Evga GeForce GT 430 1 GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 01G-P3-1430-LR Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When Nvidia released the GT 430 reference design in the last quarter of 2010, hardware pundits everywhere were amazed by the card's potential. Here was a bitstreaming video card, bulging with electronic muscle, with a respectably low power footprint. In short, it was the perfect HTPC video card. The only problem was that Nvidia's offering was a little slow to market, and after a barrage of price drops on comparable ATI products, the initial price point of the GT 430 was a little high for what you were getting.
Flash forward to the present, and the price on the GT 430 cards is dropping...dropping...dropping. As they move farther away from the $100 mark and closer to the $50 mark, the cards have shaped up into one heck of a nice deal. I love mine. In fact, I would marry mine if the state I lived in somehow allowed it. We would live in a log cabin together and sell crafts to tourists. Just me and the GT 430 against the world. No worries, no regrets. I...I love you, GT 430. Let's never fight.
PROS:
- It laughs at your 1080p HD videos. Laughs at them, pushes them down, and takes their lunch money. The card has enough horsepower to play back some kind of crazy, as-yet-undiscovered 5000p video stream, let alone whatever weak 1080p kung fu you'd like to throw at it. Your media center is going to be future-proofed for quite some time. I put this card in a 780G-based motherboard with onboard ATI HD 3200 graphics--considered some of the best onboard graphics available just a few years back--and the GT 430 just destroys it. Sure, discrete graphics solutions are generally going to be faster than onboard video, this is well-known, but the difference was night and day. You want to play a 1080p movie in Windows 7 Media Center while you page through some other film offerings in MediaBrowser? The menus are smooth as butter. You want to watch HD television with the program guide overlayed on the TV stream without graphics slowdowns? Yeah, not a problem. The card delivers.
- Quieter than you would think. The active cooling on the card initially had me concerned about the decibels it might put out, but now that the card is installed, the fan on this EVGA part is whisper quiet. I can't hear it over the sound of my hard drives.
- Good enough for modest gaming, if that's your thing. People who compare this budget Fermi model to graphics cards meant for gamers pretty much miss the point of a card like this. It's meant to be sandwiched into a tiny HTPC case, where it can push out some decent graphical horsepower through a digital output without using a lot of electricity and without generating a lot of heat. If you need a giant, full-sized PCI-E card that will take up a square foot of space in your computer case so you can get 200 FPS and pwn noobs in Call of Duty 11: Duty Harder, or something, then look elsewhere. This card is not for you. Also, that's your mom calling you. Dinner is ready. But if you have light gaming needs and tend to play older games, like World of Warcraft, then the GT 430 has you covered. I'm at 1920 x 1080 resolution at the highest detail settings with no slowdown. Life is good.
- Made by EVGA. For the uninitiated, the thinking is usually that one company's implementation of an Nvidia reference design is similar if not exactly the same as another company's, so it doesn't really matter what name is on the card, just buy whatever's cheapest. But believe me, the company does matter. EVGA is one of the more established video card companies out there at this point, and my own experience with them in the past is that they have stood by their products in case of trouble and are fast to honor their rebates. In fact, I got a rebate offer with this very card, and after filling out the information on their website, the company offers to expedite the rebate process for a nominal ($2) fee, so you get your money back in week or so instead of half a year. How great is that?
- Nvidia driver support. You download one driver file from nvidia.com and that's it. The installation is automated and painless, and the drivers support a wide range of Nvidia products. There's no drama. Compare and contrast with ATI's infamously poor driver support, where the company will often sneakily disable features on older cards that were working fine with the older drivers, or will inadvertently introduce or even reintroduce bugs serious enough to crash your computer. My subjective opinion is that their driver support has matured and gotten a little better, but it's still just plain bad. Every time ATI releases a new set of Catalyst drivers, it's like a war crime. As somebody with a junk drawer filled with a decade's worth of poorly-supported ATI TV tuners and graphics cards, it was definitely a headache I wanted to avoid this time around. If you're getting tired of all the nonsense and are taking 5xxx-series ATI cards off the table as a viable option for an HTPC build, that leaves you with just one good, affordable alternative, and it's this card.
CONS:
- The card is meant to have a small footprint, and occupy one PCI-E slot without hogging all the other slots on the motherboard. But in my setup, the heatsink fan on the video card is perilously close (1/4") to a neighboring PCI slot, which itself has a TV tuner card in it. Yeah, everything physically fits in the case, but there could be some concerns with heat when you have two cards that close to each other. I installed a small intake fan to push more air into the PCI bay as a little insurance.
- A minor gripe, but the box was a little light. No adapters, no driver CD, no nothing. It was just the card. I realize most customers are not going to use all that stuff, but throw us a bone here. Throw in an HDMI cable to sweeten the deal. Something. Anything.I hate to end with the "CONS" because it gives the impression that there's something wrong with the card that should somehow factor into a buying decision. But the fact of the matter is there really is nothing wrong with this card at all. It's pretty much as good as it gets for new media PC builds. If you're assembling an HTPC, it should most certainly be on your list of components to buy.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Evga GeForce GT 430 1 GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 01G-P3-1430-LR

Get 10% OFF

Click here for more information about Evga GeForce GT 430 1 GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card 01G-P3-1430-LR

Read More...

