Case study and benchmarks
Scenario:
Company: Watts Electric
This financial services company wants to get 40 new PCs to upgrade a variety of older models.
Approximate budget: Approx. $3000 per PC.
Requires: 40 new corporate PCs in as small a form factor as possible.
- At least 256MB of memory.
- At least 40GB hard drive.
- 15in LCD monitor.
- Windows 2000 installed.
Concerns: Multimedia features such as high-end graphics cards, speakers and DVD drives are considered a waste of money.
Best Solution: Apple iMac G4 700
The Apple iMac was quite easily the most space-saving and ergonomic computer that we tested and because we focused on space saving for this feature, the Apple gets the nod. It’s a pity we couldn’t directly compare its performance to a Wintel machine.
Of the Wintel machines we were most impressed with the Xenon Metro 500, for its performance and its all-in-one design. The price, however, takes it out of the running.
How we tested
We tested and evaluated each of the desktop systems based on the following criteria.
- Standard performance and compatibility benchmarks (see Benchmarks).
- Monitor display quality including evenness of illumination, clarity and colours, resolutions supported, and EMF.
- Audio including the audio chip used and sound quality, volume level, speaker/s location, I/O, and ease of use.
- Keyboard including key size, spacing, layout, travel, feedback, support, and color differentiation.
- Pointing device including the general ergonomics such as location, button size, travel and feedback, additional features, and functionality.
- Workmanship and design including ergonomics, robustness, and durability.
- System expandability including the number of PCI, AMR, CNR, and AGP slots that were available, I/O ports, upgradability of CPU, memory, and hard drive.
We also rated each of the machines in the areas of interoperability, futureproofing, return on investment, and service:
- Interoperability: We looked at the number of USB connectors that were available also FireWire, legacy connectors, DVI, and S-Video connectors that may have also been available.
- Return on Investment: We looked at the overall cost and performance of the machine.
- Futureproofing: With futureproofing we were basically concerned about the expansion potential of each of the machines. We looked at the number of PCI slots that were available and the amount memory slots there were also available.
- Service: For the service rating we looked at the length of the warranty and how many years parts were covered for.
Benchmarks
Business Winstone 2001 V1.0.2
Business Winstone is a system-level, application-based benchmark that measures a PC’s overall performance when running today’s top-selling Windows-based 32-bit applications on Windows 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0 (SP6 or later), Windows 2000, or Windows Me. Business Winstone doesn’t mimic what these packages do; it runs real applications through a series of scripted activities and uses the time a PC takes to complete those activities to produce its performance scores.
In addition to the office suites and browser tests that have been a Business Winstone staple for years, we’ve added tests for project management, e-mail, file compression, and anti-virus protection. The new application line-up reflects the fact that the work most users perform today encompasses much more than word processing and spreadsheets.
Content Creation Winstone 2002 V1.0
Content Creation Winstone is a system-level, application-based benchmark that measures a PC’s overall performance when running top, Windows-based, 32-bit, content creation applications on Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (SP6 or later), Windows 2000, or Windows Me.
WinBench 99 V2.0
WinBench 99 is a subsystem-level bench
The Emagen Shuttle may not be the best, but it has the greatest potential. The barebones case and motherboard are manufactured by the Shuttle company (www.shuttle.com). It has great potential because there are already better models out that include an AGP 8x slot and support the new Pentium 3.0. In fact, you can buy a better model than the Emagen one (and one with an AGP slot) in Australia, from here: (www.auscorp.com.au).