Dell Dimension 5150c: The incredible shrinking PC

By Rory Reid on 16 January 2006, 12:31pm

The Dimension 5150c is tiny -- pictures just don't do it justice. On its arrival, its petite proportions led us to believe Dell may have accidentally dropped it into its corporate washing machine on a hot cycle.

It's Dell's first foray into the world of small form-factor PCs. It's also one of the company's first desktops to use a BTX (Balanced Technology Extended) design.

It's a little too early on a Monday morning to get into full nerd mode, but this basically means the 5150c is designed with the most modern PC technology in mind, but is very small, quiet and doesn't produce much heat. In other words, it's perfect for sticking in your living room.

Our sample is based on a 2.8GHz Intel Pentium D dual-core processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory and a 250GB hard drive. Its semi-automatic front panel hides a DVD rewriter, 7-in-1 memory card reader, and USB and FireWire ports.

Best of all, the 5150c smells fantastic. Oh, and ours comes with the Dell 2405FPW 24-inch widescreen display, which makes an ideal accompaniment to the PC's Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system.

Our sample costs a very reasonable £1,630, but you can pick up a basic 5150c from just £669. Watch out for a full review soon. -RR

Update: a full review of the Dell Dimension 5150c is now live.