ZT Affinity 7288Li review: ZT Affinity 7288Li

Editors' note: This review is part of our 2010 retail laptop and desktop spring roundup, which covers specific fixed configurations of popular systems found in retail stores.

5.7

ZT Affinity 7288Li

The Good

Organized interior; power-efficient.

The Bad

Cheaper Gateway system offers faster performance and twice the storage.

The Bottom Line

The ZT Affinity 7288Li offers nothing to set it apart from the competition. Its Intel Core i3 processor and 500GB of memory are both subpar components for its price, especially compared with $100 cheaper Gateway's DX4831-01e. We recommend staying away from this desktop.

We review plenty of systems that share almost the same configuration as the ZT Affinity 7288Li. You get Intel's newest Core i3 530 CPU, 6GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive in an unassuming tower that has room for memory and expansion card upgrades. However, that doesn't make up for this systems price tag. At $649, this system is above average in cost relative to the competition, specifically the Editors'-Choice-winning Gateway DX4831-01e, a budget system that offers 1TB of storage, Gigabit Ethernet, and a FireWire connection for $100 less than the ZT. If you're on the hunt for a PC, we recommend staying away from this overpriced computer and checking out Gateway's offering instead.

ZT went with a subdued approach to its tower design on this system. It features a matte black finish and the most basic layout: a dual-layer DVD player sits up top with a blank optical bay below it, followed by a media card reader, two USB ports, and a collection of audio jacks down below. We never expect too much aesthetically from budget PCs, but even the $550 Gateway DX4831-01e offers extra design touches like a nonslip tray on top of the tower and an angled media bay that makes it easier to access while the tower is on the floor. The ZT Affinity 7288Li, on the other hand, offers only the bare minimum.

As you can see by the comparison chart, the ZT Affinity 7288Li and the Gateway DX4831-01e have a lot in common. Both use the Intel Core i3 chip, 6GB of memory, and dual-layer DVD burners, but the Gateway has a noticeable advantage in its larger hard drive. Even if the prices were the same, the Gateway's 1TB drive would seal the buying decision. Throw in the fact that ZT Group wants $100 more for a lesser configuration, and the Affinity 7288Li is a nonstarter.

Because they share the same CPU and memory, the ZT system and the Gateway have nearly identical performance scores across our benchmark tests. The two systems differ by seconds here and there, but there's not enough variation to say one PC is better than the other is. If you're considering the ZT because your budget permits you to spend $600 or more on a PC, you might consider the HP Pavilion P6320y for its faster multithreaded CPU performance. However, if the ZT's $650 is at your upper spending limit, save your money and buy the Gateway.

Gateway drives the stake in further with its comprehensive set of external connections. The back of the ZT has six more USB ports, three display options including DVI, VGA, and HDMI, Ethernet, and more audio jacks. Gateway gives you all of the above but adds extra versatility by way of two additional USB ports (eight total), two eSATA ports for external storage, and optical S/PDIF audio. Connected to a standard desktop monitor via HDMI, both systems ran full-screen video from Web sites such as YouTube, Hulu, Vimeo, and Netflix without a glitch. We were also able to watch full 1080p HD movie trailers from Apple's Web site, but we strongly recommend the slim tower Gateway SX2840-01 over either of these systems if you plan to view your media on a TV in the living room.

If nothing else, we give ZT credit for an organized interior that leaves it open for easy upgrades. The motherboard has plenty of room for a 3D video card, two 1X PCI Express cards, and an additional full-size PCI card. There's also additional space for two more hard drives, another optical disc drive, and an open memory slot.

Juice box
ZT Affinity 7288Li	Average watts per hour
Off	2.92
Sleep	3.7
Idle	44.08
Load	80.99
Raw (annual kWh)	186.31206
Energy Star compliant	No
Annual power consumption cost	$21.15

ZT also deserves acknowledgment for keeping the cost to operate the Affinity 7288Li fairly low. Our power consumption tests show that the ZT will cost $1.76 to power each month; cheaper than the $2.98 per month that the two HPs will cost you to power. Unfortunately, favorable power consumption costs aren't enough to distract us from the performance benefits of the Gateway DX4831-01e, which also comes in at only $1.90 per month to power.

ZT's support policies similarly go beyond our expectations. Its two-year parts-and-labor warranty is longer than the standard support policy, and comes accompanied by 24-7 toll-free phone support. You also get a basic FAQ, and driver and user guide downloads on ZT Group's Web site, as well as ZT Systems' tech support e-mail address and phone number.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:
Dell Inspiron i560-4000NBK
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E7500; 8GB 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 32MB (shared) Intel GMA X4500 HD integrated graphics chip; 1TB, 7,200 rpm Seagate hard drive

Gateway DX4831-01e
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.93GHz Intel Core i3 530; 6GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 32MB Intel GMA HD integrated graphics chip; 1TB, 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

HP Pavilion p6310y
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.8GHz AMD Athlon II X4 630; 6GB 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 256MB Nvidia nForce 720a; 1TB, 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

HP Pavilion p6320y
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.8GHz AMD Phenom II X4 820; 8GB 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 256MB (shared) NVIDIA GeForce 9100 integrated graphics chip; 1TB, 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

ZT Affinity 7288Li Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.93GHz Intel Core i3 530; 6GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 128MB Intel GMA HD integrated graphics chip; 500GB, 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive