(Review) - A whole slew of PC manufacturers are moving into the slim desktop space with a number of models that are perfect for small businesses or casual home users, and logically so. Who wants a big, beige box these days? It's all about convergence and small form factors, and that's where Dell hopes to lead the way with its Inspiron 531 Desktop models. As is the case with desktops and notebooks, they are relatively dull. There are very few things that differentiates one PC from another, especially from OEM companies like Dell and HP. Nonetheless we are excited to take a look at Dell's new offering and dissecting it for you.

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Dell's obviously competing against the same old, same old group of companies (HP and eMachines, for instance) with this affordable offering. However, the company does offer a few interesting features that are noteworthy. We'll get to those later in the review. To start off, the Dell Inspiron 531 Desktop is available in a couple of flavors based on price points, but of course, the price is expected to fluctuate depending on the configuration. The machine we received to evaluate included AMD's Athlon 64 X2 4400+ @ 2.3GHz, 2GB DDR2 667MHz Memory, NVIDIA 6150SE 64MB onboard Graphics Adapter, 250GB, 7,200RPM Hard Drive, 16x Dual-Layer DVD Writer, 19-inch Flat Widescreen SE198WFP Display and Windows Vista Home Premium. This particular model costs $749 after mail-in-rebate and other instant savings, though the 531 series start at $349. Needless to say, even for $749, the machine is loaded with an impressive combination of hardware that could even play games relatively well, albeit that may require an upgrade to a standalone graphics adapter. Purely from a hardware standpoint, it's a powerful machine.

That brings us to the purpose. Depending on what you expect to do with the machine, this configuration could be on the high-end, and you may not need the amount of power this machine boasts. As a result, you could either configure a low-powered machine, start with an entry model of the 531 series or look at HP and eMachines for comparatively cheaper machines on a price-to-price comparison.

The Inspirson 531 is slick with its compact and lightweight design, and the insides are spacious enough to support 3x expansion slots for half-height cards. It's not much, but compared to other machines, it's perhaps the best option. Unlike other machines, Dell is planning to offer a WiFi option and a built-in Bluetooth receiver to make data transfer and web browsing a breeze. Other than that, the machine worked well in our lab tests (there was no reason why it shouldn't), but that's as far as the review goes. As we mentioned earlier, standard desktop and notebook PCs are relatively dull products to get excited, but they are definitely essential to the targeted user base. Although Dell doesn't offer the best value per dollar, it does a good job matching it to its competitors.

Click here to check out the latest prices on Dell Inspiron 531 Desktops!