Desktop Reviews

I got this thinking it would speed up my PC, and it did! It took some help though from my friend beccause I never installed memory and it was really simple. I have a HP Pavilion desktop and worked as soon as i installed it and booted it up. Now I notice that my programs load up a lot faster. I might be thinking about buying another one.

I started off with one stick of 512, and I eventually bought three more seeing how stable this memory was. I'm using this memory in an Asus P4C800 Deluxe motherboard, with a 3.2 P4. Since it's been installed, I have yet to crash. I was also able to remain stable while over-clocking my chip up to 3.89mhz.

Highly recommended.

Installed in about 10 minutes in my Dell Dimension 2400, and works great. Only had it in one day so far though. Computer recognized the memory immediately. No problems, and everything runs much faster with triple the RAM, as you might expect.

AWESOME GREAT COMPUTER. I'M ALMOST 9 BUT THIS IS MY SECOND COMPUTER AND IT WORKS WELL. AND LOOKS GREAT!

THE ONLY SMALL BAD THING IS THAT WHEN YOU PLAY COMPUTER GAMES IT DOES NOT HAVE A FULL SCREEN.

The PCV-W20 is one awesome integrated desktop. Sure it's pricey, but you get a lot of features plus Sony's award-winning styling. The widescreen 15.3" (measured diagonally) LCD is beautiful and has excellent contrast ratio. The CPU is actually 1.8Ghz, not 1.9 (which doesn't exist), but it's still fast. Sony apparently optimizes the system so it feels as speedy as a 2.4Ghz Dell Dimension 2350 or 4500.

Unlike most other one-piece PCs, this one has all the ports loaded: three USB 2.0 ports (but one already taken by the optical mouse), two 4-pin i.Link/IEEE 1394 ports, one line-in port for hooking up an audio input source (e.g., a portable CD player or MP3 player), two PC Card slots, and one Memory Stick slot. Modem and ethernet are built-in, so you can surf web either way you want. You also get a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, but no DVD burner.

The W-series is really designed for family users who don't need to tinker with the system, so the biggest downside for us geeks is that you can't expand the system easily. For example, you can't put in a bigger hard disk, although you can get an external USB 2 or IEEE 1394 hard disk, or use an IDE hard disk with an external enclosure kit (e.g., ADS Pyro). You also can't upgrade the graphics card, which means if you are into the latest 3D games, you are out of luck. And you can't put in an internal DVD burner; instead you'll need to get an expensive external one (usually at a one-hundrd dolr premium).

Specs aside, the W20 is a pleasure to use. The keyboard does suffer from Sony's annoying policy of doing away with the insert/home/delete/... keys, and the arrow keys are cramped with the main keyboard which makes them hard to use. But that's about the only gripe. As mentioned before the system is speedy, and Sony bundles the system with a generous offering of software titles. The user experience is very positive, so if you can afford it, this is a highly recommend system for your home.

My wife and I were seeking a LCD-screen computer for my son's room. I introduced her to the Sony W-Series desktop - which is a big hit in Japan - and she was immediately impressed. She liked the clean lines and the keyboard which folded up to be even less obtrusive. The clincher for her, though, was the PC which was built into the back of the screen - which eliminated both the bulky tower on the floor -- and the messy cable cables streaming out of it.

The Sony W-series looks great. It doesn't clutter up my son's room which, heaven knows, is already cluttered enough as it is. He enjoys doing his homework - and playing computer games - on it. The sound from the built in speakers is excellent. And the wide-screen display is wonderful for watching DVD movies.

The computer comes with four USB and two FireWire connections. Since the mouse connects via USB, these ports fill up quickly. (I plan to use a compact Linksys USB hub when I run out.) The FireWire ports are also of the smaller four-pin variety. Since most of my FireWire devices use the six-pin plugs, I needed to purchase a six-to-four pin conversion cable from Belkin (who, like Amazon, has everything).

The W-Series also has a Memory Stick slot, which I use to transfer large files from my Sony Vaio desktop (which also has a reader), and amongst my home and office laptops, where I've installed Sony Memory Stick PCMCIA card adapters into all of them. The W-series also has a pair of LAN ports, which I don't use, and a PCMCIA card slot which I'll probably employ to add 802.11 b or Bluetooth capability later. For those of you (like me) who don't know how to open up the back of your desktop to add these features, being able to do so via a PC card slot is definitely a plus.

