Desktops & Servers > Media Centre Desktops & Servers > by RAM Installed Size

Advantages: Good Processor, plays nice with home productivity
Disadvantages: Bad graphics card, Stupid Power Button

Acer E380 I picked one of these up at comet on sale sue to a shop refurbished and as such got a display model for a bargain price of £299.99, excitement and a sense of smugness when other customers were piped to the post by me, ok it didn't have a box and need some spit and polish but it was cheap and for what it is mega cheap! In The Box (or not in my case): You get one PC, An Acer keyboard and mouse (wired), Media Centre Remote and Receiver and ...
...time you turn on the Acer software advises you to create a restore DVD (do it) as so you can recovery from any very bad crashes or faults, the system comes preloaded with as Acer calls it "Acer ePerformance Management improves response time, releases unused memory, and enhances overall system health" I found this to be the opposite and so uninstalled as soon as I could and found performance and boot times increased but someone make like the preloaded ... Read review

Advantages: Small and looks great
Disadvantages: slightly low on features

OK, so you just buy one of these and you open the box and you find out that it is actually one of the neatest things! It is soo small and fits perfectly under any monitor. All you have to do is plug in the supplied power cables and the monitor and you're away! Comes complete with windows xp and microsoft works which allows you to get writing and using your L200 within minutes. I certainly found it perfect for when I was going from house to house ... Read review

Advantages: none
Disadvantages: plenty

I bought the Acer aspire T180 dual core 4 weeks ago. In that 4 weeks I have done umpteen factory restores that i have lost count. Empowering technology was malfunctioning sound card disappering just to mention a few reasons for restoring to factory settings. I took it back to PC world today 3 days out of their 28 day instant replacement or refund period. It has now been left with their tech guys for the next 48 hours to sort out what is wrong ...
...and that empowering technology is the root cause. He has my permission to uninstall it if that is found to be the culprit. It was also explained that the lure of the dual core and 1024 mb ram has been misinterpreted as being a good pc but the reality is that by the time the 256mb for the shared graphics is swallowed up then the 500 or so mb vista swallows i am left with around 250mb of memory if lucky then with empowering technology taking its ... Read review

Advantages: Looks SHARP!!! Has almost everything "IN THERE" (TV, FM,++)
Disadvantages: Not too user servicable.. but then we haven't had problems. Sooo...

...I give kudos to the Acer Group. The Aspire 510 is one we can place in our customers homes. Set it up. Teach the nuances of it and how Media Center works, and move on to the next customer. NO call-back thus far for hardware-related issues. I came about this unit quite by accident. I can't build units fast enough. And we needed a supplier reliable enough to take the strain off of me. Yet one that could think outside of the box and provide us with forward ...
...a time if need be. Acer kept coming up at or near the top of the list. Their Aspire 510 has won awards from third parties that have like me, have no ax to grind. Business is business. Crashes... none. Lock-up none thus far. Problems..... No. Suggestions..... We would like Acer to spec the Aspire 510 with more (2 gigs ) memory STANDARD for Vista. But that is not a deal breaker. The Dual core T5500 is plenty fast!!! And a recent release. Cool, yet ... Read review

Advantages: compact, stylish, powerful; superb media centre
Disadvantages: not one of 'The names'

...end we decided on the Acer Aspire L100 with 19" Widescreen Monitor - Athlon 64 X2 3800+ - 19 This is classed as a compact (or mini) PC. Its dimensions (H x W x D) are 10.1 in x 4 in x 7.8 in (25 cm x 20 cm x 6 cm) and it weighs 8 lb (4 kg), as you can see it is a small unit this is described as an ultra small form factor. It is a very attractive addition to our electronics not looking out of place or bulky and unattractive. The casing is brushed ...
...in temporary periphery. Acer has built its reputation on making computers that are stylish and look more expensive than they actually are. The PC stands upright and has an attractive curved base which is a good idea as it ensures the unit gets those couple of mm it needs for ventilation. I think many of us ignore the recommended ventilation space guidelines on our DVD players , video recorders, cable boxes etc but it is more important with a PC where ... Read review