Dell Dimension 5150c review

Dell Dimension 5150c Review

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Reviewed on: 27 January 2006

The Dimension 5150c is a Media Center PC with a difference. It's one of the first desktop PCs to use Intel's Viiv platform, which indicates it is designed for strong multimedia performance. Fast PCs are usually hot and noisy, but Dell's decision to use a Balance Technology eXtended (BTX) chassis affords the Dimension 5150c cool, quiet operation.

It's not just a pretty face either: it uses a dual-core CPU, has plenty of memory and comes with a 24-inch widescreen TFT. The system spec we reviewed is available from Dell (direct, of course) as a bundle: just quote E-Value code PPUK5-D025C7r1. The bundle comes to £1,349.

So is the 5150c the complete multimedia PC, or does its early adoption of new technology cause more problems than it solves?

Design
The Dimension 5150c is undeniably attractive. Its silver and white colour scheme gives it an almost (whisper it) Mac-like appearance, and its slim, upright chassis gives it the look of a games console. The front panel is very uncluttered, but hit the open button and the top half automatically slides upwards then horizontally along the top of the case to reveal a selection of ports. There are two USB ports, mic and headphone sockets, and an ultra-slim optical drive that was originally designed for laptop use.

The Dimension 5150c's internal layout is very different to that of an ordinary PC. True to its BTX roots, there's a fan located at the front of the case that draws cool air over the processor and motherboard chipset in a very efficient manner. 

By using the smallest BTX variant (picoBTX), Dell has been able to cram the components of the Dimension 5150c into a relatively small space. It's just 310mm high, 91mm wide and 363mm deep, so it's just as happy under a desk as it is taking pride of place next to your monitor.

The only drawback of its diminutive stature is that there's very little room for upgrading with internal components. There are vacant PCI Express slots (x16 and x1), but only half-height cards will fit. As a result, the Dimension 5150c can't accept large, powerful graphics adaptors.

The 5150c's BTX design makes it a cooler, quieter PC, but there's not much room inside to upgrade

The 5150c's laptop DVD±RW drive may also cause problems for upgraders. There's no possibility of adding a second internal drive as there physically isn't room for one, and swapping it for a new one could prove costly, as laptop drives are typically more expensive than their desktop counterparts.

Features
In adhering to the Intel Viiv standard, the Dimension 5150c uses a dual-core CPU and Windows XP Media Center Edition, and has a 5.1-channel audio card. Various processor options are available, but Dell recommends the Intel Pentium D 820, which runs at 2.8GHz. In our review sample, this is joined by 1GB of DDR2 533MHz memory and the Intel 945G chipset. The latter affords the 5150c an integrated graphics adaptor, which in this case is the rather pedestrian ATI Radeon X600 SE.

Despite its poor graphics performance, the Dimension 5150c is a perfectly capable PC in other areas. Its dual-core processor is quick enough to handle intensive tasks like video encoding, and it can multitask without breaking a sweat.