Ease Of Use

In addition to running performance tests, we examined each system for usability by focusing on two areas: system design and documentation.

We considered several factors when we looked at system design: How easy was it to open the system and install an adapter? Were any slots obstructed (a frequent occurrence with heat sinks and fans mounted on the CPU)? Were the I/O ports labeled? Could the subsystems integrated on the system board be disabled?

Clear, easy-to-reference documentation is critical in state-of-the-art systems. Adding peripherals and updating components can be a nightmare if vendors supply inadequate information. We gave top ratings to systems that provided well-integrated manuals with comprehensive indexes. Systems that did not include specifications for video and disk subsystems were judged negatively. All relevant jumper and D IP-switch settings also had to be detailed for a system to rate well.

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Photograph: Congested wiring (left) makes it difficult to add cards and memory, while clean design, such as the ALR Evolution VQ 66's, makes expansion a breeze.

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Illustration: Dell's documentation stood out for readability.