Desktops & Servers > From 1.0 GB to 2.0 GB Desktops & Servers > Microsoft Windows XP Home > Personal Computer > PC

Advantages: Small, Lightweight, Stylish
Disadvantages: Onboard Graphics Card, Noisy

Acer have been the manufacturers to millions of computers in households all around the world, and great expectations are on them every time they release a new desktop, so does this one carry the standard forward. Well- Yes and No. The good things about this computer is the general speedy feeling throughout, with the AMD 3400+ easily meeting the demand for speed for todays general applications. The AMD Processor gives power where you need it, and ...
...Upgrade with another 512 Stick of RAM, Would improve performance and stability somewhat. The down side to this PC, is that it is abit noisy, and I wouldn't recommend it if your looking for a Silent PC to be left on whilst sleeping, etc. Another dissapointment is the lack of a physical graphics card. The T160 comes equipped with an onboard Nvidia 6100 which can only withstand some of todays games. Games like Doom3 would not be able to play smoothly ... Read review

Advantages: Good configuration options, Windows XP, quiet and fast
Disadvantages: Looks are not going to win places on many desks

Earlier this year I bought five of these for a customer. It must be said that the money was not spent on visual styling. They are not the best looking machine but they are a good package in terms of performance and value if you shop around. They are very quiet and easy to configure. I had reservations about using Vista until SP1 had come out and since most of the customer's office used Windows XP I had to look around for a PC which came with Windows ...
...then have to buy an XP licence? It was best to get around the rather basic and uninspiring design by standing the base unit under the desk on its edge rather like a slim tower. The PC was well specified with 1 GB of RAM and this worked very well with the chosen operating system, Windows XP. It also came with a DVD burner which offered good performance. In all a good performer for the office, quiet and reliable and easy to work on. I would recommend ... Read review

Advantages: intel pentium 4 3.4 GHz, ATI graphic card, read and write DVD's and CD's, 6 USB sockets
Disadvantages: in my opinion there aren't any.

Fujitsu Siemens SCALEO P: This computer looks very modern and stylish. It is very fast and reliable computer it great for home uses also its compatible with the new operating system windows vista. it has a big hard drive 232GB which can store a lot of pictures, videos, music, movies etc... the graphic card is made by a very popular company ATI. the processor is also made by a very popular company intel, this processor is very powerful one intel ...
...sockets two at the front and four at the back it also has a card reader that can read SD, MS, CF/MD, SM, and MMC which is very useful if you have a digital camera. this computer can read and write DVD's and CD's. Software that came with it: nero express 6 norton internet security AOL internet CD orange internet CD windows xp home edition recovery CD driver's and utilities ... Read review

Advantages: ease of use, all round good starter system,
Disadvantages: sometimes can be a bit slow if multitasking, front lights fail over time.

i've owned this computer for 3 years, when i bought it, it was high spec, it was to date the best computer i had used and still is too this day, which came with a huge (for the time) 250gb hard drive, 1 cdrw drive and 1 dvdrw drive plus a 5 - in 1 card reader, also it has 2usb ports at the front of the machine and an ieee 1394 input, also has inputs at the front for headphones and a microphone to go with the standard imports on the back, the soundcard ...
...to play my guitar directly through the computer, my only complaint was that there wasnt an audio in port at the front as well - it has plenty of software that comes as standard for a new user and overall is a great bargain, i beleive it sells for roughly £200 on ebay now. For a starter computer it is excellent, the fan can be a bit noisey at night but compared to my old win 98 system is really quiet, it is also a p4 3.6ghz which i beleive even 3 ... Read review

Advantages: Ease of ordering,good value ,pick your own configuration.
Disadvantages: Build quality of case can be patchy.

I bought my Dell 8400 approx 12 months ago.This model is no longer sold by dell themselves and has been replaced by the 9150 model. If you are therefore buying second hand you should be able to get a good deal. Try to go for a higher spec model,mine has a 3.4Ghz intel processor which i find is quick enough for just about every need, especially if you can get 1 Gigbyte of Ram though there are generally empty slots to upgrade yourself. The case is ...
...of space inside if you wish to change graphics cards ,drives etc. Mine was supplied with an nvidia 6800 Gpu and is pretty good at playing all the games on the market at this time. As an example ,when i play Doom 3 i play on high settings and still get 40+ frames per second though you must shut down all open windows etc. The Hard drive is a 250 GB maxtor and the DVD Rom and DVD CD Rewriter drives are easy to use and will probably have sonic record ... Read review