14 DAY TRIAL // Dell finally decided to equip some of its top of the line desktop computer series with the hardware necessary to support CableCARD and now it is ready for customers. Coming out with a better hardware selection and allowing end users to customize the hardware layout of their machines, Dell's XPS desktops feature either single or dual ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuners.
Unlike its direct competitors like HP and Sony, Dell allows users to select the type of CableCARD tuners they want as well as their configuration. Each Digital Cable Tuner costs around $236 but unlike the hardware provided by HP, those tuners lack ATSC support. One more bonus point for Dell is that users may choose to upgrade to Microsoft's Windows Vista Ultimate from the Home Basic or Preminum versions. The Dell XPS 410 desktop computer systems are based on the Intel platform, so they come equipped with dual core processors based on the Core 2 Duo family. The following models are available: E6300 CPU with 2MB of second level of cache memory and running at 1.86GHz with a frontside bus of 1066MHz, E6400 running at 2.13GHz, E6600 at 2.4GHz and finally E6700 that reaches 2.66GHz.
System memory can be upgraded in order to reach a maximum of 4GB of RAM in dual channel configuration and a speed of 667MHz. Also, there are 2 or 4 memory slots on the motherboard, which gives better memory configuration flexibility. The XPS 410 comes with two hard disk drives of 500GB each, so the maximum storage capacity is 1TB, using the default factory configuration. As optical drive, Dell selected a DVD burner with support for Blu-ray discs as well as multiple other formats.
Graphics department is represented by either a Nvidia or an ATI solution. There are three graphics cards that users may choose from: the 256MB PCI Express based Nvidia GeForce 7300LE with TurboCache technology, the 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro or the top of the line 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS. Unlike most computer systems, Dell's XPS 410 also features an AGEIA PhysX physics accelerator, that is used in some games for advanced calculations.