like interpretation of an all-in-one PC — and it looks very similar to the equally minimalist Dell Inspiron One 19. A satin, black bezel of approximately 3cm surrounds the entire screen, although the internal speakers at the base extend the lower bezel to approximately 10cm. A wireless keyboard and mouse are bundled with the Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC, and they are finished in the same semi-gloss coating. Annoyingly, the wireless receiver for the keyboard and mouse must be plugged into an external USB port rather than being built into the Dell Vostro 320's body. An integrated stand at the rear of the PC's chassis allows for the screen to sit almost vertically, with a maximum tilt angle of around forty degrees — making it easy to adjust for a range of desk heights and viewing angles.

The input and output ports of the Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC are located at the rear of the device and on the right fascia of the screen. Power, USB, Ethernet connections, as well as PS/2 and legacy serial and parallel ports, can also be found at the rear of the PC. The ports are accessed through a hole in the Dell Vostro 320's stand, which also is useful to tidy your cables. The side mounted ports include additional USB sockets (the Dell Vostro 320 has a total of six), headphone/microphone jacks, as well as a multi-purpose memory card reader. There is an easily accessible FireWire port located on the side of the PC.

Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC performance

The Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC is preinstalled with Windows 7 Professional and it also includes a disc with the Windows 7 Professional operating system, as well as a version with Windows XP Professional included free of charge. Whether your business is moving to the newer Windows 7 operating system or sticking with the tried-and-true Windows XP, the Vostro 320 all-in-one PC is suitable for both environments.

Our test PC had a mid-range Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo processor, the 2.8GHz-clocked E7400. This is slightly different to the units that can be purchased on Dell's Web site, which can be optioned with a 2.93GHz E7500 or 2.7GHz E5300 CPU as well as having 4GB of RAM and a larger 500GB hard drive. With these specifications you can expect slightly better all-round performance from the Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC.

The Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC achieved moderate performance results in our WorldBench 6 benchmarks tests. The PC's low-end integrated graphics means the Vostro 320 all-in-one PC will suffer when performing any 3D-heavy graphics tasks, but its processor is capable enough to run business applications with ease.

All-in-one PC Performance Benchmarks
Model Price WorldBench 6 3DMark06 iTunes Encoding
(minutes)		 Blender 3D
rendering
Dell Vostro 320 $999 107 817 1m 17s 1m 19s
Dell Inspiron One 19 $999 N/A 821 1m 8s 1m 9s
Lenovo ThinkCentre A70z $999 N/A 828 1m 6s 1m 9s
ASUS Eee Top ET2002 $999 36 N/A 6m 40s 3m 42s
HP Pavilion All-In-One MS212a $1199 58 N/A 3m 5s 2m 27s
Medion AKOYA P4010 $1299 87 1316 1m 21s 1m 23s
Apple iMac $1599 N/A N/A 37.1s N/A
Dell Studio One 19 $1888 100 1524 57s 1m

The Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC has enough power to run business applications such as word processors, Web browsers or other productivity software. The dual-core processor means users can multitask without incurring a performance hit. If your business needs 3D rendering capabilities you should look to purchase a more powerful machine. Otherwise, the Dell Vostro 320 all-in-one PC is a good upgrade if you want to streamline your desktop by dumping your bulky PC desktop with a separate monitor setup.

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Read more on these topics: dell, Dell Vostro, desktop pcs,

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