Since the keyboard is attached to the bottom of the screen, the LCD sits a little lower on the desk than a free-standing unit, which my son doesn't notice. It's much like using a laptop (which was our other alternative) - but with a desktop's easier-to-use keyboard and mouse! The mouse, incidentally, is of the optical variety, so tracking is extremely smooth and accurate. And the screen tilts down slightly, which is nice when I want to watch DVD movies - while sitting in an easy chair in front of it!

The Sony W-Series computer is a big hit. I can tell because my son enjoys using it; and my daughter (who is a few years younger) wants one too!

If space efficiency - and aesthetics - are important considerations for you (as they were for us), the Sony W-Series might be just the ticket. My family loves it!

Pros:
- Very good quality printing, takes few minutes to
go through the alignment (follow the documentation)
- The ink's are much cheaper to refill ( best thing!)
- Not too big

Cons:
- While shutting does some noisy operation before completely shutting down.

But if you want all-in-one and best value for money- go for this one!

Compared this one to various printers in the HP line and I am glad I bought this one! I also have an HP officejet 630 on our other computer, which has worked well. Scanner jams ocassionally, not a flatbed. It was time to buy a flatbed scanner/printer/copier to go with our new Dell 4600 with XP home. The reviews on the HP were toublesome since a lot of people had to contact HP tech for help and were pretty discouraged with the response, software and printer problems out of the box.
The printer and software were very easy to install with no problems, under 10 min. First thing I did was print out some photos on photo paper and they turned out great! It was a snap. Scanner worked well and produced a pretty nice image. The copier was also tested right away and did a great job. Black and white text printed out pretty fast. This one also can print photos directly from your digital camera media. The mp360 can't.
Another great thing about the printer is the ink is very affordable, 6 to $7 retail, cheaper online. A welcome relief compared to my HP, at 26 to $30.
All in all for the price you can't beat it!

This is a nice system for automated backup of your computer drive. It maintains a complete image copy of your computer's drive so in the case of a disk crash you can copy everything back in one step, with no need to reinstall the operating system or individual applications. You also have the option of removing the backup disk drive from its case and installing it directly into your PC for a replacement. You then would buy a new disk drive to put back in the ABS unit.

I was also interested in the Seagate External Hard Drive. Some comparisons:

--The Seagate comes with a stripped-down version of the CMS backup software. With the ABSPlus you get the full version, a $50 value. It gives you versioning, synchronization, automatic disk formatting to match your computer drive, etc. I didn't need all those features but I figured that with the Seagate version there would be at least one or two missing features I would regret not having.

--The ABSPlus has a power on/off switch like the Seagate. The unit can be mounted vertically, but it does not have a stand for added security like the Seagate.

--I have heard that the Seagate is so quiet you almost can't hear it. The ABSPlus is not that quiet - you hear a moderate fan-like sound when it's turned on. If I were to keep the unit on all the time I wouldn't like having the added noise in the room. In my case, though, I only turn the unit on when I am running a backup. The backup software has a feature that will prompt you on a schedule to back up your drive. So I turn the unit on when I get the prompt, run the backup, then turn the drive off until the next scheduled backup.

--The ABSPlus does not have a button to run the backup like the Seagate, but again, I rely on the backup software to be prompted and to run the backup so I don't find the unit button necessary at all.

--The Seagate supports both USB and Firewire in the same unit. It also might be a slightly better value on a per-gigabyte basis.

Bottom-line: Both units can be used for backup and/or additional storage. Seagate seems to emphasize its use for storage, the ABSPlus emphasizes its use for backup and provides the more robust backup software version.

I am a computer user with intermediate skills. I started to load the program and I received a message stating that the disc wasn't registerred, and asked for the registration number. I went to the CMS/ABS plus site and checked for problems. I found my problem listed. I called technical support and was given a registration number to insert. I entered the registration number and the proram/systen began installation. (I have Windows 2000 operating system on my computer.) It worked just as stated in the Quick Start Guide. You will need to print the guide and read it to fully understand the operation.

For the price, this is an excellent deal.

Crucial Technology is a reputable company for memory too.

Can't wait to get mine!

I took out the PC100 I was using and put this module in and it worked great from the start!

I currently own one of these and they are exremely handy. No more fumbling around looking through organizers or cases for cd's...just flip through and grab what you need. Enough said.

