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Velocity Micro CineMagix Grand Theater comparison

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Product name	Velocity Micro CineMagix Grand Theater	Gateway SX2800-01	Velocity Micro Edge Z30 (Intel Core i7)	Maingear Ephex (Intel Core i7 965)	Acer Aspire X1700-U3700A
Price	$1,599.00	$514.99	$1,099.00	Check Prices	$419.99
CNET editors' rating	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.2 (4.0 stars)	3.5 stars Overall score: 7.9 (3.5 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.9 (4.0 stars)	4.0 stars Overall score: 8.9 (4.0 stars)	3.5 stars Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
Average user rating		3.0 stars	3.5 stars	3.5 stars	2.5 stars
Release date	January 30, 2007	June 28, 2009		December 01, 2008
The Bottom Line	Velocity Micro's first full-fledged home theater PC pulls very few punches in providing a complete digital media experience. It's big, it lacks a built-in audio receiver, and it invites PC gaming into the living room, which has never been the best fit. It's also the victim of a few Vista-related growing pains. On balance, though, Velocity Micro has as complete a home theater PC as we've seen.	Gateway's SX2800-01 offers a strong combination of performance and features all wrapped up in a design that fully embraces the merits of a slim tower PC. We recommend this system to anyone looking for a fast, affordable desktop for the home office, the living room, or anywhere in between.	Velocity Micro's Edge Z30 is the best deal going right now for midlevel gaming PCs featuring Intel's new Core i7 chips. The overclocked Core i7 860, a fast Nvidia graphics card, and a solid selection of features all around make it easy for us to recommend this system to anyone looking for a capable gaming desktop.	Maingear's Ephex is the fastest PC we've reviewed, and also the most expensive. You can find better service policies from other boutique PC vendors, but the Ephex's overall speed and build quality are enough for us to recommend it to those in the market for the best desktop they can find.	The Acer X1700-U3700A is slightly slower than the competition, but it gives you almost every component you need in either a basic desktop or a light-duty home theater PC. If you prefer functionality to performance, we recommend this model out of the three systems in the current lineup.
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Storage Removable	Info unavailable	None	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	None
Manufacturer Warranty	Info unavailable	1 year warranty	1 year warranty	Info unavailable	1 year warranty
TV Tuner Type	Analog TV	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable
Video Memory	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	3 GB	Info unavailable
Floppy Drive	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	None
Optical Storage (2nd)	Info unavailable	None	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable
Storage Controller	Info unavailable	Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 )	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 )
Type	Info unavailable	Personal computer	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Personal computer
Hard Drive (2nd)	Info unavailable	- None	Info unavailable	1 x 1 TB - Standard	- None
Printer	Info unavailable	None	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	None
Optical Storage	Info unavailable	DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM with Labelflash Technology	DVD±R (±R DL)	Info unavailable	DVD±RW / DVD-RAM
RAM	2 GB	4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM - 800 MHz	8 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR3 SDRAM	12 GB DDR3 SDRAM - 1600 MHz	4 GB (installed) / 4 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM
Hard Drive (3rd)	Info unavailable	None	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	None
Cache Memory	Info unavailable	4 MB L2 cache	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	1 MB L2 cache
Dimensions (WxDxH)	17 in x 16 in x 6.8 in	4.2 in x 13 in x 10.7 in	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	10.4 in x 12.4 in x 3.9 in
Processor	1 x Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad Core 2.4 GHz	1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz ( Quad-Core )	1 x Intel Core i7 860 / 2.8 GHz	1 x Intel Core i7 965 / 3.925 GHz ( Quad-Core )	1 x Intel Pentium Dual Core E2220 / 2.4 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Hard Drive	2 x 400 GB - Standard	1 x 640 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300	1 x 1 TB - Standard - Serial ATA NCQ	Info unavailable	1 x 640 GB - Standard - Serial ATA-300
Weight	Info unavailable	11.9 lbs	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable
OS Provided	Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium	Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition	Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition	Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Edition	Microsoft Windows Vista Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition
Product Description	Core 2 Extreme Quad Core 2.4 GHz	Gateway SX2800-01 - Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33 GHz	Core i7 860 2.8 GHz	Core i7 965 3.925 GHz	Acer Aspire Aspire X1700 - Pentium Dual Core E2220 2.4 GHz
Graphics Controller	NVidia GeForce 8800GTS	Intel GMA X4500 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280	NVIDIA GeForce G100
Card Reader	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Card reader
Product Form Factor	Info unavailable	Tower	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Small form factor
Communications	Info unavailable	Fax / modem - 56 Kbps	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Fax / modem
Cache Per Processor	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	1 MB
Audio Output	- 7.1 channel surround	Sound card - 5.1 channel surround	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Sound card - 5.1 channel surround
Localization	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	United States
Monitor	None	None.	Info unavailable	Info unavailable	None.
Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications	Full specifications
Buying choices	Buy direct from Velocity Micro $1,599.00 In stock: Yes Price from 1 CNET Certified store	eCOST.com $514.99 In stock: Price from 1 CNET Certified store	Buy direct from Velocity Micro $1,099.00 In stock: Yes Price from 1 CNET Certified store	As Reviewed: $8798 Check manufacturer's site for availability	Best Buy $419.99 In stock: See Site Price from 1 CNET Certified store
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