We began our look into holiday retail desktops in the beginning of November, reviewing a total of 16 systems that ranged in price from $199 to $1,199. Five weeks later, we have our top picks. This is also the end of a year spent focusing heavily on desktops available at brick-and-mortar retail outlets, and we think we learned something.
Gateway's DX4822-01 is our favorite budget desktop available at retail this holiday.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)Budget pick
Desktops in our budget category ranged from the $199 Acer Aspire Revo 1600 to the $510 Gateway DX4822-01. We always advocate spending as much as your budget can handle for the purposes of longevity, so we weren't surprised when we found we liked the aforementioned Gateway best of the six desktops in this group for its speed and large 1TB hard drive.
... Read moreOur list of 10 most popular desktops follows the same rules as the lists from the other product categories. Because it's based on click volume, the desktops listed skew toward those that have been around longer, as well as those that received the most promotion (such as spending time on our list of Editor's Top Desktops).
You'll find a few reviews on the list from 2008, some of which are still lingering in stock at various online retailers. We advise you not to buy those old systems, as they've all been updated since we posted their reviews.
Our slideshow below breaks the most popular desktops down in order from most to least popular. We've provided a few other numbers after the jump.
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In our current roundup of retail-specific laptops, we've divided our 25-plus systems into four different price categories, from sub-$700 budget models to high-end ones that cost more than $1,000.
In the "Budget" category, covering laptops up to $699, we found a collection of largely indistinguishable systems, along with a few that stood out as particularly good or bad. Most of these will provide a decent low-end experience, as long as you stick to one of the models with a dual-core CPU.
Our favorite, by a hair, was the Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980, with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU and a big 500GB hard drive.
Note: For a roundup of retail laptops in all price ranges, check here.
Check out details of each system below:... Read more
As most laptops are essentially commodity products comprised of the same stock list of components and parts, one might assume that all laptop brands are the same, at least as far as the general reliability of the hardware itself.
Warranty firm SquareTrade has just released a research paper analyzing the failure rate for 30,000 laptops comparing brands and hardware categories--and the results might surprise you.
The headline news is that over three years, one out of three laptops will fail, and that Asus and Toshiba laptops have the lowest failure rates, while Acer, Gateway, and HP have higher than average failure rates. Additionally, two-thirds of those problems are hardware malfunctions, while the final third are classified as accidental damage.
Netbooks, in particular, didn't fare as well--as one might expect from low-cost machines. They failed at a rate 20 percent higher than mainstream laptops. But keep in mind, since Netbooks are a relatively new category, this is based on only one year of data.
The full report can be found at the SquareTrade Web site, and we've excerpted some of the most interesting charts and graphs below (and note that some of the numbers presented below are projections based on previous data).
The key takeaway is that laptops in general fail much more often than many other types of consumer electronics--in part because they're among the most complex devices one can buy, and perhaps because pricing pressure has led to lapses in quality control in the design and manufacture of many of these systems.
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SquareTrade )
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SquareTrade )
When we first saw Dell's new Inspiron Zino HD this summer, our thought was that when Dell brought this thing to market it would be introducing the affordable living room PC of our dreams. It's small, it's cheap, it has HDMI, and it supports Blu-ray and 802.11n Wi-Fi. What else could you want in a self-contained little Windows box to serve up media to your TV? We're not without questions (how well will the default ATI graphics and low-power AMD CPU handle Blu-ray playback, for example?), but on paper, the Inspiron Zino HD the Dell announced this morning seems to retain most of that promise we saw a few months back.
Dell's new Inspiron Zino HD offers multiple color choices.
(Credit: Dell)The Inspiron Zino HD starts at $229, which nets you a single-core 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e CPU, a DVD burner, 2GB of RAM, wired networking, a DVD burner, and a 250GB hard drive. It's not much, but that's a better deal than the $199 Acer Revo we reviewed a few weeks ago because of the Dell's larger hard drive and a DVD burner.
