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Dell Inspiron One 2205 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £549
inc VAT

Dell's little all-in-one is a decent contender for budget users and looks great, too

Specifications

3GHz AMD Athlon II X2 250e, 4GB RAM, 21.5in 1,920×1,080 display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

http://www.dell.co.uk

Just like desktop PCs, you can get All-in-Ones designed to suit a wide variety of purposes and prices. Dell’s Inspiron One is aimed at more budget-conscious users, but you still get a Full HD touchscreen display, dedicated graphics processor and a decent wireless mouse and keyboard. There’s even a TV tuner.

Dell Inspiron One 2205

The processor isn’t very powerful – it’s only an Athlon II X2 250e, and produced an overall score of just 36 in our benchmark tests. This is partly due to its very limited multi-processing capabilities, which let it down in the multi-tasking and video encoding tests. However, if your main interests are browsing the web, watching movies, playing the odd casual game and writing documents, there’s nothing you’ll need a more powerful PC for.

The 2205 has 4GB of memory, and a 64-bit version of Windows 7 to go with it. Its hard disk is only a 500GB model, although that should be plenty for most people. If you want more, you’ll need external storage, so you’ll be pleased to find six USB ports – two at the front right of the display, and four in a fairly accessible location at the back of the PC.

Dell Inspiron One 2205 side

You’ll have to use one of the ports to connect the adaptor for the supplied wireless mouse and keyboard. These are remarkably good – the keyboard sounds a little rattly, but has a supportive wrist rest, a spacious layout and lends itself to rapid typing. The ambidextrous mouse is similarly comfortable to use.

Dell Inspiron One 2205 rear and side ports

The right-hand side of the PC also has a memory card reader and a pair of 3.5mm audio ports – one for a mic, and another for either headphones or an external speaker. There’s another 3.5mm port at the back which can be configured to connect either a set of external stereo speakers or a dedicated subwoofer to work alongside the integrated stereo speakers build into the computer’s chassis. It’s a good idea, as the built-in speakers are almost entirely lacking in bass; however, they’re also rather underpowered, so could easily be overwhelmed by a separate bass speaker. A dedicated set of speakers is a better idea, as the integrated ones are fine for program sounds or watching the odd YouTube video, but we wouldn’t rely on them for much more than that.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Processor AMD Athlon II X2 250e
Processor external bus 200MHz (HyperTransport)
Processor multiplier x15
Processor clock speed 3GHz
Processor socket AM3
Memory 4
Memory type PC3-10666
Maximum memory 8GB
Motherboard Dell 0DPRF9
Motherboard chipset AMD 785GX

Ports

USB2 ports (front/rear) 2/4
Firewire ports (front/rear) 0/0
eSATA ports (front/rear) 0/0
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11n

Internal Expansion

Case all-in-one
PCI-E x1 slots (free) N/A
PCI-E x16 slots (free) N/A
Free memory slots 0

Hard Disk

Hard disk model(s) Seagate ST350041
Interface SATA2
Total storage capacity 500GB

Graphics

Graphics card(s) 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470
Graphics/video ports none

Sound

Sound Realtek HD Audio
Sound outputs 2x 3.5mm stereo line out, 3.5mm mic in
Speakers integrated

Removable Drives

Supported memory cards SD, SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick PRO, xD
Optical drive type(s) DVD+/-RW +/-DL

Display

Viewable size 21.5 in
Screen model N/A
Native resolution 1,920×1,080
Screen inputs none

Other Hardware

Keyboard Dell Y-RBP-DEL4
Mouse Dell M787C

Software

Software included Dell TouchCam, Microsoft Works 9.0
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore option restore partition

Buying Information

Warranty one year collect and return
Price £549
Supplier http://www.dell.co.uk
Details www.dell.co.uk

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