The desktop PC is far from dead, despite what the industry sales figures say, but between weaker demand and gained cost efficiencies we are seeing incredible amounts of technology packed into low cost PCs. Today’s deal isn’t the lowest price we’ve ever seen for a Haswell Core i5 system, but it is for one with this level of quality and warranty coverage.
One would be wise not to confuse Dell’s Optiplex lineup with its Inspiron systems. The Inspirons offer a lot of bang for the buck, but the Optiplex chassis and components are selected to keep costs low and make repairs a breeze. The mini tower chassis has plenty of room inside for airflow and a few extra expansion slots to keep you set for years to come.
Performance is more than strong courtesy of the Core i5-4570, a quad-core Haswell chip that clocks between 3.2GHz and 3.6GHz. You will likely find yourself wanting to upgrade the 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive at some point, but it is easy to do so when the time comes, and costs are low with the very standard components.
As a business-class machine, Dell goes the extra mile and includes both Windows 8 Pro and Windows 7 Pro licenses, something you will find in exactly zero consumer-grade machines in 2014. That extra license bonus is probably worth the price differential from a true entry-level Core i5 desktop, but there’s another little business-class perk too: warranty.
The Optiplex 3020 features the “basic” business-class warranty with three years of next-business-day on-site service. This is a ridiculous offering on a PC that costs a mere $549, turning a deal into an amazing offer for anyone who wants mission critical reliability out of their PC without spending a lot.
