Reviewed on January 27, 2009Maingear'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.TAGS:Maingear, Intel Core Microarchitecture, LightScribe, Blu-ray, 64-bit, Intel, PC, video card, games, hard drive
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, Gateway Inc., Intel, 64-bit, HP, Intel Pentium, PC, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on November 17, 2008With lots of useful features (some cleverly hidden), Gateway's FX6800-01e stands out from the boring mainstream pack. It also uses Intel's new CPU and motherboard combination to provide speed and upgradeability. You can find faster PCs for a similar price, but few with this much promise.TAGS:Gateway Inc., media card reader, 64-bit, USB port, motherboard, Intel, PC, hard drive, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on July 31, 2009The eMachines ET1810-03 isn't the fastest or the most attractive computer, but we can't argue with the low price, attractive design, and a complete (if not slightly barren) set of components. If you can deal with the midtower size, it will make for an excellent general purpose PC for the home.TAGS:eMachines Inc., Gateway Inc., optical drive, fax, Intel, Ethernet, Apple Computer, modem, PC, hard drive
Reviewed on December 12, 2008No other all-in-one PC can offer touch-based input or an LCD screen as large as that of the HP TouchSmart IQ816. It's hard to deny that those features make this a compelling desktop for families with a place to put it. Weak performance hinders its suitability for work, and it's not the best digital entertainment center, but we recommend this system to anyone looking to get in early on the touch-computing experiment.TAGS:HP TouchSmart, Intel Core 2 Duo, IEEE 802.11n, Blu-ray, digital audio, HP, 64-bit, PC, Intel, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on December 10, 2007AMD's new Phenom quad-core CPU has little to recommend it over competing chips from Intel. The Phenom is marginally less expensive, but not enough to make up for its subpar performance. Unless AMD drops prices more aggressively, it looks like Intel will maintain its grasp on the CPU market for the foreseeable future.TAGS:Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD, quad-core, Intel, PC
Reviewed on November 1, 2006If you thought dual cores were over the top, get ready. Intel presents the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, a single CPU with four distinct processing cores. At $999, the first quad-core CPU will remain an enthusiast part for a while, but as a glimpse of the future, it's clear that clock speed is out and core counts are in.TAGS:Intel Core 2 Extreme, multi-core, quad-core, digital media, clock speed, dual-core, Intel, Intel Core 2 Duo, CPU, AMD, PC
Reviewed on August 17, 2009If you must buy a Nettop, the eMachines EZ1601-01's large screen and category-competitive components make a decent argument for its value among other systems like it. One look at a true budget desktop, or even a Netbook, and the appeal of this system diminishes quickly.TAGS:eMachines Inc., ASUS, graphics chip, optical drive, display, Intel, PC
Reviewed on November 11, 2008Velocity Micro's Edge Z55 provides a powerful example of the leap ahead in performance afforded by Intel's new Core i7 CPUs. Velocity Micro's own overclocking efforts don't hurt either. Any PC gamer would love to make this upper midrange desktop their own.TAGS:Velocity Micro, Acer Inc., Intel Core Microarchitecture, 64-bit, Radeon, Intel, games, hard drive, PC, CPU
Reviewed on December 10, 2007AMD's new Phenom quad-core CPU has little to recommend it over competing chips from Intel. The Phenom is marginally less-expensive, but not enough to make up for its subpar performance. Unless AMD drops prices more aggressively, it looks like Intel will maintain its grasp on the CPU market for the foreseeable future.TAGS:Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD, quad-core, Intel, dual-core, CPU, PC