Acer Gateway SX2800-01 Desktop PC

"A fantastic desktop for the price. Very fast and responsive!



P.S.

Hey QuidoH....you have to order your free Windows 7 upgrade. All those details are on the website. Go to the Windows7 upgrade section of the Gateway website for the order form."

"I had been eyeing this Desktop since the first review came out on Cnet in July. The combination of size, good processing power (Intel Core2Duo Quad is where it's at (for this price)) motherboard, and smart looks made this attractive. I jumped at the opportunity to snag this bargain system.

My laptop has served as the hub of my media center exploits, but it was never a perfect fit…no HD outputs and the use of G wireless connectivity only. The Gateway was perfect because it could integrate easily into my home theater setup with its inputs and processing power. In fact, I was so impressed with it's media abilities that I just canceled my cable subscription. Windows Media Center and applications like Boxee are exceptional on this hardware, so there is no need for cable, unless you really need to see TV shows when they air. Hooked up to my 42" Hitachi 1080i HDTV, the screen is beautiful. The HDMI output does sound and video without any hiccups. The video card is decent for most of your ripped movies and home videos (and iternet video) but an upgrade is probably necessary to get true 1080 signals outputted. Fortunately, you have the CPU power and the RAM when the time comes to upgrade your video card.

My only complaints are minor…the Vista operating system works well on this x64 architecture, but I'm eagerly awaiting Windows 7 to take full advantage of the processing power and RAM. While this is certainly not a media-center only setup, the wired mouse (USB) wired keyboard (PS/2) and wired speakers (3.5 jack) are a little underwhelming. Currently, all three are in the box. Bloatware is at a minimum. There is no recovery disc, one needs to be made or ordered through Gateway. Tech support is not great, but I find internet resources to be more helpful anyway.

I would certainly recommend this over the HP slimline and Apple Mac-Mini for media center integration. With a very low price-at-entry, neither the HP's quad core option or the Apple's laptop Core2Duo chip can compete…both systems may be smaller, but the gateway is no eyesore – it's very well executed. Upgrades are certainly easier on the Gateway then either of those systems. And its media center ready out of the box!"

"This will replace my wife's desktop, which was a Pentium E2.8ghz with 1 GB.



Simple setup and lightning performance.

I removed the non-windows software packages easily, with the exception of Norton, which required a download of a special-purpose remover.



I'm using AVG Free anti-virus without any problems, and the machine and OS run 64-bit without complaints.



Ran defrag from the command line, which I recommend as the HD was quite fragmented.



Vista updates downloaded and installed automatically without errors. Looking forward to the free upgrade to Windows 7."

"I was disappointed that many features did not work after having booted up for the first time. A Norton 360 install needed help from Norton after the computer continuously detected a previous version that needed removal. (Norton was great, fixed the issue by remoting in.) The default backup disc burn hasn't worked since I first tried it (unsure why). IE8 is very unstable, and even using Firefox can stop responding. I hope Windows 7 will fix this otherwise beautiful, quiet machine. When the software isn't crashing, it does operate very quickly and seamlessly. I'm not disappointed by the Intel Core 2 Quad processor, which is really what I was looking forward to. One thing I'm happy about, however, is my experience buying from J&R, which was quick, kept me updated, and packaged the machine well."

"This computer is great, if you can get it at the price you want, and J&R's was great for me, then get it!



I was torn between a high clock speed Duo or this cpu, and I'm glad I went with this one. It's fast enough to handle everything I do - vids and music, web surfing, MS Office docs, and perhaps some light gaming. The only thing that needs to be upgraded is the video card, but you can get a decent one for $30-$50, so I wasn't deterred from buying the system because of that.



The speakers were a welcome inclusion as well, as I needed new ones and these work perfectly well for me. The system is quiet, at least by my feet on the floor.



At this point I am a very happy customer, both with J&R and with Gateway."

"This is a great price for a PC with the Intel Core 2 Quad and 4GB RAM. Runs fast and handles multi-tasking well. Furthermore, the RAM is expandable to 8GB. The fan is a bit loud, but I haven't encountered any real problems.



Includes Vista but per Gateway will be eligible for Windows 7 free upon release. I didn't like the ad supported MS Works and MS Money software or the cheap games included. Vista has some decent features and some quirks.



But the main feature of this Gateway is that the hardware here is better than the competition for this price."

"I am a Dell fan due to their excellent and continuous support for their PCs. This is my first Gateway machine, and I have to admit that I am very impressed. The build quality is solid and the price is very reasonable for such a top-notch confiugration. The HDMI simply carries video and audio wonderfully without any problem. The machine runs fast enough and though Vista is not preferred but it is ok. I cannot wait for my free Windows 7 upgrade disk to arrive. BTW, this JR purchase experience is simply wonderful as it is so far. My inquiry about free Windows 7 upgrade was handled professionally and quickly. Way to go, JR."

"Pretty good computer so far. No problems, runs smooth and very quiet. No problems with Vista so far and I have ordered the free Windows 7 upgrade through Gateway. I use the Microsoft Desktop 7000 Keyboard and Mouse set since the included keyboard and mouse are pretty bare bones (along with the included speakers) as well as my own Dell monitor. You're pretty much just buying the actual PC itself as the rest of the included peripherals are not that great. I think this computer is a good deal for the price."

"This is a fantastic deal for what you get. Rare specs for a budget pc: C2Q 64-bit, HDMI, eSATA, 9 USB2.0 etc. It's so slim! It's packaged well in a laptop-equivalent box. IMHO it's better to buy this and have a choice in a new widescreen panel, instead of the junk most MFR's pair on.Only issues: Creating restore DVD's was painful and slow! Had to download an update for the software to work with 64-bit. And yeah, there's some bloatware but no matter, as I'm rockin' Windows 7 RC1. [...]"

"If you are not a serious gamer, then this is a great computer for the money. Lots of ports and all the current functionalities. With a 240 GB hard drive, we'll probably run out of space in a few years, but we're good for now. Speedy machine now. If it starts seeming slow, can always upgrade the memory later. It has frozen up on us in IE, but not sure that is the computer's fault - probably the software."