Dell OptiPlex 755 review

Dell’s OptiPlex 755 uses a slimline case, just like the NEC, that can be positioned either horizontally or vertically. It’s one of the dearer systems this month at £490, but compared with the competition it doesn’t quite offer enough to justify that.

The core specification is a mix of good and unusual choices. The 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo E6750 is more than quick enough for daily tasks, and with 2GB of RAM it eased to 1.31 in our benchmarks. The 160GB hard disk is also the most popular capacity in this group test. A card reader on the front is a nice touch, too, as is the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set.

But there are some puzzling choices. The inclusion of an ATi Radeon HD 2400 Pro graphics card is particularly baffling in a business PC: not only is gaming ability moot, it also boosts the idle power consumption to 49W – the highest of the group. Idle noise is also higher than all but the little Lenovo, yet the Dell doesn’t have the tiny case to use as an excuse.

Components aside, though, we like the Dell chassis with its simple opening mechanism. A quick pull of a plastic lock clicks the side panel open, and a conveniently placed Kensington lock slot allows you to keep the case closed as well as secured to a desk. The optical drive blocks access to the hard disk, but the case is well cooled by a front fan with its own funnelling enclosure to direct air back towards the rear. Only one RAM slot was filled in our sample, although reaching the remaining three free ones is a tortuous task.

The BIOS features chassis-intrusion detection, and you can choose to sign up to the Computrace tracking service for added peace of mind. Dell’s PCs come with a three year on-site warranty, with next-business-day response time, and the company performed well in the PCs category of our 2007 Reliability & Service Awards. Alas, next to the better-equipped NEC and the greener Fujitsu, the Dell OptiPlex 755 doesn’t offer enough features, so the price looks a touch high.