Grass Valley EDIUS 6 Video Editing Software Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is the best video editor for windows. I have tried Adobe and Vegas and nothing would work to edit high definition video (unless you spent thousands on the PC), with Edius I can start editing and have no problems with playback on my i7 920. You can even use it on a laptop but have to render before you can playback.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Grass Valley EDIUS 6 Video Editing Software

Click here for more information about Grass Valley EDIUS 6 Video Editing Software

Read More...

Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black/Red) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I just recieved this laptop today. Didn't know that this laptop would be so big. I've been researching which laptop to purchase and I came across this one. I've had previous laptops from alienware, dell, apple, ibm thinkpad, etc. This laptop is by far one of the best, jaw droppingly beautiful, extremely fast, laptops ever.
The design of this laptop is superb with black and red all over the place. The illuminated keyboard makes everything clearly visible and not to mention super fast with 4 gigs of ram. Upon first boot, it gave me some errors about lan ethernet not being connected by it was easily fixed when i jumped into system bios and change the setting.
The weight of this laptop needs some getting used to because it is 11 lbs. It is a bit on the heavy side. Also, I was a little hesistant because it came with only 500gigz of hdd space but after feeling the speed and seeing the size of the 18" 1080p HD display, I'd say it was worth it.
The Harmon Kardon speakers are super crisp sounding and the touch music buttons on the left side of the keyboard makes playing media easy. The best thing about this laptop is that it comes with a numeric keypad that most laptops do not come with to save space. I use the numeric keypad alot daily. This is a key reason I chose this beast, for speed and the keyboard layout. All the extras that it comes with made my decision clear.
If your looking to replace a desktop but want a big display with superb quality and decent size with a numeric keypad, this is definately one of the laptops you should consider.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black/Red)


Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888: Hard-core Gaming, Brilliant Graphics
Amplify your 3D gaming and video editing with incredibly fast frame rates with the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888 gaming laptop, which features a stunning 18.4-inch display--with true 1080p high-def resolution--and the Intel Core i7 processor with four cores of intelligent processing power. Additionally, it offers ultra-fast DDR3 system memory and the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics with 1 GB of GDDR5 video memory. Together, this pairing of high-performance technologies allow you to rip through the latest 3D games at lightning-fast frame-rates or create high-definition video and audio faster and more efficiently with smooth rendering and encoding.

The Qosmio X505 features Toshiba's striking Fusion Finish in Omega Black with stylish red chrome accents and a comfortable full keyboard with LED Backlighting and numeric 10-key pad. An intuitive touchpad with multi-touch control enables greater flexibility to browse and control what's happening on-screen with gesture-commands--including two-finger pinch, swipe, rotate and scroll.

It also includes a 1.3 megapixel webcam with Face Recognition capabilities for added security. And if you're using one laptop for several users--say for the whole family or for a small business--Toshiba Face Recognition lets you switch profiles with one simple look.

This Qosmio comes pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version).



Key Features
18.4-inch high-definition TruBrite display with 1920 x 1080 resolution for amazing color depth and clarity and native 1080p support.


1.73 GHz Intel Core i7-740QM processor (with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.93 GHz) delivers maximum processing power in response to peak demands. Intel's Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload--providing more performance when you need it the most. It also comes equipped with Intel HD Graphics--an advanced video engine that delivers smooth, high-quality HD video playback, and advanced 3D capabilities, providing an ideal graphics solution for everyday computing.


500 GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 RPM)


4 GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradeable to 8 GB) gives you the bandwidth you need to get the most of today's popular software, multitask all day long and run applications without a glitch.


NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M with 1 GB GDDR5 discrete graphics memory offers what gamers want most--hyper-realistic action with intense 3D visuals, plus vibrant, lifelike scenes and dynamic character effects--thanks to NVIDIA's PhysX technology. It goes beyond everyday gaming with built-in CUDA technology to speed demanding system tasks, like video playback and HD movie editing. You'll also enjoy up to a 50 percent improvement over previous generation mobile graphics processors, and a more rewarding Windows 7 experience with accelerated video and image processing (2298 MB total available graphics memory).


Watch Blu-ray Disc movies in crystal clear resolution with the read-only Blu-ray drive; also supports reading/writing of CD-R/RW, DVD±R, DVD±RW, DVD±R DL, and DVD-RAM The drive also offers Labelflash printing, which enables you to personalize your discs and keep them looking attractive and organized with direct-to-disc laser printing.


