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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Great VALUE for the $$$$$$$$"
Pros: Quad Core/3 Gigs RAM/Two Big 320 GB Hard Drives/Fast FSB
Cons: Vista/Power Supply (maybe)/Integrated Sound/Lack of Slots
Summary: Just bought this rig a few days ago. Paid $1099 after rebate from Circuit City, not counting tax. In general, I agree with most of the other reviewers. Researching the web and the flyers I get, there seemed to be nothing that touched this rig for the money. My main requirements were the processing speed and the RAM since I intend to run a lot of audio recording using Cakewalk Sonar, etc. Have not used the onboard soundcard yet for audio, but if it works well, I will. If not, then I will have to replace it with a better one. (I have heard that you can disable the onboard sound in the BIOS). I wonder how that will affect the integrated TV tuner, etc.? May have to seek a USB or Firewire solution. As far as the graphics card is concerned, I don't do any gaming. The card is perfectly suitable for Photoshop and video editing, so I don't see an upgrade for the video in the near or distant future. By not upgrading the video card, then it follows that the original power suppy could be retained, at least for now. Incidentally, I bought this rig as a replacement for a failed power supply in a Dell desktop that has proprietary motherboard connectors. (I may have fried the Dell's MB). It was certainly time to upgrade anyway. One of my greatest complaints is Vista; I mean, the computer has the power and glory to run it, but I detest the lack of hardware drivers and some of the software incompatabilities. I have an audio/midi interface device that I can't use on this machine since there are no drivers for Vista. This not the machine's fault, but is the fault of Microsoft - very little support for legacy devices.
But, overall, this is a great machine. All new computers now come with Vista, so we'll all just have to suffer with the operating system as we have for the past OS releases.
In short, I highly recommend this computer model.Updated
I forgot to mention the bundled wieless optical mouse (Logitech)? has very "hard" buttons, they take some effort to press or double-click, or at least to what I'm used to. The little antenna that screws onto the back of the case for the wireless internet was defective, the center wire does not stick out enough to make contact with the external jack on the computer. I would have to repair it myself, or I will probably try to take just the antenna with defective jack back to Circuit City and try to exchange it with one of their demo units.
Also, I think that the digital to analog monitor adapter was missing too. This was a factory sealed box, so go figure...
Despite these minor annoyances, It is a FANTASTIC computer for the $$$$$$$$$$!
- 1 reply to this review
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Looking for the same in it myself. I'm a music recording guy too. I'm using Acid and Sonar. Heard Sonar works pretty good in Vista as does Acid, so I'm ready to make the move. We've already been through the ups and downs with Vista via our son's laptop, but we're used to it now. He loves it. Hey, do yourself a favor, don't get an internal sound card for recording, get an external firewire box. The Edirol (I think FX-66) is the best one I've found and its Vista compatible as well. And if you want a great all around Mic, get the USB Samson G-Track, the driver are on the microphone and the soundcard is built into the mic. It has its own controls, line in and headphone jacks and the quality is the best I've heard out of all the USB mics.
