Reviews Of Desktop PCs, DIY PC Builds, All-In-Ones, And Small Form Factor PCs
In-depth product reviews and news of Computer Desktops, DIY PC Builds, All-In-One PCs, and Small Form Factor PCs. If it crunches numbers, pushes pixels, throws down the frag or provides a digital canvass for content creation, you'll find it there.
In early September, Steve Jobs took to the stage and unveiled the new-and-improved Apple TV. What was once considered a “hobby” device was reworked, streamlined, made more affordable, and aimed squarely at the masses. It enters an increasingly crowded market of devices that offer near-instant access to libraries of recent movies...
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Nettops are not nearly as popular as their mobile contemporaries, i.e. netbooks, arguably due to the lack of any significant horsepower within the tiny machines. Up until now, most nettops have been good for little more than basic Office duties, Web surfing, and occasional 720p (max) movie playback. There's a fine line that has to...
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It's that time again. The time of year where students and parents frantically hit e-tailers with overnight shipping deals in order to get that all-important back-to-school technology into a dorm room or backpack before classes begins. It's back-to-school season, and whether you've started classes recently or are awaiting...
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Lenovo has been making a push in touch-enabled products as of late. A few months back, we actually tested one of the company's first touchscreen-enabled ThinkPad notebooks (and an IdeaPad, for that matter). Regardless, the company isn't exactly a household name when it comes to touch-enabled products but with Windows 7's limited built in touch...
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Every once in a while a product comes along that really gets us worked into a frenzy. Typically, the latest and greatest processors and graphics cards generate a lot of buzz around here, but some other components aren’t always as enticing for one reason or another, like motherboards for example. Don’t get us wrong, we love a great...
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PC gamers are a lucky bunch, particularly those who have only recently begun their journey into the awesome world of computers. Never before has this hobby been so affordable, and there was a time not that long ago when building a cheap gaming rig resulted in a second-rate gaming experience, one devoid of copious amounts of eye candy and buttery...
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When it comes to the business of building PCs, true innovation is hard to find. There are exceptions—HP had the Blackbird 002, Alienware designs its own enclosures, and there's always the Thermaltake Level 10—but most companies aren't willing to take the financial risk that's part and parcel of designing new and different products....
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Nettop PCs are sort of a re-purposing of a product category that was popularized in the business world, formerly known as "thin clients." Though thin client PCs are relatively "dumb" machines that rely on enterprise intranet services and servers to run applications, nettops need to have a bit more capability and operate autonomously. ...
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Let's face the facts; unless you have an automatic backup configured, you probably don't back up the information on your computer as often as you should. Even though we would hate to lose critical financial documents, personal photos, music, and movies, we don't often take the time to ensure that these files are safely and securely stored...
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When you think about the market for a pre-built, proverbial "Killer Gaming Rig," you have to consider the class of consumer that would have interest in this type of system. For the most part, the average do-it-yourselfer isn't going to take much interest here, save for perhaps the appreciation of all the bleeding-edge technology...
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Building a Home Theater PC is often times a much better option for enabling your entertainment center for various forms of digital media playback capability. Rather than stepping up to additional discrete components, like a stand-alone Blu-ray, DVD or CD player, why not infuse your living room entertainment center with real intelligence...
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For the last couple of years, Dell's foray into the small-form-factor desktop market was its successful mini-tower (with the emphasis on "mini") Studio Hybrid. But with Dell's latest small-form-factor entry, the Inspiron Zino HD, out goes the vertical mini-tower and in comes the horizontal square--7.8-inches wide by 7.8-inches deep to be exact,...
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Last week, we brought you a preview of newcomer Origin PC's Genesis desktop and announced a system giveaway (details available here). At that time we noted that "there's a new company joining the ranks of boutique system builders with customization options that could turn the head of even the most die-hard DIY-er. The paint is scarcely...
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With a claim of “nearly 30-years of touch innovation” under its belt, HP is no stranger to touch-input technology. The company has recently integrated touch input into a number of its consumer and business product lines, such as tablets and displays and perhaps is most well-known for its line of TouchSmart all-in-one desktop PCs. In fact,...
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There's a new company joining the ranks of boutique system builders with customization options that could turn the head of even the most die-hard DIY-er. The paint is scarcely dry on the Origin logo—the business opened on November 17th—but the corporation's three founders each spent a decade at Alienware prior to founding Origin. Their collective...
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Avid followers of the PC technology scene are no doubt familiar with the concept of CPU + GPU fusion. AMD has been talking about its Fusion project for years, which will feature advanced processor and graphics cores on a single chip. Well, we're not quite there yet, not on the desktop at least, but Intel is taking us one step closer with Clarkdale....
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When Intel introduced its LGA1166 Lynnfield processors earlier this fall, one of its goals was to introduce Nehalem's advanced technology at lower price points. To that end, Digital Storm has designed a high-end system around the P55 chipset and Core i5 processor. At a price of ~$1900, the customized system isn't what you'd call cheap, but...
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You're stuffed full of turkey, you somehow managed to erect a Christmas tree (or not), and you're still recovering from Black Friday. Without a doubt, you've had one whirlwind of a holiday. But before you get too comfortable in that chair of yours, we should probably remind you that the gift giving day(s) you've all been waiting for is only...
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The market for nettops—small, highly-integrated, mini-ITX desktops, typically based around Intel's Atom—didn't explode off the block the way netbooks did in the past 18 months, but an increasing number of manufacturers from Acer to Dell have released new designs built around the standard, and the systems in question are steadily becoming more...
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The Asus Eee Top ET2002 is an all-in-one desktop computer that provides the basics for everyday computing as well as multimedia entertainment in a space-saving design. It features a large, 20-inch 16:9 widescreen display and a 1.6GHz dual core Intel Atom 330 processor. Perhaps one of the coolest new features of the ET2002 is the fact that...
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Computer hardware enthusiasts are a unique group. Its true that some enthusiasts may spend hours, days, or weeks tweaking their BIOS and other settings to achieve optimal performance, while others might spend an entire evening painstakingly routing wires for proper cable management. Fortunate ones find themselves eagerly awaiting...
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The enthusiast scene is filled with consumers with do-it-yourself attitudes who regularly build their own systems from scratch. In fact, some feel that part of the fun associated with a new build is comparing prices online and asking for advice on tech forums in order to configure the ideal system. Although there are obvious benefits...
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