Wireless Connectivity
With its integrated Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking capabilities, this laptop provides up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range using 802.11n-compatible routers as you would with 802.11g networks. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found at Wi-Fi hotspots and in older home routers.
With integrated Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, you can communicate and synchronize wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as printers and cell phones.



Harman Kardon stereo speakers bring an added dimension to music, movies and gaming with rich, immersive virtual surround sound.
Dolby Home Theater suite of technologies delivers virtual surround sound from stereo speakers or any pair of headphones.


Included Toshiba Software:
Toshiba Media Controller offers simplified media sharing. Using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, it lets you share videos, music and pictures from the media library on your laptop with compatible devices in your home entertainment network, or with other compatible laptops and devices, like an Xbox 360 game console. And you can do it all without moving equipment, burning discs or fumbling with cables.
Toshiba Bulletin Board is an easy-to-use organizational and productivity app that lets you build your own personalized space on your desktop. With Toshiba Bulletin Board, you can quickly and easily manage your to-do lists and calendars, plus create your own custom work area by pinning your favorite photos, documents, links and more.
Toshiba ReelTime helps you cut down the time it takes to search for files. The easy-to-use app takes traditional text-based file structures one step further to help you find what you're looking for more quickly. Accessible from your taskbar, it shows you a visual timeline of your recently accessed files--using graphical thumbnails--so you can easily identify and get to your files faster.



Included Toshiba Utilities:
Toshiba eco Utility makes it easy to go green as you go mobile. Hit the Eco Button and you'll launch the Toshiba Eco Utility, which puts all sorts of easy-to-read information on your screen, and gives you the ability to adjust the power settings on your laptop. It also activates a light showing you're in the Eco Mode. The Toshiba Eco Utility lets you pick the optimal power plan for your situation. Choose High-Performance when you need every watt you can get, Power Saver for the least energy consumption, or Balanced as a perfect blend of the two.
USB Sleep and Charge offers a great way to keep your portable electronics powered up without requiring your laptop to be on. With this laptop's Sleep and Charge USB port, you'll be able to charge your smart phone, MP3 player, and other portable electronics--all without having to keep your laptop awake.
Hard Drive Impact Sensor takes the worry out of taking your most important files and multimedia on the go. Able to detect sudden movement along three different dimensions, the impact sensor (a complex system of hardware and software) helps safeguard your data by "parking" the hard drive heads in the event of a drop or sudden movement. And it works faster than you can blink to help protect your laptop and all-important data.



Up to 3.75 hours of battery life (12-cell battery; 87 Wh)


Dimensions & Weight: 17.4 x 11.6 x .63 inches (WxDxH); 9.7 pounds



Pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), you'll be able to easily create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Windows 7 is the easiest, fastest, and most engaging version of Windows yet. Better ways to find and manage files, like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews, help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to.

And with Windows Anytime Upgrade, you'll be able to add new features to your PC in as little as 10 minutes. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process, it requires no software or downloads, and you'll keep your existing programs, files, and settings



What's in the box
This package contains the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions.

It also comes with the following software:
Norton Internet Security 2010 (30-day trial); Microsoft Works 9; Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial); Google Toolbar; Microsoft Windows Media Player 12; Microsoft Silverlight; Toshiba PC Health Monitor; Toshiba Online Backup (30-day trial)
This laptop is backed by a 1-year limited hardware warranty.

Environmental Specifications
Energy Star 5.0 certified
Gold EPEAT designation for meeting standards to help reduce its environmental impact.
RoHS compliant effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances

Learn more about Toshiba's environmental commitment.

Learn More


25th Anniversary of Toshiba Laptops
This year, Toshiba celebrates its 25th anniversary of innovations and quality in the notebook PC business. Beginning with the launch of the Toshiba T1100, the world's first clamshell-type, fully functional laptop PC, Toshiba has led the with such innovations as the first laptop with a color monitor in 1991 and a laptop with integrated CD-ROM drive in 1995 (followed by the addition of a DVD drive in 1998). And in 2009, Toshiba unveiled the world's first ultraportable laptop with 512GB solid state drive.

Today, Toshiba continues to be a leader in eco-friendly manufacturing, with virtually all of its consumer laptops earning EPEAT Gold status for meeting standards that help reduce overall environmental impact.

Get 21% OFF

Click here for more information about Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q888 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black/Red)

Read More...

