Desktop PC Reviews

Microsoft has announced that Windows 7 will be generally available right at the tail end of October, later this year.  We’ve discussed before what that might mean for consumers, but what about businesses?  Many enterprise customers have simply skipped Windows Vista; whether it was due to pricing, application support or just the PR disaster surrounding Microsoft’s last OS is now irrelevant.  Windows XP, for all its stability, is starting to show its age and Windows 7 is looking more attractive by the day.  Let’s take a look at a late model Dell Optiplex 755 PC, a standard business desktop, and see how it looks running Windows 7.

Specifications

In 2007, this desktop could have cost more than $1200.  Given the longterm plans followed by many corporations, it behooves them to check out ways to increase the lifespan of a given piece of equipment. Updating the OS may be just the key.
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Much like Dell until recently, Lenovo hasn’t been known for being a forward thinking company in terms of aesthetic design.  They did a couple of things well, and that was good enough; while the Thinkpads as a line might not always win a beauty contest, they have functional, conservative design that stands up heavy use.  Lately, though, the OEM has been trying to reinvent some of their products to take a bite out of the consumer market, and the new all-in-one Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 is definitely a departure from the norm.  Read on for our full review.

Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 @ 2.13GHz (3MB L2 cache)
• Memory: 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Hard drive: 1TB SATA @ 7200RPM
• Optical drive: Slot loading Blu-ray rom / DVD+/-RW
• Sound: Integrated HD audio with 2.1 integrated speakers
• Video card: ATI HD3650 with 512MB VRAM
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless networking: 802.11a/b/g/draft-n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• Power supply: 150 watt external
• Warranty: 1 year limited warranty

Lenovo’s new IdeaCentre A600 starts at $699; the suggested retail price of this configuration is currently $1399.
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BY: J.R., DesktopReview.com Editor
Intel released their latest microarchitecture, the Nehalem-based Core i7 platform, in November of last year.  It’s taken until now, however, for some manufacturers to jump into the game and this time it’s HP, with their new Pavilion Elite m9600t.  Competitors like Dell and Gateway both released their own i7 systems last fall; is HP too late or right on time?  Read on for our full review.

Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.66GHz
• Memory: 6GB DDR3 RAM @ 1066 MHz
• Hard drive: 750GB SATA @ 7200RPM
• Optical drive: Blu-ray readable / DVD+/-RW
• Sound: Integrated 7.1 audio
• Video card: ATI Radeon HD4850 1GB
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless networking: 802.11n
• Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• Power supply: Delta Electronics 460W
• Warranty: 1 year limited warranty

The HP Pavilion Elite m9600t has a starting price of $949.  In this configuration, it carries a suggested retail price of $1429.99.
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BY: J.R., DesktopReview.com Editor
Apple recently upgraded their entire desktop line, including the oft-forgotten Mac Mini.  Almost two full years since the last update, Apple finally upgraded almost every aspect of the “most affordable Mac ever”, including the processor, chipset, RAM, hard drive and graphics system.  With a starting cost of $599, can the Mac Mini really compare to its more expensive Apple brethren or even their PC equivalents?  Read on for our full review.

Specifications

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 @ 2.0GHz (3MB L2 cache)
• Memory: 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM @ 1066MHz
• Hard drive: 120GB SATA @ 5400RPM
• Optical drive: DVD+/-RW SuperDrive
• Sound: Integrated audio
• Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics with 128MB shared memory
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet
• Wireless networking: 802.11a/b/g/draft-n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Operating system: OS X 10.5.6 Leopard
• Power supply: 110 watt external
• Warranty: 1 year limited hardware warranty with 90 days phone support

As configured, the Mac Mini carries a suggested retail price of $599.
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