This was on my Christmas list for about 5 people. I've got one, and the zipper wallet 14404. It's nice because you can yank a sleeve out and pop it into the wallet, and into the laptop case. There's also the 14415, which I do not have, but it has the ability to put indexes in with your sleeves (I made indexes out of file folders).

Why do I say the product is "too good"? Because they're backordered everywhere... Now I need to find a source or think-up new Christmas presents :-(

--Dale--

If you're in the market for a portable television, I recommend you skip the 2.3 inch models and upgrade to this 4 inch Casio. You'll be amazed by the difference 2 inches can make. I've abandoned my smaller RCA portable after seeing the display on the EV-4500; the difference is striking.

The TFT LCD screen produces a sharp, detailed picture and reception is quite good even before extending the rod antenna. Sound from the small speaker is also clear but you can always use the ear jack (mono sound only). The only reason I knocked off a star is because of battery life. Casio's specs. indicate an estimate battery life of 2 hours (4 AAs); that's close to reality, so the other reviewer's recommendation is dead-on: if you plan on watching this often, buy the AC adaptor accessory (MSRP 19.95). A car adaptor is also available.

If you want a portable television with a great picture (that doesn't induce eye strain), buy this EV-4500. It's a great value.

I always like to watch the news while I make dinner but in my small kitchen it was not easy to fit a TV on the counter. I was actually looking a larger ones but my husband got me the Casio EV-4500 for Christmas last year. The pros and cons are both the same: it is small. Nice and small so it does not take up much counter space but too small for watching, say football games. But, for general weeknight news watching, it is fine.
Two notes: it did not come with a power cord and I used rechargable batteries for several months but it got very tiring to replace the batteries every 2-3 days. So, I recommend you buy the optional wall plug, which I now have too.
Also, the set did have to be returned for repair (the screen died) but they sent me a new one rather quickly. No problems so far with this one (knock wood).

Amazon delivered promptly and professionally as usual. The set met my discerning approval. The picture is bright and clear. Living near a mountain, reception was my main concern. The set performs well under these conditions. Using the dipole rod antenna all local stations were received... some better than others. Don't expect cable TV quality reception though (although it has an input for an external antenna). Know the portable TV's limitations and you won't be disappointed. EV-4500 is well built. Sound is adequate for up close viewing and tuning is a snap. Scan through all channels - no presets. We use it for watching the news on our back porch while we have dinner and it works well. My wife uses it in the kitchen and bath suite. Too small for constant viewing but just right for a quick news show.

I believe this model is the GCS14. It's been working for me so far. However, I can't get the Hot Keys or Autoscan to work.

IO Gear's technical support is hopeless. They never reply to your emails.

Here's a tip you should remember when you first use it. Be sure to power off all computers first, then connect them onto the KVM. Start by powering on the computer connected to Port A and once you have booted into the OS, move to the next port and power up the next computer.

Be sure to wait till the computer has booted into the OS before moving on to the next. Most computer BIOSes don't like it if there are no input devices (especially keyboard) installed on the computer. So if you power on the computer without switching to the port the computer will think there are no input devices plugged in and may just halt at the BIOS without booting into the OS. You should be able to turn this off in your BIOS. Windows also doesn't boot properly without any input devices in my experience.

Once you boot into your OS, Windows for example, it won't matter since the OS will take over and should detect the keyboard and mice whenever, wherever...

And here's another tip. Never buy a USB KVM! Plug-n-play takes too long to detect your keyboard and mouse.

This IOGear KVM is great! It works flawlessly for my computers. I'm running a mixed windows/freebsd environment. One thing that I noticed is that the mouse picks up really fast, almost instantaneously. Can't say the same for the Belkin KVMs I have worked with. I'm running mine without the additional power supply, it works fine without it. It is also very compact. I have mine vertical using the provided stand. This is a great product!

I just want to correct the previous reviewer about the GCS14. He probably has a defective kvm. Mine works flawless. One, I can boot any OS I want in any order. Two, the keyboard key combo (ctrl + alt + shift + "ID") works for me.

You don't need to have to monitor set to the booting machine. I recommend however that you do so when using any kvm machine. It help the operating system detect the correct devices (monitor, keyboard, and mouse) attached. If you don't, they OS will load the generic drivers for mouse, keyboard, and plug'n play monitor. This is perfectly logical.

