you must provide a monitor, and headphones or speakers for audio.
That profile makes it a good candidate for a student or anyone else on a budget who already has a display and audio gear left over from a previous system. In fact, the DX4870-UB2C comes with an analog VGA port to handle the older LCD or (gasp!) CRT, and an HDMI port to accommodate a newer digital display (but not DVI or DisplayPort).
Outfitted with an Intel Core i5-3330 quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM (expandable to 32GB), integrated Intel graphics, a 1TB (7200-rpm) hard disk, and Windows 8, the DX4870-UB2C earned a respectable mark of 153 on PC WorldBench 8.1.
The system’s lack of both a discrete graphics card and a solid-state drive probably accounts for its weak test results in file compression, storage, GPU-accelerated image editing, and gaming. The DX4870-UB2C finished in the middle of the pack on most other benchmarks, and it should capably handle any routine student or small-business tasks. Its power consumption was modest.
The DX4870-UB2C has a top that curves upward toward the front, ending in a protruding edge affording easy access to microphone and headphone jacks, a memory card reader, and a couple of USB 2.0 ports. The power toggle itself is adjacent in the center of the top edge.
Beneath this ledge, you’ll find two covered bays—one containing a DVD burner that supports multiple formats (DVD-RAM/±R/±RW), and the other standing empty and awaiting expansion.
In the back are six more USB ports (two USB 2.0 and two 3.0), the aforementioned display connections, a gigabit ethernet port, and additional audio-in and -out ports. The motherboard comes with four expansion slots:
three supporting older PCI Express x1 cards and one for the faster PCI Express x16 add-ons. You also get Bluetooth support and 802.11n Wi-Fi support on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
The optical mouse and keyboard, which are wired, plug in to oldstyle dedicated PS2 ports located on the top of the back. Given the choice, I would have preferred wireless peripherals or at least USB. The keyboard felt cheesy, with somewhat wobbly action. But streamed video looked fine on a high-def HDMI-attached monitor, and the audio sounded great on a set of borrowed headphones.
Acer Gateway DX4870-UB2C
PROS:
• Affordable price tag
• Respectable benchmark performance
• Expansion opportunities
CONS:
• Relies on integrated graphics
• Poor gaming performance
• Mediocre (and nonwireless) PS/2 mouse
and keyboard
BOTTOM LINE:
This svelte, affordable desktop capably
handles everyday tasks.
PRICE:
$ 550
PC World USA October 2013
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