Features

• 2.0 GHz PowerPC G5 running Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger"
• 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 250 GB hard drive, and SuperDrive (DVD-RW/CD-RW)
• 20-inch (viewable) widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1680 x 1050 pixels, millions of colors
• Two FireWire 400 ports; three USB 2.0 ports, two USB 1.1 ports (on keyboard); VGA output; S-video and composite video output
• Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) and 56K V.92 modem

Reviews (51)

Ejection problem
Order ID: 002-1035842-0499221
Tremendous capability for the price.
Yes if you can get this version of the iMac for a price like they are offering these days you will get a lot for your money.
iMAC Power
WOW - what can I say - I own 3 MACs now - this beauty is a work of art and technology. 20" stunning display, silent, powerful, DVD Superdrive, compact and wireless - all you need is the power cord plugged in and THATS IT - I am so glad I got mine before the INTEL CHIPSET - a true APPLE this is!! - Get one at these prices it's a FANTASTIC DEAL!!! ... Read more

Features

• 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor with 167 MHz system bus
• 512 MB DDR SDRAM (expandable to 1 GB), 40 GB hard drive, slot-loading Combo Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
• One FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, DVI output, and VGA output (adapter included)
• Built-in 10/100BASE-T ethernet
• Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger, iLive '05, Mail, and more included

Reviews (11)

MACTABULOUS!!!
For all those people who are concerned about space restrictions and want a powerhouse computer that will not need a large footprint, the Mac Mini is the perfect solution.Packing a boatload of power into a computer yay bigger than a coaster, there is no better power/space combination in the entire computing world!
A mixed bag
I'm a long time Windows user, but liked the elegance of Macs and was keen to try something that "just works" as the sales pitch goes.
For All WINTEL Folks: its time to free your mind of DLL's!
I recall writing a short review just as I was ordering this piece of incredible ART OF A MACHINE!Steve REALLY KNOWS HOW TO TACKLE pc users and make believers OUT OF them!I seriously started to hate my PC Machine and not use it anymore. I am forced to though since my satellite connection is cross wired with my MacMini.
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Editorial Review

The easy-to-use HP m7260n Media Center PC is the complete home PC system that delivers more entertainment choices, and brings them together in one place with easy access from anywhere in the room. With the m7260n, you can watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. It also comes loaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2), which provides support for Media Center Extender technology built into XBox 360 game consoles. It features a hyper-threading 3.0 GHz Pentium D dual-core processor for powering through work as multiple applications hum along simultaneously and without stress, as well as 1 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum), massive 300 GB hard drive, ATI Radeon x300se video card, TV tuner card with FM tuner, and 5.1-channel surround sound. Read more

Features

• Multimedia-oriented desktop with integrated TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2)
• Hyper-threaded 3.0 GHz Pentium D 830 dual-core processor, 2 MB total L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
• 300 GB hard drive, 1 GB installed RAM (4 GB max), dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, DVD-ROM drive
• Six USB 2.0, two Firewire, one VGA, one S-Video, one composite AV, 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
• ATI Radeon x300se video card with 128 MB video RAM, Intel High Definition audio (Azalia) with 5.1-channel surround sound

Reviews (4)

God help you if you need technical support
I bought the big brother version of this unit and most of it worked except for burning CDs & DVDs.After hours of calls via India and several US location, my machine will not even recognize the drives.This is all after sending the CPU back to HP to fix and it still came back broken. They now want me to wipe 9 months of data and start new, and then send it again to HP.They will make no commitments as to how many times I will have to return it for repairs.They are just stalling for the warranty expiration.Totally unethical!

Save your money for ...
If you're considering this or any other HP Media Center, save your money. First, there are a number of bugs to consider, none of which HP has been able to help with. First among these problems is the fact that the computer tends to freeze up at random for about ten seconds at a time. This would be no more than a slight annoyance except that it can waste a lot of blank media whenever the machine freezes while burning a CD or DVD. Second, is the generally poor image quality of the TV feature. A better option is to buy a good Sony VAIO or other quality computer and then upgrade to a good-quality video card that includes a TV tuner and necessary software. Nor does the Micorosft Media Center operating system add much to the overall experience. Sometime this year (2006) or early next, Microsoft will release their next operating system, which (according to everything I've read) will be so radically different that the Media Center edition will begin to feel like one is using Windows 95. In general, I recommend looking elsewhere.

