The good: Extra expansion card slots; room for two hard drives.
The bad: Behind-the-times features; slow performance; too many better, faster systems available for just a few more dollars.
The bottom line: You might find a better deal from Dell if you configure an Inspiron 537s online, but this retail only model has little to recommend it. From slow performance to a weak feature-set, this budget slimtower is outclassed by too many other retail desktops.
Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium E5200 (2.5 GHz) ; RAM installed: 4 GB DDR II SDRAM ; Hard drive: 640 GB Standard ; See full specs
Price range: $479.99
This retail version of Dell's Inspiron 537s is the most inexpensive PC in our back-to-school desktop round, but that doesn't let Dell off the hook for offering such underwhelming features. We don't expect the world for $480, but when your specs look outdated next to not only your current competition, but also systems from six months ago, we can't help feeling disappointed. We recommend you pass this system by. It's not worth your money.
The Inspiron 537 line debuted back in March, and if you configure one online you can select from multiple case colors as well as a much better array of features than this retail model. This unit comes in attractive-enough black. As a slimtower system, the Inspiron 537s also lends itself to a variety of different usage models. You can use it as either a vertical or horizontally-oriented desktop system, but its small profile also lets you put it in your living room or some other more visible location without it causing too much of an eyesore.
| Dell Inspiron 537s-002B | Gateway SX2800-01 | |
| Price | $480 | $510 |
| CPU | 2.5GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 | 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 |
| Memory | 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM | 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Graphics | 32MB Intel GMA X4500 | 32MB Intel GMA X4500 |
| Hard drives | 640GB, 7,200rpm | 640GB, 7,200rpm |
| Optical drive | dual-layer DVD burner | dual-layer DVD burner |
| Operating system | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit |
We don't want to overwhelm our reviews with exhaustive features lists, but there's actually a much larger difference between the Inspiron 537s and its closest competition, the Gateway SX2800-01 aside from its price and the CPUs. You have only to look at our performance tests below to see how badly Dell lags behind not only the quad-core Gateway, but also its dual-core budget competition. While Dell's other components line up well enough against the Gateway, Dell skimped badly on the motherboard connections.
You get four USB 2.0 ports, a VGA video output, a modem, an Ethernet jack, a set of analog audio jacks, and a pair of mouse and keyboard inputs on the back of the Dell. That's it. Turn the Gateway around and you'll find all of those features, plus digital audio out, an eSATA external hard drive connection, and an HDMI video out. Throw in the Gateway's more compact size, and it's clear that Gateway has joined its brand-parent Acer, as well as Asus, in offering slim towers that live up to the full potential of their versatility. We realize Dell has Studio Hybrid units to move, but that doesn't excuse it from letting the 537s languish at retail.
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