ThinkCentre... Think Smarter

Advantages: Slimline, Well Featured, Looks Good
Disadvantages: No Firewire, Not thought out properly

...ThinkCentre... Think Smarter IBM?s range of workstations have always been backed up with a long history, after all shouldn?t IBM be the experts, they did ?invent? the PC after all! IBM?s ThinkCentre range represents IBM?s mid-range business workstations, enough power and multimedia capabilities to run the top end office and productivity, whilst keeping costs down to make the systems as affordable as possible. A hidden but equally important part of the ThinkCentres resides inside the computer and installed on the hard drives, these discrete design decisions and software packages that are shipped with the machines. I have recently installed 86 IBM ThinkCentre S50?s at work; this review is my attempt to distil my experiences into words. WHATS IN THE BOX? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the box arrives at your door, or in my case three...

RichardSlater 19.01.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of ThinkCentre S50 8183

Extremely Over Priced PC

Advantages: The case dosn't look too bad
Disadvantages: Addequate but outdated CPU

...- 54 - 164bit L2 Cashe 4Mb 512Mb DDR-II 4200 80Gb S-ATA-300 HDD @ 7200rpm 48x CD-RW / DVD Combo Intel Integrated graphics upto 128Mb Shared memory Integrated AC'97 Sound PCI Express slot Fast / Giga/ Ethernet I would say that the price I paid of £250, got me a reasonable PC for the money. Had I paid the shop price of £400, like my friend I would feel extremely short changed. It would appear that IBM have applied the same disastrous logic to the ThinkCentre PC range that was applied to the Thinkpad range of laptops. IBM assumed with their Thinkpad range that people would indeed pay well over the odds for something resembling a house brick just because it was an IBM. It didn't work with Thinkpad, and I can hardly see it working with Thinkcentre either, even more so because the IBM name has all but been disappeared in favour...

saraharcher 08.05.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Lenovo ThinkCentre A55 9265

Thinkcentre A30 8191 Review

Advantages: Quiet, Fast, Good ports and slots, good build quality
Disadvantages: Quite heavy, not too mobile, can be slow with 256Mb RAM, slightly bulky

...I purchased this computer from my friend, and since i first fired it up, i have had no problems whatsoever. I installed windows xp and it ran really fast, until i started adding lots more programs. I then experimented with Linux, specifically DreamLinux and Mandriva linux. Both worked really well, but mandriva was a bit slower than DreamLinux. I have recently upgraded the RAM from 256Mb to 512Mb and i reinstalled windows xp. Much faster than last time with more programs on it. The computer has 3 PCI slots which is good, and an AGP port. The socket is Socket 478, and this computer has 2 RAM sockets which take PC2100 RAM chips. I think this computer is very quiet. When it starts up, it has a little hum, and then when loading xp, i cannot hear it at all. The computer has 2 front USB ports and 4 rear USB ports, all USB 2.0. The disadvantages...

Matheusl02 16.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of ThinkCentre A30 8191

Pocket sized portability with the Asus Eee Pc 701

Advantages: Price, size, portability
Disadvantages: Processor power, memory capacity

...The ASUS EEE PC 701 model is an extremely affordable, small and portable netbook with a 7" screen and built in wifi card designed primarily for internet use. The standard model comes with a built in 2 gigabyte solid state hard drive and comes in a variety of colours and finishes ranging from matt white through to pastel pink. The white ones are probably your best bet as in my opinion they are slightly more stylish, echoing shades of the Macbook Air. The EEE PC comes with a built in microphone on all models and webcam on most models and runs on a Linux based operating system although it can be configured to run on a Windows based system. Windows based versions are planned for release by the company shortly. The Linux distribution is extremely stable with a Windows like user interface although for those not quite used to Linux you...

milliontoone 25.02.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Asus Eee PC 701

Cat Eye Vectra computer

Advantages: Simple to use, sturdy and reliable, great value for money
Disadvantages: A pain to set up

...It is imperative to know how far you've gone, how long it took and what your fastest speed was and the only way to do this is with a cycle computer. It is a must have bit of kit to ensure that you are actually improving. Computers can be wired or wireless. Off road it is important to ensure that the amount of things that can get tangled up in hedges, branches etc is kept to an absolute minimum and the only option, therefore, is a wireless computer. I stumbled across the Cat eye vectra whilst looking through the Evans Cycles site. The selection is vast and the functions, and prices, vary greatly. I only required the basic functions - the amount of calories I burn off, what my heart rate is etc doesn't really bother me. The Vectra is the most basic wireless computer that Evans sells, however, it has all the functions that I...