I purchased this unit about a month or so before Christmas of 2003.

After doing a little bit of research into the systems available, I decided to start looking around the stores to see what was available in our area.

This was not my first purchase however. The first one was a Panasonic unit from Sears that went for about $350.00. At the time I figured 70 watts total power would be more than enough for my needs here at home.

Considering that I have an older, full size "Sony Rack System" purchased in the 80's and is like new, and weighs in at 55 watts per channel...I just assumed that 70 watts would blow the roof off. Not the case.

It's quite obvious that power in terms of "watts per channel" is measured differently these days??? The 70 watt Panasonic turned up full barely matched the level of my "rack system" upstairs turned up to about only 4. It was at this point I decided to return the unit for a refund and continue my search.

I went to the Sony Store in town and picked up the top of the line CMT-CPX1. Total 140 watts!!!
Along with a whopping price tag of $499.00...(welcome to Canada and free trade.

However, I decided it was worth the price and picked it up.
Once set up at home, I tried out the various features. The one main reason for picking up this particular unit was because of it's separate "bass" and "treble" controls.

Call me old fashioned, but I just can't give in to a system "presetting" the tone levels on any given cd...not that I am an "audiophile" by any means, those presets just sound like hell in my opinion. Too many recordings offer too many subtle nuances that just can't be captured and appreciated with "presets". It makes me wonder about the general youth of today and my concern lies with the fact...are they really appreciating the music that they listen to...or is it all just..."boom chicka boom, chicka boom"?????

Overall...for the size of this unit...it works quite well for my needs. Without the headphones...the volume cranked at about 15 to 20 is quite powerfull with room to move (up to 30). The one thing I can say however, is that it's a differnt story with headphones.

Maybe it's time for a new set, but the $150 Koss phones I have will accommodate the volume at 30 and still leave you wanting more. I would hope this is the case and I will soon find out as I am in the market for a new set.

As far as it being a "single-load" cd player...half of the fun is getting up off of yer "duff" to change the music once in awhile isn't it?...works for me.

I gave it a 4.
I'll give it a 5 if a new set of headphones allow the volume to come through at a lower level. For some music, the volume maxed out at 30 is quite comfortable actually....and to me, this just doen't feel like 140 watts???...Like I said...they must measure the output of these units differently these days?

Other than that...it really is a great little system...just don't buy one in Canada, cuz they'll rape your wallet at the checkout counter!

Thanks
Kim

I have owned this system for one month and can tell you that it is a solid system.

What sets this system apart from its competitors is the power of its amp. It is probably the only microsystem out there with a 140 watt amp (70 watt x 2 channels); most microsystems are typically 30-50 watts (that's total wattage). Besides this it has excellent speaker design, the cabinets are solidly built and even though it is a faux laminate wood siding I think it is still handsome (you won't fool anyone into thinking its solid wood, but its not bad). The speaker wire that is used is of thicker gauge then the average cheap mini system (you know, those thin black wires). The wires are connected by a proprietary connector, the positive of this is that there is a firm connection leading to better sound than the average spring clamp. The downside is that you can't connect other speakers, not that this matters since the system is bi-amped which means that any other speakers could damage both the amp and the speaker itself.

Instead of pre-programmed "equalizer" settings this one has independent Bass and Treble controls. While it is not as good as higher quality (and priced) systems it does the trick. Basically you have four positive settings and four negative setting for both treble and bass. Because this is a microsystem, don't expect that turning the bass all the way up will get the room bumping. Overall you will not be disappointed in the sound quality. On a slightly different note one control feature I really like is the volume knob which is slightly dampened, when you turn it there is some smooth resistance.

Sound quality is excellent for a small room/bedroom and the powerful amp means that it really rocks when you crank it up. Volume setting goes up to 30 but for casual listening 13-17 is fine (and I like music loud). Radio reception is fairly good with the coaxial FM antenna, where I live there is really poor radio reception so it may work better for you. There is a tape deck cleverly hidden behind the display, I don't know how good it is because I don't use tapes.

The display is a no frills LCD that has a bright orange backlight; it's hard to see/distinguish track numbers, etc. from far away. I have owned systems in the past that have fancy blinking lights and colors with cool demo-setting visuals, the problem is that I can't go to sleep at night because my bedroom is lit up like there is a strobe light on. This system is either on or off, the LCD is not too bright to light up a dark room but when you turn it off it does not default to a blinking/flashing demo setting (which, I feel is a plus).

