Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS)

The Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) ($799.95 at Best Buy), a touch-screen all-in-one desktop, is a case of adequacy in action. TheIO2305-4400ELS is sufficiently fast for today's PC consumer, has a few neat features like a touch screen and multi-monitor capabilities, and comes at a good price. It's like a warm but out-of-fashion coat?you'll get great use of it before it wears out, but it won't really draw any attention to itself either.

Design and Features
On the outside, the Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) looks like the other Insprion One systems we've seen in the past, like the Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-3114MSL) ($849.99 list, 2.5 stars) and Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4429MSL) ($849.99 list, 4 stars). All three have the same 23-inch, 1,920-by-1,080 (1080p) resolution screen, wireless connectivity, and touch-screen capability. All three are more all-in-one PC than touch-screen PC, due to the upright position of the screen. The system can't tilt back far enough to make it easy to use for extended periods of time, like the HP TouchSmart 610-1150y ($1,199.99 list, 4.5 stars). Having your arm stretched straight out to work the touch screen will get very tiring very quickly. Think of the touch screen as a "once in a while" convenience rather than a full-time interface, like on a tablet.

Dell's Stage touch interface doesn't help. It's easy to bring up a program or function with a quick tap of a finger on the screen, but aside from photo and video viewing, Stage doesn't really offer the kind of user interface (UI) that you see on systems like the HP TouchSmart 610-1150y. The HP TouchSmart interface has a fully-functional desktop UI that lies on top of Windows 7 that creates a seamless experience when navigating through your apps. Furthermore, the HP 610-1150y's tilting screen and superior ergonomics simply makes the touch experience better. However, if you're one of the few out there with a Dell Streak 5 or Streak 7 tablet, you can use the tablet to view shared content from the Inspiron One 2305.

The Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) has six USB 2.0 ports, the usual audio and Ethernet ports, and a VGA-out port. The system lacks a few niceties, like HDMI-in (so you can hook up a cable box, laptop, or game console), eSATA or USB 3.0 (for faster hard drive data transfers), or Blu-ray (for HD movies). You will be able to get HD videos and downloads off of the Internet via services like YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix. The desktop comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse with a USB receiver for both, but the keyboard is a little cheaper than the one we saw on previous models, which had more multimedia keys and a rotary controller for volume. The Inspiron One has a label touting its JBL speakers: While they were fairly loud, the speakers definitely distorted at full volume?a deal-breaker for those who like to turn the volume up while working or playing. The test unit came with VGA-out port, which allows you to hook up a second screen for multi-monitor displays. That second screen likely won't have touch-screen capabilities, but having two screens is nice for multitasking.

The Dell IO2305-4400ELS comes with just a little more bloatware than the previous iteration. It has several icons dropped on the initial desktop screen and in the Start menu, including Blio (ebook store), Roxio SyncUp (a PC-to-PC file sync service with cloud storage), and McAfee Internet Security (with only 30-days of updates). Another new utility is Intel's WiDi 2.0 technology, which lets you hook your PC up to display on any HDMI-capable display like an HDTV. You will, however, need to buy Netgear's Push2TV receiver (a $99 option), which has to be tethered to the HDTV at all times. The system's 1TB, 7,200rpm hard drive is capacious, though 1TB drives are becoming commonplace on new PCs.

Best Buy also has an extended warranty program, which adds a year to the standard one year warranty offered by most manufacturers. There are two plans in this extended warranty program. The standard plan ($119.99) covers the system against normal wear and tear, power surge damage, and includes a "No Lemon" guarantee in which Best Buy will simply replace the computer if it requires more than four repairs during the coverage period. Best Buy's advanced plan ($219.99) offers all this, and also covers the system against accidental damage from drops and spills.

Performance
The Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) comes with a dual-core Intel Core i3-2100 processor and 4GB of memory, which is adequate for day- to-day functions and is certainly fast enough to display 1080p HD videos from the Internet. Otherwise, it's a middle-of-the-road performer, gaining a 1 minute 47 second time on our Handbrake video encoder test, and 3:54 on our Photoshop CS5 test. It also received a decent, if unremarkable, 2,331 point score on the PCMark 7 test. Let's just say the desktop will last you a few years before it starts to seem slow. The slightly more expensive Samsung Series 7 (DP700A3B-A01) ($999.99 list, 4 stars) is a bit slower (2:05 Handbrake, 4:31 CS5) due to its slower Intel Core i3-2120T processor. However, the Samsung DP700A3B-A01 is a match for the Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) in day-to-day tasks.

The Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) is a decent all-in-one desktop overall, but unless you're a diehard Dell fan, other systems will outshine it. For example, the Sony VAIO VPC-L222FX/B ($999.99 list, 3 stars), though more expensive, is both more attractive and more feature-laden, with components like the USB 3.0 port, HDMI in/out ports, and smooth touch-screen experience. Heck, even the previous Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4429MSL) had Blu-ray, HDMI, and a TV tuner for only $50 more. All-in-one desktops like the Editors' Choice HP TouchSmart 610-1150y and Sony VPC-L222FX/B call attention to their touch screens and make the case for the added expense. Think of the Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) as a decently priced all in one PC that just happens to have a touch screen.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Dell Inspiron One 2305 (IO2305-4400ELS) with several other desktops side by side.

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