Reviewed on July 10, 2009Gateway'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.TAGS:HP Pavilion SlimLine, Gateway Inc., Dell Inspiron, HP Pavilion, clock speed, Dell, 64-bit, HP, Intel, PC, video
Reviewed on November 12, 2009The HP Pavilion Slimline s5220y provides adequate performance for light-duty media editing and entertainment, but its slim tower case leaves little room for future upgrades, leading us to recommend the older Gateway SX2800-01 that offers more features and better components.TAGS:HP Pavilion SlimLine, graphics chip, HP Pavilion, Dell Inspiron, Gateway Inc., Ethernet LAN, HP, Dell, Intel, Intel Pentium, PC
Reviewed on June 30, 2009HP's Pavilion p6110y isn't necessarily an offensive system, and its case might even entice you to give it a second look. We just wish HP had taken a more substantive approach to help this desktop stand out. Its FireWire port might sway you, but otherwise you can find more interesting features from other PCs on the shelf.TAGS:HP Pavilion, HP Pavilion SlimLine, ASUS, FireWire, HP, retailer, HDMI, Intel, Intel Pentium, Gateway Inc., motherboard, PC
Reviewed on July 16, 2009With more aggressive competition on retail shelves, the HP Pavilion p6130y isn't a particularly compelling desktop computer thanks to underwhelming features and poor performance. We only recommend this system if you truly need the hand-holding that comes with the support of a major U.S. PC vendor.TAGS:HP Pavilion, ASUS, Dell Inspiron, quad-core, digital audio, Ethernet, HP, FireWire, 64-bit, Dell, Gateway Inc., AMD, PC, games
Reviewed on November 6, 2009With similar results as its ancestors, the Dell Inspiron 545s-1476N registers decent benchmarks and offers respectable upgradability, but we hesitate to recommend it over the older Gateway SX2800-01 that leaves Dell in the dust in regards to both performance and features.TAGS:HP Pavilion SlimLine, Dell Inspiron, Gateway Inc., graphics chip, Dell, Ethernet LAN, Ethernet, HP Pavilion, Intel, HP, PC
Reviewed on October 7, 2009The $799 ZT Affinity 7334Ma's stellar performance benchmarks, Blu-ray drive, and plenty of room for expansion give it a step up from the competition. ZT still needs help in the external design department, but this system certainly earns our recommendation as a workhorse do-it-all system.TAGS:HP Pavilion Elite, Blu-ray drive, HP Pavilion, Blu-ray, ATI Radeon, AMD, 64-bit, HP, ATI Technologies, PC
Reviewed on July 2, 2009The Asus Essentio CM5570-AP002 isn't an overly remarkable desktop, but it has a few extra features that help it stand out. Its Wi-Fi and HDMI video out port give it some unique capabilities, and the best part is that Asus still manages to keep the price down. It's hard not to like this system, even though we wish Asus had more comprehensive support.TAGS:ASUS, HP Pavilion SlimLine, Blu-ray drive, HP Pavilion, Blu-ray, Intel, Gateway Inc., 64-bit, HP, Intel Pentium, PC, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on July 23, 2009The Asus Essentio CM5570-AP006 will give you fair performance and a well-rounded set of features for its price, and we recommend it if you specifically need a midbudget, midtower desktop. In the grand scheme of retail PCs, however, a more affordable slimtower from Gateway gives this system a major challenge on performance and value, which dampens our enthusiasm for the Asus.TAGS:ASUS, Dell Inspiron, HP Pavilion, Gateway Inc., HP, Dell, 64-bit, networking, video card, games, PC
Reviewed on October 31, 2008The HP Pavilion a6620f makes a decent case for its budget price. We like the design and the built-in digital-audio ports, and if you're on an unbreakable budget, the a6620f will get you through a variety of processes, but we recommend saving up for a system that will give you a more powerful set of components for a negligible price difference.TAGS:HP Pavilion, digital audio, graphics chip, portable hard drive, burner, HP, Dell Inspiron, 64-bit, Intel, port, Ethernet, PCI, hard drive, Dell, adapter, PC