The Bottom Line
- 19" CRT Monitor Included
- Good Pricing
- Lower Speed CPU
- No Secondary Optical Drive Standard
- No Productivity Software
Description
- Intel Pentium 4 2.6 GHz Processor with 800 MHz Frontside Bus
- 512MB PC3200 DDR Memory
- Western Digital 80GB 7200rpm 2MB Hard Drive
- Sony DRU-510A 4x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
- NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Graphics Card with 128MB Memory
- Integrated AC'97 6-channel Audio with Accent Audio X30 Speakers
- v.92 56Kbps Modem and Intel 10/100 Ethernet Port
- 19" AOC 9GLR CRT Monitor
- Six USB 2.0 and Two FireWire Ports
- Windows XP Home Operating System
Guide Review - Polywell Poly 865RF
2/12/04 - Lots of the manufacuters of desktop comptuers can keep their costs down based on volume and marketing deals. Polywell can offer great systems at low prices because they go for the functional yet powerful approach by keeping things to a minimum. The Poly 865RF mainstream desktop continues this trend.
Powering the base system of the 865RF is the Pentium 4 2.6 GHz CPU with 800 MHz bus. While this is slower than most mainstream processors, it is still plenty for most applications. Of course, with the price of the system, getting a CPU upgrade still costs less than competing systems. Memory is provided through 512MB of PC3200 DDR.
Storage is fairly strong. It comes with a standard 80GB Western Digital drive that is proven to be reliable. It also comes with a Sony DRU-510A multiformat DVD burner that mixes speed and compability. It would be nice to see a second drive standard as with other mainstream desktops, but it isn't a huge flaw.
Graphics are handled by an NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 graphics card. This is a DirectX 9 compatible card that will suffice for basic 3D applications, but will be hard pressed for gaming. The big surprise with the 865RF is the standard 19" CRT monitor included. This is a big feature for a system in this price range.
The biggest drawback to the 865RF is the lack of productivity software. But with the pricing on the 865RF, it is possible to purchase the software and upgrades and still have a system that comes out to be less than competing PCs.