yackers1 08.04.2007 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Cateye Vectra Wireless Computer

ASUS EEE PC 701 - Small but perfectly formed

Advantages: Size, Ease of Use
Disadvantages: Small keyboard, small screen

...This review looks at one of many netbooks to be released in the UK over the past few months, ASUS's EEE PC 701 SD. The model I have is fitted with Windows XP and has an 8Gb hard drive. I bought it on special offer for £155. Appearance The 701SD is absolutely tiny. It weighs around a kilogram and is roughly the same size as a hardback reading book when in the closed position. It comes in a neat box along with instructions,a mains charger, a protective case and a system CD. It has a 7 inch screen which is absolutely tiny but is still perfectly functional. The unit has three USB sockets, headphone and microphone jacks, and SD memory card slot, a small webcam above the screen and a microphone positioned just underneath the keyboard. It has a small touchpad which is small but works in exactly yhte same way as a normal sized laptop...

Future77 27.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Asus Eee PC 701

Cheap cadence computer

Advantages: Has a cadence sensor, good for turbo training
Disadvantages: Wired, small screen, not waterproof, useless for outdoor use

...Despite its name the Trek Incite 11i computer has just ten functions, which include current speed, an odometer, trip distance, elapsed time, 12/24 hour clock, average speed, pacer, maximum speed, temperature and cadence. The cadence sensor measures how many revolutions per minute you are turning the pedals, and this function is generally found on much more expensive cycling computers, therefore you may wish to consider this computer if you participate in spinning training. Except for the temperature function, all functions are likely to be used by all cyclists in training. Personally, I can?t see the point of the temperature feature as it doesn?t add anything to the overall computer. One thing to note is the lack of stopwatch, which is a bit of a let down, however, there is a clock that starts once you start pedalling which you...

yackers1 22.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Trek Incite 11i Cadence Computer

Mesh Computer Nightmare

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Appalling Customer Service

...This is an honest account of my experience of Mesh Computers Ltd. On the 2nd December 2008 I placed an order on-line for an Xtreme Pro I7-920. The desktop computer arrived on the 30/12/2008 by DHL courier service. The box was in good condition and I signed for the goods. When the box was opened and the desktop computer inspected I soon discovered that it was not of a satisfactory quality. The system box was bent and not assembled correctly. The media reader was also bent and not installed properly. The black tower case was covered in a white compound or paint marks. The side panels had been able to move during transit due to the poor build quality. This allowed the screws to fall out that held it together and the manufacturers warranty seal had torn. I went to the trouble of setting up the computer even though my instinct was to...

wholefruit 06.04.2009 (30.07.2009) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Mesh Computers

The Nation's Favourite Computer Shop

Advantages: Store layout, Convenience, Range of products, Lower Web prices for Collect @ Store
Disadvantages: Price of accessories and some items, Queues, Selection of certain items

...PC WORLD STORES PC world are the retail arm of DSG International group. They specialise in computing items but also sell, TVs, digital cameras, stationary and even office furniture. PC World stores are dotted around the country with stores often located in retail parks so many of them are as big as supermarkets. I have most frequently visited the stores in Croydon, Catford, Charlton and Old Kent Road, with Croydon and Catford being the most frequent. They usually have their own car parks (depending on location) and there?s usually a fair number of spaces which is good, as I hate having to look for parking spaces. Stores seem to consistently have the following sections: - Components - PC - Laptop - Software - Stationary - Digital Photography - Home entertainment - Printers - Networking The above sections are usually the big...

Deru 23.03.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of PC World (Shop)

The Old Computer's Tale

Advantages: On a cold day it was nice and warm in the store.
Disadvantages: You can keep warm for a long time whilst trying to sort your problems out.

...I know I’m an old computer. My memory isn’t what it used to be, and my hard disc is a bit, well, full, so I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when they went out one day to buy me some more memory, and came back with all these boxes. When they unpacked it I thought it looked like a bit of a flighty piece, Presario, she was called, with a flat screen, and all sorts of other frilly bits, and the next thing I know I’m in the loft. Well, walls (and ceilings) are thin and you can hear what’s going on, so I was a bit shocked that they didn’t turn a hair when the whole thing crashed whilst they were trying to set it up, wiping the hard disc, and they have to spend hours on the telephone before they can get it going again. Seems to me they’ve been spiffed - that’s what we in the trade...

SueMagee 22.07.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of PC World (Shop)