Experience a new level of digital home entertainment with the Aspire E700 desktop system. Designed with Intel Viiv technology - the new standard in home entertainment - the Aspire... more...E700 is the ultimate digital home centerpiece.
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I initially bought this with the intention of using it as a second PC. Having now used it rather that reading the brochures, it has become my main PC.
The E700 I have found to offer the best of both worlds. Anyone who is undecided whether to base their purchase on either media or traditional desktop function should diffinatly consider one of these. The PC offers good performance rates for every day / office based use and very good features for gaming / multi-media use.
Firstly the processor used is the 1.83Ghz Intel core 2 duo E6300. In terms of functionality I have found this to be very fast and stable. Simultaneously I have used 2x IE7 browsers, Outlook 2007, Excel 2007, Word 2007, 12x downloads (average download speed of 120Kbps) , and AVI - DVD conversion (very resources hungry programme). Despite having all these programmes running the over-all speed of the PC was more than amicable with not even the slightest hint of freezing or locking up.
The memory installed is 1Gb DDR-II. the PC is supplied with 2x 512Mb (1x1Gb would have been preferred) although this is upgradeable to 4Gb if required. Personally I have found even with the standard memory installed, performance is very impressive. The only disappointing thing is the PC only has 2 DIMM sockets, both of which are taken up by the 2x 512Mb configuration used. This can lead to memory upgrades being a more costly option and leaving you with at least one of the original memory sticks being waisted.
Internal storage again is an impressive 250Gb. Even when storing years of photo's on my old PC, I have never managed to use more than 30Gb. Hard drive upgrades are one of the more costly options on a PC. With this size storage capacity installed as standard, it is highly unlikely that hard drive upgrades will be a future requirement. The read / write speed of the drive I have found to be quite fast. I do use quite large Excel files a lot. When saving these files on my old PC, I used to find it a bit irritating having to wait while the hard drive whirred and clicked away when saving them. With my Acer the time taken to both save and open files in vastly improved. The speed of the drive (admittedly this is a combination of HDD / CPU / RAM) is very noticeable when Windows initially starts up. the PC is ready to use virtually strait away despite having to run anti-virus and various other programmes that run at start up.
The operating system used is the new Windows Vista Home Premium edition. Just to add my little bit to the debate, I would say yes it is visually impressive but take away the gimmickry, and it doesn't do a fat lot more than XP.
Networking connection is provided via an on board LAN port providing Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet. ================================================
As explained earlier, Acer have designed this PC to offer the best of both worlds. For every day, home or business use the E700 is a very fast and stable PC. I will now move on to the many Multi-media features offered by the PC.
To start with the graphics performance is very impressive. Acer have used the NVIDIA Ge-force 7600GS graphics card inside the PC. NVIDIA have a long established reputation for producing high quality an performance graphics cards, and this is certainly no exception. I have used my PC for on-line gaming with a programme called Americas Army. My old PC did used to struggle with this and on occasions the graphics would freeze or take some time to catch up. With my Acer this is not a problem and it produces a more real-time display. The main advantage of the graphics is that it is a dedicated card rather than being an integrated on board type. The Ge-force 7600 has its own 256Mb memory built in. This basically means that the graphics card has its own 256Mb dedicated memory attached to it, thereby leaving the 1Gb PC ram to get on with running the all the other processes.
It should be noted at this point that the display rather than performance will depend entirely you monitor. Although retailers tend to show this PC as a complete unit, this is one of those "Serving Suggestion" pictures. What you are paying for is the actual PC itself. Consequently unless you already have one, the cost of a monitor will needed to be incorporated into your over-all budget.
Another very big plus point for those requiring their PC for more Multi-media applications is the built in card reader. Although these are featuring on more and more PC's, the vast majority tend only to accept either Secure Digital or Memory Stick. Acer have taken this a few steps further with the on board card reader will accepting ALL of the following: Compact Flash type I / II, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Micro drive, Multi-Media Card, Secure Digital, Smart-Media Card, and XD- Card .
If the various different types of memory card readers weren't enough, the PC also has a serial port, parallel port, Firewire port and no less than eight USB-2 high speed ports for connecting external devices such as camcorders etc.
The E700 is also fitted as standard with a dual layer DVD writer. It does surprise me that a lot of PC's on the market are still fitted with basic DVD Rom's. This again is useful for anyone wanting to do editing and recording of home DVD movies.
To further boost its Multi-media properties, acer have installed an analogue / digital TV tuner. The PC will allow you to watch both analogue (although its days are numbered) and digital TV pictures through your PC. The only thing that doesn't seem to be emphasised much in the sales blurb with this feature is the essential need for a main aerial. Because digital TV reception, or Freeview as its better known, is temperamental to say the least, connection to a good quality roof aerial is a must!
Slightly out of the ordinary is the on-board sound card. With most built in sound cards you usually get standard stereo sound. Again to prove its place in the market as a good all-rounder, Acer have incorporated 7.1 sound. This basically allows you use your PC as a home cinema kit. *****************************=================================================
Combine the high graphics quality, TV tuner, DVD, 7.1 sound and you really do have a full Multi-media package along with a very-fast home or office PC. I bought my Acer as a second PC. Having now seen how well it performs, it is now the only the only one I tend to use. I paid just under £600 and in my opinion I have not so much had good value, but exceptional value for money. I would recommend this PC to anyone, regardless of whether they want a fast Multi-media gaming machine or a reliable workhorse! *****************************=================================================
Specifications:
CPU: 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 RAM: 1Gb (2x512mB) DDR II SDRAM (4Gb MAX) HDD: 250Gb Serial ATA-150 OPTICAL: DVD±RW (DUAL LAYER) NETWORKING: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet GRAPHICS: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS 256mB SOUND: 7.1 channel surround High Definition Audio TV: Digital and analogue TV tuner CARD READER: 18 in 1 card reader. INTERFACE: 8 x Hi-Speed USB (4front / 4rear), 1 x parallel (EPP/ECP) 1 x serial 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) 6 x audio OUT 1 x microphone + stereo 3.5 mm headphone (front) OPERATING SYSTEM: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium TOWER DIMENSIONS: 1800 mm (W) x 4200 mm (D) x 3600 mm (H) WARRANTY: 3 years (return to base)
More details
Reliability
Excellent
Memory / capacity
Excellent
Range of Extra Features
Excellent
Instruction manual
Satisfactory
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