M7260 Photosmart Pent D Review
My HP Photosmart PC works like a charm. I've had it for about 4 months now and it is flawless. If you can take advantage of the features avaliable such as: Media Center, Memory card slots (CF, SD, etc), Great Graphics (the provided ATI Radeon x350 does the job and more), Litescribe Burner, Dvd Burner, Dvd Player, and much more, then this product is for you.
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Features

• 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium D 930 CPU, 800 MHz front side bus, ATI Radeon X300 graphics controller (128 MB dedicated memory)
• 1 GB PC2-4200 533 MHz RAM, 320 GB hard drive, double layer CD-RW/DVD-RW optical drive
• 7 USB 2.0, 2 FireWire, S-Video, composite audio/video, 9-in-1 memory card reader, composite audio-video
• 10/100/1000 gigabit network interface, 56K modem
• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005, Microsoft Works 8.5, Intuit Quicken 2005 New User Edition, Microsoft Money Standard 2004

Reviews (2)

Great Computer!
I too have had this computer for a month, and found the previous reviewers tips helpful initially.This is in no way disparaging tothat review, but after activating the Vaio Media whatever to network my computer successfully, I had many a headache getting my two Vaios to communicate smoothly.I then had the idea to remove any pre-installed software, and, voila!A nicely running machine.Since this is my second Vaio, I should've known that Sony builds a good PC, but their software is subpar/bordering on spyware.Remove anything that they recommend, and your computer will run like a charm.

Nice Box, Questionable customer support
(Added comments after five months of ownership: The system does have its problems. After four months, the audio system failed to work. Going through what can only be described as the world's worst "technical support on-line service" I finally got to talk with a real technician. The motherboard had apparently fried. To Sony's credit, they sent in a new motherboard along with a technician who replaced the board and re-installed the system to its "factory" condition as a part of the warrenty. The new motherboard, however, would not work with the old "rescue disks" that were burned per Sony's instructions when the system was first installed. A brand new set of rescue disks with a new disk image had to be used. It is now up and running, and I have not had the problems over the last month that had been bothering the system over the first four.)
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Editorial Review

The HP Pavilion a1230n comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. It features a wide range of connectivity options for all your peripherals and preloaded HP Image Zone Plus photo editing and management software. It comes loaded with 1 GB of RAM, which can be bumped up to 4 GB, as well as a roomy 200 GB hard drive. It also features an AMD Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2 GHz processor, LightScribe multi-format DVD/CD burner, additional DVD-ROM drive, a 9-in-1 memory card reader that's compatible with today's most popular digital camera formats, and a wide assortment of pre-loaded software.Read more

Features

• Entertainment-focused desktop PC with 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3700+ processor, 1 MB L2 cache.
• 200 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM (4 GB max), LightScribe multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual-layer support, 48x CD-ROM
• Six USB 2.0, two Firewire, one parallel, one VGA, one 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 Ethernet; 56K (V.90) modem
• ATI Radeon x200 video card with up to 256 MB of shared video RAM, Intel High Definition audio (Azalia) with 5.1-channel surround sound
• Windows Media Center 2005 (Service Pack 2)

Reviews (12)

I give the HP a1230n one-half notch above mediocre...
I bought the a1230n for about 875.00 (not incl. monitor) in Sept '05.I give it a hlaf notch above mediocre.Solid cabinet, separare DVD/CD drive bays, handy audio jacks in the front, 4 USB jacks.MD processor is suppose to be better for multi-media..hmmm.Replaced the chinsey keyboard/mouse included in the package.I grew up in HP territory, the once thriving giant HP comlex is now a ghost town.Almost all design/assebly is outsourced now, this unit assembled in China.Whould I buy it again knowing what I know now ...naah.

It's OK for the money
My friend bought this computer from BestBuy, a big electronics retailer. It had a good price for what it had and it came with a free monitor.
Good overall, but at this price expected more
HP has good reliable pcs which is saying a lot considering the amount of junk out there.Still with basic cpus selling under $400 I expect a lot more for the extra dough.The dvd drive can be testy, meaning it may or not work.I've had trouble w/ other drives and disk burning hardware is not as reliable as the old floppy drives.The speed seems fine and I didn't experience slow down on word processing.I like to edit video so the memory and processing have proved to be sufficient.It isn't a super computer but it does the job. ... Read more