EVGA GeForce GT 440 1024MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card Video Card 01G-P3-1441-KR Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this card because the ATI HD3850 card I had previously displayed the nasty habit of giving me the dreaded B.S.O.D. every time I got online. The anal pain this caused on a continual basis was incredible, so this card was purchased to take care of that problem. Well....I'm happy to say that the GT440 got the job done in flying colors. Since I have installed this card I have had not ONE Blue Screen Of Death. The drivers will update via Win7, whereas the ATI CCC was always a chore of uninstall, got to safe mode, driver sweep, reinstall downloaded drivers...what a mess!
One caveat I will share is that the latest set of drivers wanted to "flicker" for just a second before loading Firefox 4. That was taken care of by merely disabling the 2D2 option in FF4. Since I installed this card and made that one tweak, I have ran flawlessly and everything looks incredible. Plus, PC Probe tells me that I am actually running COOLER running more intensive graphics than I did with the old card.
A whisper quiet card that really takes care of the business I need it to. I would recommend this card to the casual gamer or the hard-core web surfer. It just works, easy install and updates. Great card. Give it a shot.

Click Here to see more reviews about: EVGA GeForce GT 440 1024MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card Video Card 01G-P3-1441-KR

Get 16% OFF

Click here for more information about EVGA GeForce GT 440 1024MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card Video Card 01G-P3-1441-KR

Read More...

Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVD?RW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my second Gateway desktop. Not much over a year ago a model like this was selling for about $200 more. Yet, now, you get a 64 bit system (crunches data much faster), a quad core that hardly anything can slow down, big hard drive, and a good quality of design and construction.
Also important is the quality of Gateway support: the one question with my previous model was handled via a chat session with a tech who knew what he was talking about and was very professional.
The Vista SP1 which it ships with has been a pleasant experience. It's best to discount all the dissing it gets and just see how well it works in practice. There is a learning curve if you are coming from XP, but it is worth getting to know. I like it. I probably would like Apple's Leopard operating system, too, but I don't care to pay anywhere from two to six times as much for their machines.
I just surf the web, do light photo and video processing, and watch a movie on it sometimes. For these tasks this machine is overqualified - a dual core machine would do about as well. But, how about a few years from now? A quad core machine may well be necessary for these or similar tasks then.
A little confession: I took my previous Gateway desktop apart to replace the motherboard with a newer type. I was impressed with the quality of design and construction. The Apple desktop which starts at around $2500 would impress me much more, but I don't need its particular qualities for what I do with a computer.
You ought to know that the setup of this machine was the sweetest, most trouble free computer installation I have ever done. It just goes out and does practically everything for you. That is thanks to Vista and Gateway's well thought out systems.
The hard drive is a Western Digital, which has a good reputation. But start backing up as soon as possible after you finish the OS installation. By the way, there are no disks to load into the machine. It's all on the hard drive already.
My first backup after I had finished most of the setup to the point where I am happy with what is on the machine took up just 18.1GB on an old Maxtor 80GB external drive I had from a few years ago using an excellent backup software called ShadowProtect which has gotten excellent reviews and I would call it the easiest and best software of that type I have ever used.
You get 586GB free on the hard drive as it comes from the factory with the Vista and a small partition which I believe holds a recovery version. So, forget 640GB. The actual space you get is noticeably less that what is stated - it's always that way.
The ATI Radeon HD3200 onboard video chipset is fine for any ordinary use. Heavy gamers will have to pay another $100 or more for a video card such as the Sapphire ATI HD4830 which joins its power with the onboard unit to give much better gaming performance. I have that card which I will install shortly and leave some thoughts on how much better it is. You will also need a good power supply to go along with the HD4830 card. Corsair makes some good ones supplying 520 watts and up. Just around $100 as well. So, when you want to, this machine is upgradable.
I ran a cleanup of the unneeded files and also did a defragmentation for better disk performance at startup. The defrag took much less time than my previous Gateway. Vista SP1? 64 bit? Anyway, that's an improvement.
Also, gigabit ethernet may not be anything you need now, but in a few years with streaming video heading this way, you might be glad you have it. There were no problems whatsover with making the ethernet cable connection with my motorola modem/router. I didn't have to do a thing. Plug in the cable and forget it.
This has an onboard video out in the form of HDMI and VGA, which is what I'm using. The image quality to my HP 2207 monitor is excellent.
If you have this shipped to you, try to restrain the urge to rip open the package until a couple of hours have passed for it to warm up to room temperature so that there will not be condensation on the cold computer during winter shipping from moisture in the inside air.
It ships with a large, easy setup sheet. Just follow the color coding. You can't go wrong. In an hour and a half or so you will be through with the basic setup, but it may take five to ten hours of downloading and installing your favorite software to complete the installation.
Also important is the merchant: J&R Music And Computer World in New York. I have bought a few items from them during the past few years and they ship fast (I get it the next day near Boston with standard shipping) and seem to be straight shooters. Let you know how the graphics card install goes.
UPDATE AFTER 6 MONTHS:
No problema! Hardware is solid, dependable, certainly fast enough for me. It's still a great buy. I haven't even used half the hard drive space yet, so I would say for most people it has plenty. Card readers and CD/DVD units are still fine. Sound quality from the built in chip is excellent for playing my 20GB of music on my Klipsch powered speaker system. Just no complaints about this. It does what it should. I may upgrade to Windows 7 after the initial bugs are worked out in six months or so. Frankly, I haven't found Windows Vista to be bad - it is just something new to learn. I understand Windows 7 may use slightly less system resources and offer more eye candy for the trendy computer addicted amongst us. It has gotten good reviews in the NYT and major computer magazines. Maybe I'll put off buying a Mac.
UPDATE AFTER 8 MONTHS OF USE:
The machine went down about a month ago. No posting beep. So I upgraded my Core Two Duo HP laptop to Windows 7, installed a 320GB hard drive, increased core memory to 4GB and got a machine powerful enough to do what I had been doing on this Gateway desktop.
Not the end of the story though. Searching online forums on this model of Gateway and on the "no posting beep" symptom, I found that the problem was most likely that the core memory on the Gateway had failed. I remembered a cryptic message before it failed saying it was dropping to a slower memory speed.
So I ordered 8GB of 800Mhz DDR2 desktop memory, removed the old, installed the new core memory (relatively easy - just open the left side of the Gateway by removing two screws and pulling back and you'll find the core memory on the center right side of the motherboard and all you need to do is flip back the holding cams and pull) and, guess what! Success!!
So, my next project on this repaired desktop is to install a bigger power supply (as I said I would), a new AMD powered 4830 graphics card, and also upgrade to Windows 7, which I have found to be a much improved operating system. It gets your drivers, doesn't take long to install, and is easy, quick, in my view the best Windows operating system ever.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