Cons... There have to be some...
1) It is a single disc player. If it had a CD changer (lets say 3 discs) then this would be my dream system. Nope, you're going to have to get off your butt to change the CD.

2) Does not support MP3 playback. I am very surprised by this since most mini/micro systems these days support MP3 playback as a basic feature. For a system of this quality (and price... I got mine for $299) you would think MP3 playback would be standard, but no... On the other hand many of the higher priced/ upscale systems like Denon and Onkyo don't support MP3 playback either.... Why? I don't have a clue...

3) The remote. What can I say, the system is very attractive and elegant but the remote is a clunky piece of crap. Not only is it much larger then it needs to be but it feels awkward to hold. The button layout is poorly designed as well, there is nothing intuitive about it except the power on/off button being a different color (green in this case) and at the top corner of the remote. Important buttons such as skip forward and backwards are tiny specs while the equalizer controls (which most people don't use that much I'd imagine) are huge. I wish electronics companies spent more time on remote control design because it is an accessory that most people use quite often (also, for this system you need a remote to perform some actions like setting radio stations).

4) There is a flimsy switch on the front of the system, next to the volume control, that is used for tuning radio stations, skipping tracks on CD's or fast forwarding/rewinding on CD's. It just feels like it will break off with enough use and for the functions that it is assigned to frequent use is what it will get. To make the system better they could have used a spring-loaded knob (sort of like jog dials that are found on some remotes).

All in all this system is worth its money. Sony could make a few improvements and create a dream system, but I am plenty happy with my purchase as is. Hope this review helps.

Being the shopper that I am with pretty much audiophile tastes, I needed a system to plug in next to my treadmill and after looking quite a bit, for $299.00 this system is second to none. When I bought this Saturday and took it home and set it up what appeared to be way better than anything at this price did not disappoint. Obviously the Yamaha systems at $400-600 were a little smoother on the top end. In the store this system was a nice punchy system. At home in a 12' x 14' room it was a killer. I had to actually pull some treble and bass off the max levels and am extremely pleased with the sound. While not a mega audiophile critical listening system it does exactly what it is meant to do. It has a whole lot of sound, cd, cassette player, and good AM/FM capability. While obviously you can listen to sweet symphonic music you can also put in a R&B/Jazz/Tower of Power kinda CD and it will give you that "in the chest" good bass sound. It is so much better than anything less than $299 that I listened to. Don't take my word for it...go to the store and AB it next to the other systems you hear. The only thing better "slightly" is the higher priced Yamaha.

Upon reading other customer reviews I bought this tape recorder. It is ok for voice recording and playback, but when I recorded my piano practice the playback sounded awful. Since I had bought it for that purpose I returned it. For voice it has a good tone and the machine noise is less than others I have heard. So, especially considering all the features including cue/review it is a good choice for voice recording.

I've had one of these since 1993. It's perfect. It's a tape player and recorder, and that's it.

It never jams on a good tape. It's perfect at what it does.

Being an audiobook lover I use it to listen to my books around the house and it has had a lot of use!

Unlike units that have CD players, the tape is the focus, not an afterthought.

Also, it's far superior to tape units that switch sides for you, because they often switch sides at the least resistance, not necessarily the end of the tape.

In summation, this is the tape audiobook listener's friend for reliable, no trouble, listening for hours and hours and years to come..

This is a very nice cassette recorder, that is loaded with features that most cassette recorders don't have anymore. It has microphone jack, ear jack, tape counter, sliding volume control(on side of unit), built-in very sensative mic, that picks up full-fidelity sound. Uses full-size cassette tapes, has full-auto stop; which means that it will stop in Rewind, Fast Forward, and playing or recording. Speaker produces good sound, with clear recordings. I recently recorded old 78 records, using this recorder, and placing it near the record player. It produced, very clear, full-fidelity recordings; even from scratchy sounding 78 records. It also has cue and review, that let you rewind or fast-forward to selections without pressing stop key. Comes with AC adapter, and uses 4 "AA" batteries. Recorder is simple to operate, but produces good voice or music recordings. It has ALC for perfect recordings every time, without making adjustments. Highly recommend this recorder.