Features

• 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 running Mac OS X version 10.3 "Panther"
• 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 40 GB hard drive, slot-loading Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• One FireWire 400 port; two USB 2.0 ports, DVI output, VGA monitor output (adapter included), and headphone/audio line out
• Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
• iLife ‘05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), AppleWorks, Quicken 2005 for Mac, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, and Apple Hardware Test

Reviews (20)

No good for games
I bought my iMac just a few months ago with the expectation that I would get a few good years of use out of it.Instead with the very first game I installed (Warcraft Reign Of Chaos) I found I couldn't run it a the top quality settings.Oh the game will run, but I found the best I could get out of Allied Assault was vastly inferior to what my friends could get out of their PCs.It was embarrasing.It appears that the problem is not the CPU speed, but the graphics.This iMac comes with built in nVIDIA GeForce2 MX video card.This card does not support all of the latest video standard.To get that you have to get a computer with a new ATI or nVIDIA graphics cards.Apple sells systems like this, but they cost twice as much as this computer.Now the insulting part is that the new graphics cards only cost about fifty bucks more!Apple could easily put better graphics in this iMac, but then it would be as good it's more expensive offerings.Other than that I have enjoyed my system.I find it works great for ripping MP3s and surfing the web.It just burns me up that the day it arrived at my house it was unable to run at least one new game at the top settings.Was that too much to ask?Now I just have years of even worse gaming performance to look forward too.

Time to switch to mac
OK once I saw this computer I knew it was time to switch over to the mac world.this machine is a workof art it is so nice to look at,takes up little space, great flat screen display best I have seen, and is quite fast.I love this and will never go back.My pants off to Apple for making this!

Mac or IBM Compatable?
That is the question.I think the answer depends on what you want to do with a computer.I have an old Compaq Lap top with Window 98 with Celron 400 or something.It is slow.But I only use it for word processing and surfing the web.But my lap top crashes a lot.I had to re-format the entire hard drive 6 times, and I had the lap top for 3 years.I bought an iMac in Jan 2003.I don't know how fast my iMac is compared to an IBM Compatable.I love this machine.Of course, I had to get use to the new operating system.But it didn't take me that long.After all, it is very similar to Window XP (or is Windows XP very similar to Mac OS X?).Any way, it does everything I ask it to do, including surfing the web, converting CD to MP3s, and downloading and printing digital photos.I bought the Window Office for Mac OS X.I can tranfer my documents (word, excel, powerpoint, etc) to and from others who own Windows operating systems without a single problem.I don't really play games on my computer (I have a Playstation 2 for that), and I don't do CAD or other engineering/drafting tasks.So if you are like me-MP3's, digital photography, email/web surfing, typing/creating documents, other "regular" stuff, I would definately recommend an iMac.I love the monitor and the computer does not crash.I think of an apple computer as having a BMW car.It is more pricey, not common (they don't make as many as GM does), and hard to find parts for it.But it is very reliable.So if you are going to use a computer, why not an iMac?I switched!!Because I appreciate the fact a company went beyond functionality.Wouldn't you rather drive a Mercedes Benz or an BMW?Only reason I am give it a 4 star is that NO COMPUTER IS PERFECT!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

The HP Pavilion a1330n comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. It features a wide range of connectivity options for all your peripherals and preloaded HP Image Zone Plus photo editing and management software. Store more music, videos, and data on the roomy 250 GB hard drive. It comes loaded with 1 GB of RAM, which can be bumped up to 4 GB, an AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4 GHz processor, LightScribe multi-format DVD/CD burner (plus extra DVD-ROM drive), a 9-in-1 memory card reader that's compatible with today's most popular digital camera formats, Windows Media Center 2005 (with Rollup 2 Update), and a wide assortment of pre-loaded software. Read more

Features

• Entertainment-focused desktop PC with 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor, 512 KB L2 cache.
• 250 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM (4 GB max), LightScribe multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual-layer support, DVD-ROM drive
• Six USB 2.0, two Firewire, one parallel, one VGA, one 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 Ethernet; 56K (V.90) modem
• ATI Radeon XPress 200 video card with up to 128 MB of shared video RAM, 10/100 Ethernet, 56K modem
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2)

Reviews (3)

Its a Beauty
I own this fine product...its really good but not fully stable...it lacks on start up speed sometimes.
Great computer for a great price
The Athlon 64 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 250 GB hard drive in addition to the other Media Center features are a great value for a little over $700. Unless you're a PC gamer nerd, you should not have any complaints with this machine and you will find that what this HP Media Center delivers far exceeds the needs of the everyday PC user.