Click here for more information about Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

Read More...

HP Pavilion Elite M9520F Desktop PC (2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Processor, 8 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My review is mostly for Enthusiast/Professional Photographers...
I needed a new powerful desktop with 64-bit processing. My Sony Vaio desktop that once was cutting edge two years ago,is now not able to keep up with many of todays demands. Especially my updated versions of Photoshop CS, and Lightroom 2.3 which works native in 64-bit.
64-bit allows windows to accept, use and maximize a computer with 4+ gbs of RAM. The HP Pavilion Elite M9550F comes pre-installed with a maxed out 8gbs of ram.
So for a photographer using high end software, and downloading large amounts of files. This computer works swiftly and effortlessly.
On my older sony desktop, it took about 15 minutes to download 4gb off of a compact flashcard. I could not do any other task while it downloaded, or risked data loss or the download not completing.
It takes about a minute to download with the HP, and I listen to music and/or check emails with no detectable slow down in the system.
On my old desktop, if I changed modules in lightroom, or did any form of editing it took a few seconds to see the changes. I sometimes had to hit Ctrl+Z so I can see the before image. With my new HP,... It's so fast that I miss the changes if they are not drastic. The screen appears to blink, because it responds so fast to my commands.
The onboard 1TB of storage is another huge plus. There are still very few desktops on the market with an internal 1TB drive. I have purchased three 1TB external hardrives, with two mirroring the HP's internal drive. There is a bay available that can be used for an additional internal drive, and you can purchase a HP Media Drive up to 1TB to plug right into a special bay. No wires, or software is necessary.
I distribute CD's to models and clients often. The LightScribe technology that is part of the CD/DVD drive lets you etch custom labels and artwork right on a LightScribe-enabled CD or DVD. This allows you to look professional and a cut about the rest.
There are several ways to hook up a monitor, so I have the VGA attached to my old CRT monitor, and HDMI port attached to a 30inch flatscreen. Using dual displays is just a few clicks, and takes your image editing to another level.
There are a lot of features that I'm sure I missed, but these are the standout features to me, using it for photography.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP Pavilion Elite M9520F Desktop PC (2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Processor, 8 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium)

