If you suppose that the three-inch-wide Dell Studio Hybrid was a thin, small-form-factor (SFF) desktop PC, then you'll be even more astonished by the thiner, 1.85-inch-wide, SFF, Dell OptiPlex 160 "tiny desktop." Like the Studio Hybrid, which is designed to act as a full-function desktop computer for consumers, the OptiPlex 160 is realistically a low-power nettop pc, meant to "general purpose" business use, "basic" usage (such as e-mail and Web access), and for using cloud-based applications (such as Google Apps).

The tiny OptiPlex 160 weighs a slight 4.6 pounds and measures 9.02 x 1.85  x 8.86-inches (HWD). Like most nettop PCs, it is powered by an Intel Atom processor—currently a single-core Atom CPU, but a dual-core version should be offered in early 2009. Its Graphics is powered by an SIS Mirage 3 graphics chip. The OptiPlex 160 can hold up to 4GB of single-channel 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM in its two DIMM slots. It contains a single 2.5-inch hard drive, but no internal optical drive. The standard unit ships with a Gigabit Ethernet connection; an 802.11b/g half Mini-PCIe card is present as an option. The starting price for the OptiPlex 160 is $563, which includes a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor, 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, and Windows Vista Home Basic. There are only a small handful of configuration options, such as upgrading the memory ($38 for 2GB, $94 for 4GB), choosing a different hard drive ($29 for a 160GB drive, $199 for a 20GB SSD, $299 for a 64GB SSD), and using a different operating system ($99 for Windows Vista Business, $99 for Windows XP downgrade).

The specs for the OptiPlex 160 are very similar to the Asus Eee Box, which is significantly less expensive (presently selling online from a variety of vendors for around $320). The Eee Box might not look as professional as the OptiPlex 160 in a work environment, but the Eee Box offers a considerably better bang-for-the-buck. Additionally, with the OptiPlex 160 at an over-$500 price point, we would suggest instead looking at a more portable option, such as the Asus Eee PC 102HA (which is currently available from numerous online vendors for under $500).