And while these low-cost PCs are all the rage these days, we're more excited by the Zino's possibilities after a few key upgrades. Bump the CPU up to the dual-core Athlon X2 3250e, upgrade the RAM to 4GB, add 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and a Blu-ray drive and the price climbs to a still-reasonable $498. A TV tuner option is coming at some unspecified time in the future.
You get two USB 2.0 jacks, an optical drive, and an SD Card reader on the front of the Zino.
(Credit: Dell)You wouldn't want to use such a spec for editing movies or playing games, for that we'd recommend starting with Gateway's SX2800-01 and adding a low-profile 3D card. You'd probably also run out of storage space with the Zino's 250GB default hard drive sooner than you'd like. But on a home network with another PC hosting the bulk of your media, a $500 or so Inspiron Zino HD would likely meet all of your prerecorded media consumption needs.
Among other ports, the back of the Inspiron Zino HD has both HDMI and VGA video outs, as well as a pair of eSATA ports.
(Credit: Dell)Dell offers a few color and design options for the Inspiron Zino HD, and all but Piano Black cost an extra $10. According to Dell's Web site, order's placed today will ship by November 26.
Now that we're past the official release of Windows 7, most new PCs should come with it pre-installed. But if you purchased a new computer with Windows Vista recently, or for whatever reason end up with a Vista system in the near future, there's a very good chance you're eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade.
From the period of June 26, 2009 through January 31, 2010, many major PC makers are offering free upgrades to Windows 7 for those who buy a Vista-powered laptop or desktop. The deals are all essentially the same, and, as expected, have some exceptions and asterisks.
Click the gallery link below and we'll show you the details for PC brands including Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and Sony -- complete with upgrade terms and instructions, and links to each PC maker's free Windows 7 upgrade request forms.
Getting your free Windows 7 upgrade is handled through the company you bought your PC from, not by Microsoft, and in most cases you'll have to register and fill out some online forms. Now that we're past the October 22 launch date for Windows 7, you'll receive a physical copy of Windows 7 via snail mail once your submit the proper documentation. The upgrade path looks like this:
Windows Vista Home Premium→Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows Vista Business→Windows 7 Professional
Windows Vista Ultimate→Windows 7 Ultimate
Using Vista basic? Tough luck! Also worth noting, upgrades are arriving via DVD, so you'll have to have a DVD drive available (although there is a USB drive workaround). Also royally screwed are Netbook buyers who have Windows XP, and are not eligible for the free upgrade.
> See CNET's full Windows 7 review here.
> Missed the big gallery link above? Brand by brand details on getting your free Windows 7 upgrade are here.
> This article updates our earlier pre-Win7-launch feature: Ask the editor: Should I buy a new laptop now, or wait for Windows 7?
All-in-one desktops and laptops are among the first PCs with Windows 7.
With the launch of Windows 7, computer shoppers are emerging from a dark period when newly purchased desktops and laptops would arrive with an already archaic operating system. Even with the promise of a free upgrade, it made sense for most to wait until systems started shipping with the new OS.
If you're eager to hit the ground running, we've already reviewed several Windows 7 PCs, from big names such as Lenovo, Toshiba, and HP. Click on the gallery below to check out each one, including the massive Toshiba Qosmio X505, the touch-screen Lenovo T400s, and the HP Touchsmart 600 all-in-one.
This collection represents the very first wave of Windows 7 computers, but after October 22, it'll be rare to find a Vista or XP desktop or laptop for sale anywhere.
Click here to see all the Windows 7 laptop and desktop reviews
Man, that's a nice screen. We're tempted to end here, because on the shelf next to any other all in one, the $1,699 iMac and its 27-inch, wide-screen, LED-backlit display might be all shoppers need to see. The updated specs sound great, but in terms of pure screen real estate, no other all in one on the market right now can compete with the new higher-end iMacs.
Apple's new $1,699 iMac and its imposing 27-inch wide-screen LCD.
