SUMMARY: Looks OK so far.

Dell routinely runs sales on its Vostro line of budget boxes and when I saw the Vostro 200 Desktop available for $379 WITH a 19" monitor, I bit. I was looking for a new monitor and this offer looked interesting. After some deliberation, I decided that a 19" analog monitor was not for me but a $99 upgrade to Dell's 17" Ultrasharp would suit me fine.

This costs $224 if bought separately, so I could buy the Mini-Tower Vostro 200 for about $250 with an Intel 1.8 GHz Dual-Core (E2160) CPU. I also opted for 2 GB RAM and a separate DVD burner as well - as of today, this same box is selling for $439 WITHOUT a monitor. IMHO not a bad deal - I can't build a box cheaper than this deal.

The Dell box I purchased includes the following:

• Intel 1.8 GHz Dual-Core (E2160) CPU
• Foxconn G33 M02 motherboard, Micro ATX form factor (9.6"x9.6")
• 300 Watt LiteOn PS (appears to be a standard ATX PS with -5v line missing)
• Intel® G33 Express Chipset
• 2 GB DDR II SDRAM, 667 MHz, Dual Channel
• 160 GB SATA HD, 7200 RPM, 8 MB Cache
• Four SATA ports
• Windows XP Home
• Integrated 10/100 Ethernet, 7.1 Channel Audio and Intel GMA3100 Video
• 8 USB 2.0 Ports (4 back, 4 front; pinouts for four more)
• 1 48X Combo and 16X DVD+/-RW Dual Drive
• USB Keyboard and Mouse
• 17 inch UltraSharp 1708FP monitor
• Roxio Creator burner software
• Size: 362 mm x 170 mm x 435 mm (14.2" x 6.7" x 17.1")

Intel's Dual Core 1.8 GHz CPU is one of the more overclockable CPUs around - a quick glance at the temp specs on this series is quite interesting:

Notice no variance in power over this series' speed range - looks like LOTS of overhead here - more on this to come. Also note that at idle and low-demand situations for CPU cycles, the CPU down-clocks to 1.2 GHz (6 x 200 FSB) which contributes to its cool running.