In March 2002, PC World Magazine rated the NetVista A Series one of the top 15 office PC's. With 1.8-2.4Ghz of processing power, 40-120 GB of hard-drive space, many USB 2.0 and Ethernet connections,  and great E-business security its no wonder why this PC series has been rated so highly on a consistent basis.

Although the Performance model (see specs below) is well equipped with a CD-RW/DVD-ROM cominbation drive, 2.4 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 120 GB hard-drive, 256 MB RAM, and an excellent software package,  the price tag is a little steep for our liking (starting at around $1900).

First of all if you are paying close to $2000 (retail with tax) for the high end model, it should at least come with 512MB of RAM, 2 good optical devices (CD-RW or DVD drives) instead of just one, even if it is a combination drive. The NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4200 128MB DDR 4X AGP card is a great video card, but once again not the best video card on the market. In reality it wouldn't cost IBM that much to include a little more RAM and a top of the line video card to make this model the best rated PC in the world, but there's one thing IBM offers which allows them to get away with little cost cutting measures.

IBM has always offered great customer service and the NetVista A Series is no exception. If you invest in the lower-end NetVista A Series models  you will receive a 1 year ONSITE service warranty covering parts and labor. The ONSITE warranty is three years if your invest in the top of the line Netvista A Series performance model. The ONSITE warranty covering parts and labor has become a rarity among most major computer manufacturers and makes the NetVista A Series one of the best PC's available on the market, if not the best PC on the market (depending if you actually need more CD/DVD drives or more RAM)

The lower end models on the other hand offer great processing power at  a fraction of the price. I have yet to find another manufacturer with an onsite warranty that offers a 1.8Ghz PC for less than $1000 (July 5, 2002). The drawbacks are similar to the ones listed above for the Performance A30p model. You only receive one optical device a CD-Rom drive or a fairly fast CD-RW drive. Also the monitor on these units aren't as nice as some of the flat panel screens that are on the market. But, low price makes up for all of these drawbacks.

Overall depending on your business or personal needs the NetVista A series offers great processing power at, for the most part, an economical price. If you want a system with that will last you about 3-5 years before it becomes obsolete this is the model for you. For a modest investment it gives you all the processing power you'll need for years to come.

• Integrated Intel® Extreme^TM graphics (select models)
• IBM Rapid Restore PC (via download)
• TCPA-compliant IBM Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0 (select models)
• Range of optional flat panel and CRT monitors
• Onsite service
• All models Ethernet ready

• Only 1 CD/CD-RW/or DVD-ROM optical device included (more extra)
• Nicer monitors which should be included are extra