Super machine - Great Value
System works great - easy to expand - Just plug it up and good. You'll want to add your own software but what comes with it is a good start. ... Read more

Features

• Intel Pentium 4 Processor 640 (3.2 GHz) with Hyper-Threading Technology
• 2MB L2 Cache
• FSB - 800MHz
• 512MB of PC-3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM (upgradeable to 2GB)
• 250GB 7200RPM Serial ATA(TM) HDD

Reviews (2)

Great home computer
The VGC-RB50 has the ability to handle photoshop and the other programs I use for illustration.I wish it had two DVD/CD drives, but I can always add one later on.

Buyer Beware
I bought this computer 10 days ago. When I opened the box I found there was just one piece of paper for computer specs..and they didn't say much. I wanted to upgrade RAM 512 just doesn't go far these days. I went to Sony support and they had 2 documents...one was the paper included in the box and the other is a .chm file. I have yet to find anything that works to open it and make it readable. I called sony and that wasn't much help, emailed them no response yet, started a chat session with tech support and was told detailed motherboard specs are not published. Emachines and Compaq are both much better in allowing you to access infomation about your computer. If you work on your own computer beware there is no motherboard support...even intel doesn't list this board even though they manufactured it. For the money you can buy a better system from companies much more customer friendly. I gave it a 1 because so far it does run and 1 is the lowest rating. I expected more and got so much less. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The easy-to-use HP m7250n Media Center PC is the complete home PC system that delivers more entertainment choices, and brings them together in one place with easy access from anywhere in the room. With the m7250n, you can watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. It also comes loaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2), which provides support for Media Center Extender technology built into XBox 360 game consoles. It features a hyper-threading 2.8 GHz Pentium D dual-core processor for powering through work as multiple applications hum along simultaneously and without stress, as well as 1 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum), extra-large 250 GB hard drive, ATI Radeon x300se video card, TV tuner card with FM tuner, and 5.1-channel surround sound. Read more

Features

• Multimedia-oriented desktop with integrated TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2)
• Hyper-threaded 2.8 GHz Pentium D 820 dual-core processor, 2 MB total L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
• 250 GB hard drive, 1 GB installed RAM (4 GB max), dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, DVD-ROM drive
• Six USB 2.0, two Firewire, one VGA, one S-Video, one composite AV, 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
• ATI Radeon x300se video card with 128 MB video RAM, Intel High Definition audio (Azalia) with 5.1-channel surround sound

Reviews (9)

I love my hp
I bought this about a year ago and i love it. I have had no problems. It does everything i wanted. I'm happy with my purchase.

It's been great!
A great computer at a great price when I bought it.Since then I've done some odds and ends upgrading of the video card and added another gig of RAM in order to run my games more smoothly.Right out of the box it ran the Adobe CS2 suite like a charm.

I bought this product and I have no problem
Everything works fine.The sound is very good.You can do several things at the same time.
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Editorial Review

The easy-to-use HP m7350n Media Center PC is the complete home PC system that delivers more entertainment choices, and brings them together in one place with easy access from anywhere in the room. With the m7350n you can watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. This desktop is one of the first to offer Intel's Viiv technology, which enables you to quickly turn the PC on and off (after initial boot) with a touch of the included remote thanks to Intel's Quick Resume function. It also offers specially-designed software that makes network configuration easy, for connecting to portable media players, DVD players, TV sets and stereos. Read more

Features

• Multimedia-oriented desktop with integrated TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2)
• Hyper-threaded 2.8 GHz Pentium D 920 dual-core processor, 4 MB total L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
• 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB installed RAM (4 GB max), dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, DVD-ROM drive
• Six USB 2.0, two FireWire, one VGA, one S-Video, one composite AV, 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
• Nvidia GeForce 6200SE video card with up to 256 MB shared video RAM, Intel High Definition audio (Azalia) with 5.1-channel surround sound

Editorial Review

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Reviews (3)

