Comparing the rear of the DX4320-45 and that of the p6640f is another matter entirely. Gateway's anemic offering of five USB ports and a gigabit ethernet port gets only a slight boost from the DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort connections found on its ATI Radeon HD 5750 video card. In contrast, HP's p6640f does a little better, providing four USB ports, a coaxial audio connector, and integrated 7.1 surround sound (just no DisplayPort or HDMI to speak of). Don't forget, though, that the HP system is still nearly $200 less expensive.

So where does that leave you? With a lot of choices, that's what--and no clear reason to put Gateway's DX4320-45 at the head of your shopping list. None of its closest competitors are perfect by any means, but they each offer a facet that's more compelling than anything found on this Gateway PC. From faster speed to Blu-ray support to slightly more diverse connections and a lower cost, there's just too much to be had elsewhere to make Gateway's admittedly fast but feature-lacking desktop stand out.