Aspire for more... (Acer Aspire X3200)

Member Name: jespin

Product:	Acer Aspire X3200
Date:	08/08/09 (421 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small. Compact yet powerful.

Disadvantages: Onboard graphics and little room for expansion.

With technology advancing faster than probably any other period in history at the moment, things are constantly getting smaller. One particular area in which this is apparent is desktop PCs in which the bulky rigs we are used to are now being reduced in size to form the newer 'space saving' PCs.

When my younger brother's laptop decided to stop functioning, I was tasked with finding him a practical replacement that was cheap, fast and ideal for a student. The result was an Acer Aspire X3200 with an AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core processor from Ebuyer. The rig came with 3 GB of memory and GeForce 8200 onboard graphics with Vista Home Basic pre-installed and no monitor at a cost of £276.

The first thing we noticed upon receipt of delivery was how surprisingly small the system was. Space saving indeed! Furthermore, the sleek black design and matching keyboard and mouse looked very stylish indeed.

So what are the benefits of this system?

Well, it has onboard graphics from a series which has now been replaced by the 9 series however, it is still able to run a lot of games that are being released nowadays at a decent spec. Bearing in mind it has onboard graphics which are less desirable than a card due to memory sharing issues, this is relatively good considering it will only be used for occasional gaming. The system also has a HDMI port meaning it can be connected up to a HD television giving high definition output particularly if you choose to install a Blueray drive which is a cheaper option than buying a Blueray player.

The system also comes with a built in card reader which is almost standard with all PCs that are produced now. The 3GB of memory are sufficient as there is only a 32 bit operating system installed meaning the user is limited to a maximum of 3.5GB anyway. There are plenty of USB ports with this system (4 USB 2.0 at the front and back) as well as surround sound capabilities.

Although the system we received differs in processor to the more widely available models, the principles are largely the same. The system is ideal for students or home businesses however I would not recommend it for any intense gaming unless you purchase a separate graphics card and install it in the only available PCI Express slot.

A good system with a sleek design. Definitely worth the price we paid for it.

Summary: Ideal for home businesses or students.

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