Mean Machine
My order was quickly processed and shipped. I had trouble installing the sbc dsl installation disc so I called sonys help line and quickly spoke with someone who helped trouble-shoot the problem.They told me that the problem was the disc version of sbc and that I should contact them.After that I was further instructed on how to download the correct version from their website.After doing this the computer was supreme.With 1 GB RAM everything happens in a flash, it's 200 GB Hard Drive is more than enough which is an understatment.I purchased this computer from tigerdirect.com through amazon and paid 800 dollars which after doing my research and comparing prices is a great deal.It comes with a keyboard, a really cool mouse, and a set of speakers.I choose to purchase a 19 inch sony flat panel monitor from amazon.com of which I paid 310 US dollars after 150 Mail in Rebate to Sony.I didn't purchase the XtraBrite because it cost more and the only difference seemed to be the glossy screen and the colors were exagerated (the grass was unrealistacly green).So all in all I paid $1100 + s/h which, compared to this setup as a total package, saved a couple hundred dollars depending on where you look.I am blown away at this computer, surfing the internet is a whole new experience now that I don't have to wait for page loads or freezing.Taking on 30 tasks at once is not a problem for this computer, not that I would ever need to but just knowing that you could.It's like driving a porsche, you probably won't need to go 200 mph but just knowing you could is really cool.A 200 GB hard drive larger than you'll need but it's nice to have.I recommend this computer to Multi Media users and suggest the 19 inch flat panel sony monitor to go with it, 19 inches is the way to go.I've had a 17 flat screen monitor for 6 years and I was just blown away with this new one.I love it.Also, the whole package looks so cool on a desk.I think that the way a computer appears is also important and sony is top of the line when it comes to that.This computer is a mean machine and I am just so glad that there was nothing wrong with it and am looking forward to spending many years playing with it.

Love it
I bought this machine at Comp USA on sale for cheap. Tossed in a Geforce 4 card and I was ready to rock. Like the user said above.... it doesn't come with system disks. What you are supposed to do is burn them when u use the computer. I guess it's a little cheap on Sony's part making the consumer burn his/her own system disks, but hey, blank CDs and DVDs are cheap and I'd rather save a few hundred bucks.

Arrived with defective modem, no system disks or documentation
The system is very attractively priced, especially with the rebates from both Sony and Amazon.
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Editorial Review

The Sony Vaio VGC-RB51P desktop entertainment PC comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. You can store hundreds of hours of your music collection on the extra-large 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. It features a hyper-threading 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Processor 640 as well as 512 MB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), a multi-format memory card reader compatible with the most popular digital camera formats, Microsoft XP Home Edition, and a wide assortment of pre-loaded software titles. Read more

Features

• Monitor Not Included
• Intel Pentium 4 Processor 640 (3.2 GHz) with Hyper-Threading Technology
• 2MB L2 Cache
• FSB - 800MHz
• 512MB of PC-3200 400MHz DDR SDRAM (upgradeable to 2GB)

Features

• 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium D 920 CPU, 800 MHz front side bus, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics controller (224 MB shared memory)
• 1 GB PC2-4200 533 MHz RAM, 250 GB hard drive, double layer CD-RW/DVD-RW optical drive, DVD-ROM/CD-ROM drive
• 6 USB 2.0, 2 FireWire, S-Video, composite audio/video, 9-in-1 memory card reader, composite audio-video
• 10/100/1000 gigabit network interface, 56K modem
• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005, Microsoft Works 8.5, Intuit Quicken 2005 New User Edition, Microsoft Money Standard 2004

Reviews (1)

Fast PC, runs Windows XP well...
The VGC-RB60G is our fourth purchase of a Sony VAIO desktop computer, and replaces my wife's PCV-RZ32G. I currently have a VGC-RA940G, and my wife started out with a PCV-LX920.
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Editorial Review

The HP Pavilion a1520n comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. It features a wide range of connectivity options for all your peripherals and preloaded HP Photosmart Premier digital image editing and management software. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc and provides a super-fast 16x DVD+R write speed. It also includes LightScribe technology for personalized silkscreen-quality, laser-etched CD/DVD labels created right in the drive. Store more music, videos, and data on the roomy 250 GB hard drive. It comes loaded with 1 GB of RAM (which can be bumped up to 4 GB), a 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor, a 9-in-1 memory card reader that's compatible with today's most popular digital camera formats, Windows Media Center 2005 (with Rollup 2 Update), and a wide assortment of pre-loaded software. Read more

Features

• Entertainment-focused desktop PC with 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3800+ processor
• 250 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM (4 GB max), 16x LightScribe multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual-layer support
• Seven USB 2.0, two Firewire, one parallel, one VGA, one 9-in-1 memory card reader
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video card (128 MB shared); 10/100 Ethernet; 56K modem
• Windows XP Media Center (Update Rollup 2)--ready for Windows Vista

