Artwork: Rick Rizner, John Goddard The HP Compaq Dx2000 Microtower we tested was a little shy on some features, coming equipped with only 256MB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive-incredibly small for a new system. But our $1138 review unit was very modestly priced for a system based on a 3-GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor.

It achieved a PC WorldBench 4 score of 122, about average for similarly equipped systems. But systems like this one, aimed at small to medium businesses, don't need to be processing powerhouses; the Dx2000 is more than adequate for general business tasks. The Dx2000 does have some nice touches. It sports two USB ports on the front panel and six on the back of the attractive black case. It has no floppy drive, but it does have a fast 48X CD-RW and 16X DVD-ROM combo drive.

The Dx2000 we tested also had more potential for expansion than we often see with business systems, with three open PCI slots and one internal and two externally accessible drive bays open. The integrated Intel 3D Extreme video chip and the 15-inch HP1503 LCD monitor that came with this system produced adequate image quality, although text was a little grainy and difficult to read at small font sizes.

The standard keyboard and mouse are unremarkable-neither includes any programmable shortcut keys-but nevertheless adequate. The default configuration for this system uses an internal speaker, although our test system came with a set of $25 JBL Platinum speakers that produced sound that was fine for general use. Even though many businesses will have an existing antivirus software site license, including Norton AntiVirus 2004 with a year of virus updates will save individual buyers a few bucks. Our review system came with Dantz Retrospect Express Backup 6.5-unusual for a system without a second hard drive or a DVD rewritable drive, but still moderately useful with the CD-RW drive. The HP Compaq Dx2000 Microtower is an above-average business system that does the job at a reasonable price, without going above and beyond.

Hp Dx2000 Mt Specs

I have been given the subject PC and to wipe the disk clean I foolishly formatted the hard drive which had Windows XP Professional installed before backing up the motherboard drivers. Needless to day I don't have the original driver disks. I have searched the Internet, including the computer and the motherboard manufacturers web sites but cannot find drivers for the network and audio.

The motherboard is a Lite-On Model 08FCh. I have the Windows XP Pro disk and I have used that to install the OS. Can anyone point me in the right direction to download the necessary drivers?