HP Compaq DC7600 Convertible Mini-Tower PC

The HP Compaq DC7600 CMT ($1,378 direct; without monitor, $1,029) represents HP's top-of-the-line business desktop. This system fits well into any business environment, be it a small proprietorship or a corporate behemoth. With a dual-core Pentium D processor and a Convertible Mini-Tower (CMT) design with plenty of room for expansion, the DC7600 can adapt to rapidly changing business needs and to the ever-changing technology landscape—including the forthcoming Microsoft Vista operating system.

Like most enterprise-class business desktops, the HP Compaq DC7600 series supports image stability, which guarantees that you won't have to come up with new drivers and programs once you've tested them out on your first DC7600. HP promises at least 15 months of image stability, which is an improvement over its rivals, most of whom provide 9 to 12 months. The DC7600 series also supports the TPM 1.2 security platform, which is rapidly becoming a standard in business PCs.

The DC7600 CMT represents an "old school" design, in which there is a lot of space inside the case for upgrades such as additional memory, optical and hard drives, and PCI/PCIe and graphics card upgrades. Although this kind of roominess necessitates a larger footprint that may be troublesome for very small offices or cubicles, the DC7600 can be reconfigured to lie on its side, with a monitor on top and the optical drives "right side up."

The Pentium D 820 is Intel's mainstream version of its dual-core processor, and the DC7600 line shares the Intel 945G motherboard chipset, which means that all DC7600s in your organization can use the same software build, including the operating system and drivers. In addition to the CMT mini-tower, the DC7600 is available as a small desktop and an ultra-small desktop, though the ultra-small model is incompatible (so far) with the dual-core Pentium D because of cooling issues. Power users are likely to want the CMT tower anyway.

The Pentium D processor, 1GB of 667-MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory, a fast SATA hard drive, and other components drove the DC7600 to class-leading SYSMark 2004SE scores. The system's score of 165 on Office Productivity (OP) and 235 on Internet Content Creation (ICC) are excellent for a business PC with a single hard drive—and better than those of the dual-core Gateway E-4500S business system we recently reviewed, which got a 154 on OP and 224 on ICC. (Check out our desktop comparison table for full test results.)

The DC7600 is a powerhouse business PC that can serve small-business and business users well. With Vista-compatible components, TPM 1.2 security, and image stability, this system will be an attractive, forward-looking addition to your business computing environment.

More Desktop Reviews: