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If you have ever dreamed of racing down a German autobahn in a Ferrari with the roof down and the wind blowing in your hair, then the Dell Dimension XPS D333 is probably as close as you'll come without having to pay hefty car-insurance premiums.

 This is a powerful computer. Not only is it powered by a lightning-fast 333 MHz Pentium II processor, but under the hood is 64 MB of SDRam memory and an 8.4 Gb hard drive. And for fast, smooth graphics, the D333 has a 4 MB AGP chipset.

 However, if you're looking for something more than just a powerful CPU, the D333 also has a built-in Zip drive and a combined 32-speed CD-Rom drive and DVD player.

 If you're not already beginning to drool, consider the accessories that come as standard: 56 kbps modem, Altec Lansing ACS-495 speakers and a 19-inch monitor.

 The size of the monitor adds to the impression of power.

 Sitting at my desk in front of this colossus for the first time, I could almost feel the latent power about to be unleashed.

 The D333's specifications certainly sound impressive. But by now you are no doubt wondering if the PC is really that good. Unfortunately, I have to say it is.

 I say unfortunately because I spent a lot of time looking for a fault.

 There seems to be just one. I had a problem with the DVD player's region-code settings.

 Region codes were created by the US film studios to prevent the grey-market trade in films on DVD. Thus, DVDs meant to be sold in the US won't work on a DVD player in Asia, and vice versa.

 Unfortunately, the demonstration model I was using had a DVD player configured for the US, which meant I could not play locally bought DVDs. However, I am now told that Dell is switching to DVD players configured to play discs from any region.

 Eventually, I managed to get hold of a US-region DVD disc, and sure enough the picture quality on the D333 was perfect and the sound from the Altec Lansing speakers was exceptional.

 By now, I wasn't really expecting anything less. Now, I just need to get the HK$24,298 to buy my own.



Power to drive your fantasy