*See specs of PC below.
With school around the corner many people will be looking at upgrading the family computer. Money always being an issue, everyone wants to get the most bang for their buck. Dell is one company many will be looking at and a popular model is the Inspiron. The Inspiron 560 is one in particular that may do the trick for the student and the rest of the family as well.
The Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower – A Low-Cost Home PC
The Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower is geared for the home user that needs basic computer functions but nothing too extraneous. The student writing an essay or the soccer mom surfing Facebook are the target demographic, not the ardent gamer trying to vanquish their foes in World of Warcraft.
There is enough power to watch You-Tube videos and play some games. Burning a DVD or putting on a movie for the kids would work fine as well with the Inspiron 560.
What the Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower Does Well
The Inspiron 560 is perfect for surfing the internet. It can have multiple sites open without stressing the resources. Switching back and forth between programs is speedy so it would be easy to write a paper in Microsoft Word and go back to the internet for information.
While the video card isn’t beefy, it can handle games that aren’t too graphic intensive. It works wonderfully for kids learning games and the games in Windows 7. There is an HDMI out as well so an LCD, LED, or Plasma TV can be used as a monitor. Of course this also means that DVDs can be played, which the Inspiron 560 handles with ease.
Bloatware (programs installed on a new computer by the company selling the computer) is an annoyance familiar to most people that have bought a new computer. While there are a few extra programs, such as McAfee and Wild Tangent Games, there are not very many. HP and Gateway have been known to have a lot more Bloatware than what comes on the Inspiron 560.
Moving to the actual box itself, a Slim-Tower design makes the case great for small spaces. It can fit easily under, next to, or behind a monitor. While many Slim-Tower cases jam pack everything in the case, the Inspiron 560 has room to move around inside. Getting to all of the important parts, like the memory and the processor is easy and efficient. There is even room for another SATA hard drive.
What the Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower Lacks
While the Inspiron 560 does many things well, there are few things that may turn people off from this Slim-Tower computer. The fact that it is a Slim-Tower and takes low-profile cards makes upgrading items like the sound card and graphics card a challenge. It’s certainly not impossible, but may confuse some less-tech savvy users.
One of the main drawbacks of the Inspiron 560 is the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver takes an average 40% of the processor. It can be uninstalled, but the user would do that at their risk.
The Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower – A Great Low- Cost Computer for Students
The Inspiron works well for what it is supposed to do. It handles the basic functions, and a few higher, without missing a beat. It comes in this configuration bundled with a 19” monitor but at times Dell puts it on sale for much less with the option to not include the monitor.
For back to school or to replace an aging machine, the Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower is worth looking into. Research will be a snap and homework will be turned in on time.
Specifications of the Dell Inspiron 560 Slim-Tower
Processor – 3.2GHz Intel Pentium dual-core E6700
Media Reader – 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
Memory – 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
Hard Drive – 500GB SATA (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
Video Card – Integrated Intel GMA x4500 Graphics
Shane Werlinger - Shane Werlinger has been published in anthologies and written reviews and articles for BuddyHollywood.com and reviews for Infuze Magazine ...
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