Reviews (1)

It's awesome
I'm not a computer geek, however, this computer appears to have it all. I'm working on my dissertation and needed a computer that could "multi-task", because I'm downloading all sorts of information, studies, statistics for my paper. I had a Compaq, but it just couldn't keep up and it was very frustrating.I'm sure there's always something better out there with technology improving daily, but this computer satisfies my need for speed and space. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Sony VAIO VGC-RA842G Digital Studio PC provides the multimedia muscle for your next-generation A/V entertainment demands. Edit high-definition camcorder video, master your own music recordings, and turn your home movies into high-quality DVDs. The Intel Pentium D dual-core processor delivers robust performance for running multiple, demanding applications simultaneously. You can also watch and record all of your favorite shows with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, enhanced by Sony's Giga Pocket engine. The VGC-RA842G features massive 500 GB hard drive, 1 GB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum),a multiformat, dual-layer DVD/CD burner, multimedia memory card reader, and a wealth of preinstalled Sony multimedia software. Read more

Features

• 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium D 820 dual-core processor with 800 MHz front-side bus and 2 MB L2 cache
• 500 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM (4 GB maximum), dual-layer DVD+/-RW burner
• Seven USB 2.0, two Firewire, one VGA, one headphone, one microphone, one PCMCIA, multiformat memory card reader, composite video, S-Video
• Built-in 10/100 Ethernet; 56K (V.90) modem
• Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005

Reviews (1)

Awesome PC, just takes some time to iron out wrinkles
I got this PC after trying the RA-834G, which Sony doesn't make anymore. The only difference is that this machine has the 3.0 Ghz Dual-Core Pentium D, compared to the 3.6 Ghz Pentium on the 834G, and this one has 100 GB bigger hard drive.
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Editorial Review

The Sony Vaio VGC-RB34G desktop entertainment PC comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create,manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. Convert your VHS or 8mm homevideos to DVD discs to share with the whole family via the dual-layer, multiformat DVD burner. Store hundredsof hours of your music collection on the extra-large 200 GB Serial ATA hard drive. You can also watch andrecord your favorite TV programs (via the built-in TV tuner) using the Giga Pocket personal video recorder (PVR).This multimedia PC also features 512 MB of installed RAM, a fast hyperthreading 3.2 GHz Pentium 4 processor, amultiformat memory card reader compatible with the most popular digital camera formats, and stereo speakers.For a step up in price, the Vaio VGC-RB38G features a 250 GB hard drive,1 GB of RAM, and a 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor.Read more

Features

• Intel Pentium 4 Processor 540J 3.20 GHz with 1MB L2 Cache and 800MHz FSB with HT Technology
• 200GB SATA Hard Drive up to 7200 RPM
• DVD+R Dual Layer combo drive with DVD+/-R/RW (also reads, records, rewrites CD)
• Separate DVD-ROM reader drive
• 512MB PC3200 DDR with 400MHz Bus expandable up to 2GB

Reviews (2)

If you have the $$$...This one won't disappoint!!
I got this computer about a week ago and i have to say...i havent seen a solid computer like this in years (well besides apple's g5)...i actually bought an hp media center computer(a1129n) before i got the vaio, but unfortunately, i had to return the hp for some problems...1st, the hard drive wasnt connected to the power supply so the computer couldnt recognize the OS after initial boot...(thanks to my technical knowledge i figured that one out)..but what pissed me off the most is after loading all the programs i needed, setting up media center and uploaded my music, the screen randomly flickers then turns the monitor into a completely white screen...its not the monitor since ive tried different monitors and its doing the same thing. well a new HP turned out a piece of junk..then i thought of the Vaio...got it at bestbuy for $919 with a hundred dollar rebate which is a fairly good deal...once i turned it on...everything was so smooth...im using 30Gb right now and it feels nothing...i am not sure with playing games as far as the graphics is concern..but i mostly do audio and video stuffs so it works perfectly for me..**if you are going to use more than 50gigs of hard drive space, i suggest to install at least 1GB of memory..apart from that..almost perfect but i still give it 5 stars...

