PC Specification Review
Dell OptiPlex GX260
By Navdeep Singh
University Webmaster

Dell’s Desktops keep getting better with powerful performance and features-driven design. The Dell OptiPlex GX260 is made for a large corporate office environment in mind. This PC is a prime choice for use in a University environment where network and data sharing is important.

The Hardware

GX260, at $1,320 for faculty configuration, comes with a Pentium 4 Processor 2.26 Mhz, 512K Cache with Intel’s Gigabit Ethernet. The system allows users to take advantage of Gigabit Ethernet technology, which is a networking technology that allows data to flow at significantly higher speeds. The 512MB DDR Non-ECC SDRAM (1 DIMM) allows users to run several programs concurrently with high efficiency. Since the RAM only uses 1 DIMM, it is upgradeable to 1GB. The system lacks FireWire (IEEE 1394) port, but it does have four USB 2.0 ports, two of them in the front of the case. Dell designed the two USB –interface in the front keeping in mind that no one likes to access the computer’s back when all you want to do is attach your favorite gadget.
 

The integrated video and audio cards are suitable for your normal office application use and the 40 GB hard drive offers plenty of storage. You get a piece of both worlds with a 32X DVD/CD-RW combo drive and a zip drive. This PC has sufficient room for expansion. My test model had four open, easily accessible PCI slots, plus one vacant memory socket, and two open storage bays capable of handling hard-drives or optical and other removable-media drives. The keyboard is spacious and felt comfortably responsive to my typing test.

The OptiPlex GX260 has a flexible design and an adaptable case that fits well into a wide range of corporate applications. The high processor speed and a sizable amount of RAM more than take care of your computer needs.

The Software (Desktop Services Software version 3.5)

So you get a new computer finally, but that’s not all, it comes fully loaded with the Desktop Services Software (DSS 3.5) which has your favorite applications like MS Office package, Internet Utilities, Desktop Tools, Streaming Media Tools, et al. These academic software applications are available to you due to the various software agreements between software vendors and the University. Let’s looks at some of them:

Microsoft Office applications like Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and FrontPage take care of your word processing and email, as well as various teaching needs like the ability to make presentations with PowerPoint.

Internet/Online Applications and Utilities like FTP clients, and Telnet let you connect to your web space. Better, you can take advantage of Windows’ built-in Web Folder’s to connect to your remote web directories, giving you total control of your web space with easy to use web-authoring tools like FrontPage. VNC lets you connect to your office PC from home and other locations. Atomica lets you look-up dictionary and thesaurus right from your desktop’s system tray. Both Internet browsers Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator are included as well.

With Desktop Tools, your computer interface is exactly how you want it. Imagine having a CD-R serve as a disk drive. You can drag and drop files, rename files, and create new files right on your recordable drive. Yes, its now possible from your own desktop with DirectCD. Network Associates’ VirusScan keeps your PC safe from dangerous Internet viruses and worms. Iomega’s application lets you back-up your data files to removable zip files. There are many more Desktop Tools that are worth exploring when you get your new PC. An easy link to OASIS lets you view Student Records.

Want to teach your course with Streaming Media as your aid? You are in luck!!! The DSS 3.5 contains many Streaming Media Tools. No matter what you prefer, Windows Media Encoder or Real Presenter, you get it all. Make your existing PowerPoint slides into an online streaming media presentation with Real Presenter or/and create your favorite screen capture movies to teach a software application with Windows Media Encoder. Real Presenter and Windows Media –authored presentations are playable in Real and Windows Media –players, respectively. Both players are included in the student desktops and can be downloaded off the web for free.

Other major academic applications include AMSPEC and SPSS.

The OptiPlex GX260 system, with DSS 3.5, makes a very powerful machine. It provides a top-notch software package in a system that’s made for corporate customer in mind. What else would your wish for?

 

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