Delivering an amazing high-end home entertainment experience, DirectX 10 gaming, and power for the most demanding PC tasks, the HP Pavilion m9520f Elite desktop PC is powered by the 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300. With four cores in a single processor, the Core 2 Quad and the 8 GB of RAM (maximum capacity) deliver excellent multitasking and multimedia performance, and it's a perfect match for the pre-installed 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. You can also go wireless and clutter-free with wireless keyboard, mouse, and remote control, and it includes the next step in Wi-Fi networking with a Draft-N wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n).
A recessed landing pad on top of the chassis offers a convenient place for connecting USB and FireWire devices. One touch of the HP Easy Backup button lets you back up your files instantly, helping to protect irreplaceable photos and files. It comes with a combo optical drive with Blu-ray Disc playback for watching your favorite films in crystal-clear resolution and SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe technology that lets you etch custom, silkscreen-quality labels and artwork directly onto LightScribe-enabled CDs and DVDs.
This Pavilion Elite offers a built-in drive bay to fit an optional HP Pocket Media Drive, for up to 160 GB of additional storage that you can carry away with you when you go (media drive not included). Other features include a 750 GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 9600 GS graphics with up to 2558 MB of total available graphics memory, HDMI and DVI video outputs, 15-in-1 memory card reader, up to 8 channels of surround sound output, and Gigabit Ethernet wired networking. It comes with a wired keyboard and mouse.
The pre-installed 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1) includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.
The Basics
Processor: With four execution cores, the 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q8300 blows through processor-intensive tasks in demanding multitasking environments and makes the most of highly threaded applications. Part of Intel's "Penryn" line of 45nm processors, it features new hafnium-infused circuitry to reduce electrical current leakage in transistors and help this desktop run cooler. It also features Intel Trusted Execution Technology, which provides hardware-based mechanisms that help protect against software-based attacks and protects the confidentiality and integrity of data stored or created on the client PC.
Whether you're creating multimedia, annihilating your gaming enemies, or running compute-intensive applications at one time, new quad-core processing will change the way you do everything. The Q8300 has a top-of-the-line 1333 MHz front-side bus (FSB) and a 4 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
You get four dedicated, physical threads help operating systems and applications deliver additional performance that enhance multi-tasking and multi-threaded performance across many types of applications and work loads. The Smart Memory Access feature improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed. The Advanced Digital Media Boost feature effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications. And with the Intel 64 Architecture, the processor can access larger amounts of memory. With appropriate 64-bit hardware and software, platforms based on an Intel processor supporting Intel 64 Architecture can allow the use of extended virtual and physical memory.

Hard Drive: The ginormous 750 GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 RPM) provides more than enough capacity for storing a large audio and video library, as well as extra space required for video editing. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
This desktop also includes a drive bay that fits an optional HP Pocket Media Drive, which enables you to add up to 160 GB of additional storage. The Pocket Media Drive also works with any USB-enabled PC, for easy transferring of multimedia files from other computers in your home.

Memory: The 8 GB of installed RAM (PC6400) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. It also offers a fast 800 MHz speed. The 8 GB of RAM maximizes this desktop's capacity.

DVD/CD Drive: This HP desktop is capable of playing back Blu-ray Disc movies in stunning clarity, as well as playing your current library of purchased and burned disc content. This desktop can also write standard DVD and CD media. The BD drive offers up to 6x speeds for reading BD-R/RE discs. It also offers the following write speeds for standard DVD and CD discs: 4x DVD±R DL, 16x for single-layer DVD±R, 8x DVD-RW, 6x DVD-RW, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 5x for DVD-RAM.

Keyboard & Mouse: It comes with an HP multimedia keyboard and scroller mouse (both with PS/2 connections).
Video & Audio Video is powered by the Nvidia GeForce 9600 GS graphics/video card, which provides 768 MB of dedicated video RAM and offers up to 2558 MB of total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista. Enabled by PureVideo HD, movies come to life with outstanding picture clarity, ultra-smooth video and vivid color. The lifelike images have up to six times the detail of standard DVD movies. Delivering state-of-the-art graphics performance, The GeForce 9600 GS graphics card is sure to give you the power and performance you crave to play the hottest DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 titles. Its 16x full-screen antialiasing technology delivers superior quality along with astounding performance and since it's optimized for Windows Vista.
The video card includes VGA and DVI video out as well as HDMI audio/video out options. This PC also offers an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable to 8 speakers.
Networking, Connectivity & Expansion This desktop can be wirelessly networked with the integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g/n). Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks. It has one PCI expansion slot (available), two PCI x1 Express slots (one available), one PCI x16 Express slot (occupied), two 5.25-inch bays (one available), three 3.5-inch bays (one available), and the following external ports:
6 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (2 in front, 4 in rear)
2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)
Video out: DVI, HDMI, and VGA
Headphone and microphone jacks
Audio: Digital SPDIF audio input/output, analog input/output
Surround sound speakers--rear, side, center (subwoofer)
2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
15-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I and II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Pro/Duo/Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, XD Picture Card, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
56K modem (V.90)

Operating System The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.
Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.
Preloaded Software
HP MediaSmart Software Suite: Your one-stop multimedia and entertainment center to create photo slideshows, share personal videos, listen to your favorite music playlists and watch DVD movies.
muvee autoProducer Basic: Automatically create professional looking home videos and burn to DVD.
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe: Automatically fix and edit videos and create CDs and DVDs. Edit, burn and archive data to discs.
Microsoft Works 9: Includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar.
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 (60-day trial version).
Adobe Reader 8: Read and print PDF files.
Norton Internet Security 2009 protects your PC and your identity when you email, bank and shop online; 60 days of protection updates included.