Sony RB34G - MCE
Interesting "Box" , right off the shelf ! Hell to pay in getting it setup. Three (3) separate vendor firewalls activated all at the same time. Once you got on to that , setup went well.Windows XP MCE 2005 pre-installed and NO Microsoft MCE CDs. ON-Line support (Weak answers) and Telephone support EXTREMELY Bad ; more interested in telling you what they do not support; No real HELP;YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! Make sure to update Windows MCE first thing and all security patches. Adding additional Memory (it only has 256) , and adding additional hard drives (Video "eats up" Storage) VOIDS the warranty and service! Best get a Windows XP OEM MCE "Box" at Gateway, HP or other. Still it was FUN to set up and start using. Nothing like "offsetting" basketball games for later viewing in high Defination. ... Read more

Features

• Two dual-core 2.5 GHz PowerPC G5 processors with 1.25 GHz per processor bus
• 512 MB RAM expandable up to 16 GB, 250 GB hard drive, 16x Double-Layer SuperDrive
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 256 MB of GDDR SDRAM graphics
• One FireWire 800 port, two FireWire 400 ports (one on front), four USB 2.0 ports (one on front), and two USB 1.1 (on keyboard)
• Software includes Mac OS X, Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iLife, and more

Reviews (4)

hardware problem
I have been very happy with the performance of the G5 but for one very annoying feature. Very recently, a high-pitch sound appeared from the otherwise very quiet desktop unit. Browsing of the large internet Mac community pages revealed that my unit is not the only one with that problem. While the final diagnostic awaits confirmation, the majority of comments points to flaws in the design of the processor control and/or in the powersupply. To my great dismay, Apple customer service showed itself very uncorporative.For such an expensive equipment, low-end service is not acceptable. In conclusion, the computer performance warrants 4 stars, the recent problems led to a very annoying noise problem that lowers it to 2 stars, and the response from Apple is just disappointing (does not qualify for any star). One Apple a day keeps the doctor away. But only one without worms...

This is Great
I got a new power mac G5 with 2.3 ghz daul core with 2 Gb ram and 250 gb hd and 256 vram. This is a major upgrade from my crappy dell. I bought this computr so I can flies from my ibook at school and put on the powermac then bring backthe file to my ibook. I also bought for games, photos, making music, lstening to music , making movies and much More. Once you are mac you never go back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unbelievable...
There is no question that you get what you pay for with computers. Macs do one thing - exactly what they are supposed to! It is great to have a system that runs flawlessly and FAST! I use this for boutique digital music production, and there is no system that I have used that compares to this. My suggestion is that if you run a business on a computer, and need speed to make your workflow happen, then this is a no brainer.
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Editorial Review

The easy-to-use HP m7360n Media Center PC is the complete home PC system that delivers more entertainment choices, and brings them together in one place with easy access from anywhere in the room. With the m7360n you can watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. This desktop is one of the first to offer Intel's Viiv technology, which enables you to quickly turn the PC on and off (after initial boot) with a touch of the included remote thanks to Intel's Quick Resume function. It also offers specially-designed software that makes network configuration easy, for connecting to portable media players, DVD players, TV sets and stereos. Read more

Features

• Multimedia-oriented desktop with integrated TV tuner, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2), and 54g Wi-Fi connectivity
• Hyper-threaded 2.8 GHz Pentium D 920 dual-core processor, 4 MB total L2 cache, 800 MHz front-side bus
• 300 GB hard drive, 2 GB installed RAM (4 GB max), dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner, DVD-ROM drive
• Six USB 2.0, two FireWire, one VGA, one S-Video, one composite AV, 9-in-1 memory card reader, 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
• Nvidia GeForce 6200SE video card with up to 256 MB shared video RAM, Intel High Definition audio (Azalia) with 5.1-channel surround sound

Reviews (6)

This monster roars, louder than an airplane.
Trust me, do NOT buy this PC. I bought one 2 weeks ago
Super Fast And Trouble Free
I've been using the m7360n for about two months now having upgraded from an older m470n model.Installation and setup was a breeze and all features function as advertised.This machine is super fast and the layout of connectors, card slots, etc. is well organized.Setting up the Media Center features was fast and easy and the picture and sound quality are great.I particularly like the removeable second hard drive (optional accessory) as I can transfer recordings to this drive and plug it into any other PC.The only negative I can think of (and this is a personal opinion) is the massive amount of games and other software that comes pre-loaded.However, a visit to Control Panel-Add Remove Programs quickly took care of this.I highly recommend this product to anyone considering a Media Center PC and the value for the money, reliability and tech support are far superior to Dell or Sony.

Released before the bugs were worked out
HP seems to have released this computer before they got all the bugs worked out.
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