Acer Aspire AX3200-U3600A
Acer's $459 Aspire X3200 is essentially the triple-core version of the dual-core X1200 slim tower PC we reviewed a few months agoAside from the CPU, every component from the hard drive to the memory to the operating system is the sameAnd while three cores sounds better than two on paper, you actually have to make certain performance trade-offs to get that additional processing coreIf you're a multitasker or you know that programs you use often will put a third core to work, the Aspire X3200 makes senseOtherwise, the X1200 provides better straight-ahead performance and the same features for no extra cost
Having already given the X1200 the full review treatment, we'll save time here and cover just the basics of the X300For comparison, we'll also stack it up against the Dell Inspiron 530s, its primary in-store competition at Best Buy, where both systems are currently on sale
This pared-down, slim tower PC is designed to fit anywhere in your home, and the HDMI video port on the back makes it a viable candidate as a living room PC, more so than the VGA-only Dell Inspiron 530sThe Aspire X3200 comes in at 10.5 inches high, 3.8 inches wide, and 14.8 inches deep; 3 inches shorter and more than an inch shallower than the DellAs a result the Acer gives you much less upgrade room, with no free hard-drive bays, and only one free half-height graphics card slot (a modem sits in the 1x PCI Express slot)
| Acer Aspire X3200 | Dell Inspiron 530s | |
| Price | $459 | $499 |
| CPU | 2.1GHz AMD Phenom X3 8450 | 2.2GHz Intel Pentium E2100 |
| Memory | 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM | 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Graphics | 256MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 8200 integrated graphics chip | 128MB (shared) Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphics chip |
| Hard drives | 320GB 7,200 rpm | 320GB, 7,200 rpm |
| Optical drive | dual-layer DVD burner | dual-layer DVD burner |
| Networking | Gigabit Ethernet | 10/100 Ethernet |
| Video outputs | VGA, HDMI | VGA |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) |
And as much as the Aspire X3200 and the X1200 are almost identical, we can say the same about the Dell and these two modelsAll three offer 320GB hard drives, 4GB of 800MHz RAM, and 64-bit Windows Vista Home PremiumWhere the Dell falls flat for us in its lack of compelling extrasThe Aspire X3200 has an HDMI graphics port, and it also holds an eSATA port and a media card reader over the Dell's headThose three features on the Acer system give you more flexibility in the number of other devices you can use with itThe eSATA port in particular is valuable if you want to expand the storage, considering the lack of a second hard-drive bay
That versatility, and the lower price, give both of these Acer systems the edge over the DellCollectively, the Aspire systems also have better performance than that of the InspironNeither is faster all-around, but combined with their features advantage, the Acer's scattered performance wins cement their overall superiority
Sources : Tool Accessory