Dimensions & Weight This desktop measures 16.61 x 7.0 x 15.51 inches (LxWxD) and weighs approximately 24.25 pounds.
Power
What's in the Box The HP Pavilion Elite m9520f desktop PC comes with a power cord, keyboard, and scroller mouse. It is backed by a one-year warranty for parts and labor from date of purchase, one-year technical phone service, and 90 days of software application support.
Note: Monitor not included.

Click here for more information about HP Pavilion Elite M9520F Desktop PC (2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Processor, 8 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray Drive, Vista Premium)

Read More...

Pavilion Slimline S5260F Pc - Desktop - Slim Tower - Phenom II X4 - 925 - 2.8 Gh Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Excellent piece of machinery, unbeatable price, timely delivery. I use it as the multimedia hub for my home installation. Unbeatable. It is a bigger frame than the competition, but you can't have everything for that price.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Pavilion Slimline S5260F Pc - Desktop - Slim Tower - Phenom II X4 - 925 - 2.8 Gh

Click here for more information about Pavilion Slimline S5260F Pc - Desktop - Slim Tower - Phenom II X4 - 925 - 2.8 Gh

Read More...

HP Pavilion Elite M9550F Desktop PC Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My review is mostly for Enthusiast/Professional Photographers...
I needed a new powerful desktop with 64-bit processing. My Sony Vaio desktop that once was cutting edge two years ago,is now not able to keep up with many of todays demands. Especially my updated versions of Photoshop CS, and Lightroom 2.3 which works native in 64-bit.
64-bit allows windows to accept, use and maximize a computer with 4+ gbs of RAM. The HP Pavilion Elite M9550F comes pre-installed with a maxed out 8gbs of ram.
So for a photographer using high end software, and downloading large amounts of files. This computer works swiftly and effortlessly.
On my older sony desktop, it took about 15 minutes to download 4gb off of a compact flashcard. I could not do any other task while it downloaded, or risked data loss or the download not completing.
It takes about a minute to download with the HP, and I listen to music and/or check emails with no detectable slow down in the system.
On my old desktop, if I changed modules in lightroom, or did any form of editing it took a few seconds to see the changes. I sometimes had to hit Ctrl+Z so I can see the before image. With my new HP,... It's so fast that I miss the changes if they are not drastic. The screen appears to blink, because it responds so fast to my commands.
The onboard 1TB of storage is another huge plus. There are still very few desktops on the market with an internal 1TB drive. I have purchased three 1TB external hardrives, with two mirroring the HP's internal drive. There is a bay available that can be used for an additional internal drive, and you can purchase a HP Media Drive up to 1TB to plug right into a special bay. No wires, or software is necessary.
I distribute CD's to models and clients often. The LightScribe technology that is part of the CD/DVD drive lets you etch custom labels and artwork right on a LightScribe-enabled CD or DVD. This allows you to look professional and a cut about the rest.
There are several ways to hook up a monitor, so I have the VGA attached to my old CRT monitor, and HDMI port attached to a 30inch flatscreen. Using dual displays is just a few clicks, and takes your image editing to another level.
There are a lot of features that I'm sure I missed, but these are the standout features to me, using it for photography.

Click Here to see more reviews about: HP Pavilion Elite M9550F Desktop PC

Delivering an amazing high-end home entertainment experience, DirectX 10 gaming, and power for the most demanding PC tasks, the HP Pavilion m9520f Elite desktop PC is powered by the 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300. With four cores in a single processor, the Core 2 Quad and the 8 GB of RAM (maximum capacity) deliver excellent multitasking and multimedia performance, and it's a perfect match for the pre-installed 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. You can also go wireless and clutter-free with wireless keyboard, mouse, and remote control, and it includes the next step in Wi-Fi networking with a Draft-N wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n).
A recessed landing pad on top of the chassis offers a convenient place for connecting USB and FireWire devices. One touch of the HP Easy Backup button lets you back up your files instantly, helping to protect irreplaceable photos and files. It comes with a combo optical drive with Blu-ray Disc playback for watching your favorite films in crystal-clear resolution and SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe technology that lets you etch custom, silkscreen-quality labels and artwork directly onto LightScribe-enabled CDs and DVDs.
This Pavilion Elite offers a built-in drive bay to fit an optional HP Pocket Media Drive, for up to 160 GB of additional storage that you can carry away with you when you go (media drive not included). Other features include a ginormous 1 TB hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with up to 3579 MB of total available graphics memory, HDMI and DVI video outputs, 15-in-1 memory card reader, up to 8 channels of surround sound output, and Gigabit Ethernet wired networking. It comes with a wired keyboard and mouse.
The pre-installed 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1) includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.
The Basics
Processor: With four execution cores, the 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q9300 blows through processor-intensive tasks in demanding multitasking environments and makes the most of highly threaded applications. Part of Intel's "Penryn" line of 45nm processors, it features new hafnium-infused circuitry to reduce electrical current leakage in transistors and help this desktop run cooler. It also features Intel Trusted Execution Technology, which provides hardware-based mechanisms that help protect against software-based attacks and protects the confidentiality and integrity of data stored or created on the client PC.
Whether you're creating multimedia, annihilating your gaming enemies, or running compute-intensive applications at one time, new quad-core processing will change the way you do everything. The Q9300 has a top-of-the-line 1333 MHz front-side bus (FSB) and a 6 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
You get four dedicated, physical threads help operating systems and applications deliver additional performance that enhance multi-tasking and multi-threaded performance across many types of applications and work loads. The Smart Memory Access feature improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed. The Advanced Digital Media Boost feature effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications. And with the Intel 64 Architecture, the processor can access larger amounts of memory. With appropriate 64-bit hardware and software, platforms based on an Intel processor supporting Intel 64 Architecture can allow the use of extended virtual and physical memory.

