The Bottom Line
- Multiformat DVD Burner
- Large Hard Drive
- Includes 17" CRT Monitor
- Lacks AGP or PCI-E Graphics Slot
- No FireWire Ports
Description
- Intel Celeron D 340 (2.93GHz) Processor
- 512MB PC2700 DDR Memory
- 120GB 7,200rpm Hard Drive
- 8x DVD+/-R DVD Burner Optical Drive
- AC'97 Audio with Stereo Speakers
- Intel Extreme 2 Integrated Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory
- v.92 56Kbps Modem and 10/100 Ethernet
- Four USB 2.0 Ports and 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
- VX750 17" CRT Monitor
- Windows XP Home, MS Works 8 and Norton Anti-Virus
Guide Review - Gateway 3200XL
10/6/04 - Gateway has a dual role in the budget market since its purchase of budget manufacturer eMachines, but even with that purchase, they still offer budget desktop systems of their own such as the 3200XL.
Powering the Gateway 3200XL is a slightly above average Intel Celeron D 340 processor. This gives it a slight speed advantage over systems using the 330 model but for most people, it won't be noticable. Matched up to this is 512MB of PC2700 DDR memory that will allow the computer to run most applications without any problems.
Storage on the 3200XL is one of its strongest points. Storage space is provided by a very sizable 120GB hard drive. This extra space should help those into digital photography, video or music. In addition to this, the system also comes with a multiformat 8x DVD burner. This makes the 3200XL a good starting platform for digital video editing. The system does lack FireWire ports for importing digital video into the system.
As with most budget desktops, graphics is one of the areas that the 3200XL could use improvement. To reduce costs, the Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics processor is used. This lacks the ability to handle current 3D graphics applications. In addition, the system does not have an AGP or PCI-E graphics expansion slot preventing a true graphics upgrade.
Another nice feature is the 3200XL comes with a 17" monitor to make it a complete system. All of this makes the 3200XL to be a fairly strong budget desktop computer system.