(Credit: CNET/Sarah Tew)The screen overwhelms the new iMac's other features. The long-desired SD Card slot is of course welcome, but hardly innovative. Adding video input support to the mini DisplayPort jack is also intriguing, but falls a bit flat with the required dongle not included in the box. The new wireless mouse and keyboard have strong design, and the touch-sensitive mouse is intuitive enough as a basic click-and-scroll device. Lateral scrolling and other touch features were less satisfying in our thus far limited hands-on time.
We appreciate Apple's brute force approach to boosting the iMac's performance, but bringing quad-core to this price range might have satisfied the diehards. We imagine the new iMac and its 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo chip will fly past HP's new TouchSmart 600, and possibly also Gateway's new One ZX6810-01. The Core i5 and Core i7 options, though, make the $1,999 iMac very compelling, and they would have been doubly impressive at $1,699. Perhaps the next refresh.
What we don't miss in the new iMac are some of the more trendy all-in-one features. Blu-ray, touch screens, and wall-mounting can all be useful, but they tend to get marketers too focused on our "digital lifestyle." We're glad to see Apple keep the iMac grounded in its computing roots.
We hope to review all four of Apple's new iMac configurations, and we expect the 21.5-inch $1,199 and $1,499 versions will face tougher competition from their Windows counterparts, some of which have larger screens and aggressive pricing and features. On the higher end, the 27-inch iMacs are more difficult to overcome if your competing product is locked in at 24 inches.
Testing is underway on the $1,699 iMac. You can check back with us tomorrow for the full review.
Joining Sony, HP, and its own subsidiary Gateway, Acer has announced a new Windows 7-based all-in-one this morning, complete with a multitouch display. The Acer Aspire Z5610 will go for $899 when it goes on sale "this holiday season" (according to the press release), making it one of the most affordable all-in-ones we know of with an expansive 23-inch, 1,920x1,080 display.
Acer's new Aspire Z5610 multitouch all-in-one
(Credit: Acer)Specs for the Aspire Z5610 are humble, but also in keeping with its price tag. A 2.6GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core chip, 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, and a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4570 anchor the system, with a 320GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, and a DVD burner rounding out the primary features.
Like the Gateway One ZX6810-01 we've already reviewed, the Aspire Z5610 will come with a rudimentary collection of multitouch-ready apps, but nothing on par with what we saw from HP's new TouchSmart 600 earlier this week. We can't feel too disappointed if the Acer's touch apps lack depth given its price, but it's worth noting that touch input is only as useful as the software that comes with it. Fortunately for Acer, the value inherent to a 23-inch all-in-one for under $900 is more immediately apparent.
HP Touchsmart 600
(Credit: HP.com)HP just announced the third upgrade to of its line of TouchSmart PCs, and the first model we've laid hands on, the TouchSmart 600 (full review here), was good enough to earn an Editor's Choice award. The new TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600 feature 20-inch and 23-inch screens, respectively, and both offer the same multitouch screen with either a 16:9 1080P HD or HD-ready display.
To coincide with this announcement, HP is also rolling out exclusive applications for the TouchSmart PCs that take advantage of its multitouch enabled screen and Windows 7, including, but not limited to:
- Hulu Desktop: browse and watch your favorite TV shows
- Netflix: Instantly watch movies or browse and add films to your online queue
- Pandora Internet Radio: Discover new music based on your personalized taste
- TouchSmart Live TV: Watch and record your favorite television shows
- TouchSmart Canvas: organize your photos on a virtual canvas and use your fingers to make edits
- TouchSmart RecipeBox: Enjoy a hands-free cooking experience with recipes that respond to voice commands
Of those apps, the Recipe Box is the most impressive. Smart software lets you scrap and catalog recipes from a variety of popular recipe Web sites (Epicurious, Food Network, and Martha Stewart among them), and via voice recognition and text-to-speech you can navigate the recipes hands-free. It's the best kitchen-oriented PC solution we've seen.
The new 300 and 600 models also include a new swivel stand, a built-in wall mount support, in addition to a new tiltable web cam for group conferences and video chats. Both models are available in a variety of retail configurations with customizable configurations available at HP.com.
More photos after the jump.
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