Hard Drive: This Pavilion Elite provides a stunning 1 TB of storage (that's 1,000 Gigabytes), from a single Serial ATA hard drive (7200 RPM), offering one of the largest capacities you'll currently find in a desktop. You'll enjoy the space for storing your entire music collection as well as your DVDs and downloaded TV shows and movies. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.

Memory: The 8 GB of installed RAM (PC6400) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. It also offers a fast 800 MHz speed. The 8 GB of RAM maximizes this desktop's capacity.

DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 12x DVD±R DL Write Once, 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 40x CD-R, 32x CD-RW write speeds and 40x CD-ROM, and 16x DVD-ROM read speeds.
This LightScribe DVD±RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art.

Keyboard & Mouse: It comes with an HP multimedia keyboard and scroller mouse (both with PS/2 connections).
Video & Audio Video is powered by the ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card, which provides 512 MB dedicated graphics memory and up to 3579 MB as allocated by the Windows Vista operating system. ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series GPUs bring the power of graphics "supercomputing" to gamers, setting a new standard for visual computing. With up to 1.2 teraFLOPS on tap, the TeraScale graphics engine delivers an immersive, cinematic gaming experience. Enhanced anti-aliasing (AA) and anisotropic filtering create striking graphics with unparalleled realism so you can max out the settings of the most demanding next-generation games or revitalize your favorite titles.You'll also be able to watch Blu-ray movies and play HD content with incredible visual fidelity and take your experience to another level with new multimedia capabilities. Sophisticated new features within ATI Avivo HD technology give you the freedom and flexibility to edit videos quickly and convert them to H.264 and MPEG-2 formats 1.8x faster than real-time.
The video card includes VGA and DVI video out as well as HDMI audio/video out options. This PC also offers an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable to 8 speakers.
Networking, Connectivity & Expansion This desktop can be wirelessly networked with the integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g/n). Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks. It has one PCI expansion slot (available), two PCI x1 Express slots (one available), one PCI x16 Express slot (occupied), two 5.25-inch bays (one available), three 3.5-inch bays (one available), and the following external ports:
6 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (2 in front, 4 in rear)
2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)
Video out: DVI, HDMI, and VGA
Headphone and microphone jacks
Audio: Digital SPDIF audio input/output, analog input/output
Surround sound speakers--rear, side, center (subwoofer)
2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
15-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I and II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Pro/Duo/Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, XD Picture Card, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
56K modem (V.90)

Operating System The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.
Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.
Preloaded Software
HP MediaSmart Software Suite: Your one-stop multimedia and entertainment center to create photo slideshows, share personal videos, listen to your favorite music playlists and watch DVD movies.
muvee autoProducer Basic: Automatically create professional looking home videos and burn to DVD.
Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe: Automatically fix and edit videos and create CDs and DVDs. Edit, burn and archive data to discs.
Microsoft Works 9: Includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar.
Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 (60-day trial version).
Adobe Reader 8: Read and print PDF files.
Norton Internet Security 2009 protects your PC and your identity when you email, bank and shop online; 60 days of protection updates included.

Dimensions & Weight This desktop measures 16.61 x 7.0 x 15.51 inches (LxWxD) and weighs approximately 24.25 pounds.
Power
What's in the Box The HP Pavilion Elite m9550f desktop PC comes with a power cord, keyboard, and scroller mouse. It is backed by a one-year warranty for parts and labor from date of purchase, one-year technical phone service, and 90 days of software application support.
Note: Monitor not included.

Click here for more information about HP Pavilion Elite M9550F Desktop PC

Read More...