Review: Dell's New Vostro 220

Dell stepped forward Thursday with a major update to its Vostro line of PCs for small and mid-sized business, unveiling three desktops executives say include significant improvements in performance and design, among other things.

The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker said it was launching the Vostro 220, the Vostro 220s and the Vostro 420 as a next step in its evolution of that lineup. Dell first unveiled the Vostro brand in 2007 and offered a minor update to it earlier this year.

The Vostro 220, with a starting price of $319, is built with Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 CPU at 2.53 GHz and 4 GB of RAM; the Vostro 220 S (and the 'S' stands for 'slim'), with a starting price of $379; and the Vostro 420, a higher-end system built with an Intel Core 2 Quad and NVIDIA graphics card, is starting-priced at $549.

In upgrading the Vostro lineup, Dell is adding Blu ray disc (read and write) capacity to its higher-end Vostro 420, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet throughout the lineup, as many as three expansion bays in the 420 and -- after hearing what they said was lots of feedback -- brought back PS/2 ports for keyboards and mice.

The Test Center pre-reviewed The Vostro 220.

The Vostro 220 isn't a slim form factor, but it does follow up with decent performance, a configuration we liked, and nice, out-of-the-box ease of installation and use.

The 220 came with an Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 CPU at 2.53 GHz and 4 GB of RAM. Testing with Primate Labs' Geekbench, the PC scored 2776 -- less than the previous-edition Vostro 200 that we reviewed earlier this year, but higher than other desktops in its class that we've reviewed recently.

Running a standard workload, the V220 drew 64 watts of power and threw 79 degrees at its vent. Its noise level was below the ambient sound in the lab and our decibel meter's threshold of 50.

Dell also got our attention with what it did not provide: namely, bloatware. Save for McAfee security software and a Google search widget, the PC was refreshingly free of bloatware. Combined with its strong performance numbers, its 4 GB of RAM and its clean design, we have no problem recommending the Vostro V220 for VARs -- although it won't get the blue ribbon until it can promote VAR services and support as it does for its own.

The bottom line: Dell has stepped up its competitiveness in the SMB space with its Vostro lineup, and paying attention to detail like PS/2 connections, Blu ray options and price-performance only helps its cause. The company continues to work on its channel program and, as it does, VARs who enlist should give the Vostro consideration.