Shop around on Amazon and you will see that similarly configured PCs are much more expensive. It is the hands down winner if you plan to use this PC unchanged, right out of the box. It's cheap, fast and robust.My emails to AA Computers support were answered quickly and accurately, KUDOS. This PC was the right choice for us because we needed a PC for internet, games and Microsoft office. We already had a wireless NIC, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Reliability is awesome. Be sure to check for loose connections when it arrives, shipping usually knocks a few cables loose.
If you want a barebones desktop to upgrade heavily, this may not be for you. The small motherboard, limited case cooling and 350W power supply make heavy upgrades challenging. Your upgrade costs will cancel out the savings.
Here are the details left out of the Amazon description:
350 watt power supply has only two Molex left available. All other connectors, including SATA power, are used. Larger power supply may be needed if more components are added. You may be able to add another HDD if you use a SATA power Y connector or a MOLEX to SATA adapter.
No case cooling. The only fan on this machine is on the CPU . The case has no other fans. Harddrives and other components run hot. Adding a graphics card and HDD would require more cooling.
Eight 3.5" bays. One in use by the supplied HDD. Plenty of room to upgrade here. Note: a very long card in any PCI slot will make it tough to get HDDs in and out of the bays.
Six SATA ports on the MB. Two are in use by the DVD drive and the supplied HDD. If you add a double wide, long graphics card in the 16x PCI-E, it will cover three of the SATA connectors on the MB. Then you would have only one SATA port available for upgrades. I didn't try a right angle SATA cable under the graphics card.
Onboard graphics adapter has VGA and DVI outputs. It uses system memory and CPU resources. This is OK considering the fast CPU and large amount of RAM that comes standard.
Total PCI: One 1X PCI-E, one 16X PCI-E and one plain PCI slot, all open. If you put a double wide graphics card in the 16X PCI-E slot, it will cover the 1X PCI-E slot. This basically deletes the 1X PCI-E and restricts cooling on any double wide card. In addition, a wide card will cover three of the SATA ports on the MB. A MOLEX 4 pin to PCI express six pin adapter is required if you need power to your graphics card.
Small motherboard: The mother board is very small which makes it tough to use a double wide graphics card in the 16X PCI-E. Very long cards make cabling and HDD placement tough inside the case (but all will fit).
Two RAM slots on motherboard. Both used. If you want to upgrade RAM you will need to replace existing RAM cards.
Wired network interface only. If you need to connect to your wireless network, you will need to buy a wireless card separately. MB has a 1X PCI-E or a PCI slot that can be used for this.
For a basic computer with good performance this is the right cost effective choice. If you plan on extensive upgrades you may want to keep shopping.
UPDATE 4/26/2013 Double check to see that a wireless NIC is now included. After I wrote my review, AA Computer Guy states " The computer HAS been upgraded since this review came out. The system now comes with WiFi (wireless B/G/N bands on a nano receiver in one of the USB ports) and USB 3.0." Thanks Computer Guy!
I was a bit leery of buying a computer from a new company but knowing Amazon always stands by a sale plus the quick and friendly responses I received when I asked question of the manufacturer and the great warranty made me decide to give them a chance. I am glad I did!
I had this up and running in minutes with nothing to do but transfer some files from my old computer and download the programs that are important to me. Its a large form factor case but really quite attractive with lots of room for personalization and expansion.
In the "old days" I would have built my own computer . But with working long days and a busy life I just don't have time. To me this is the next best thing. Plus it does make me feel a bit warm and fuzzy buying from a small company instead of some big corporation.
I am very pleased with this purchase , so pleased that I think I will buy another computer from this manufacturer in a month or so to replace my husbands computer.I bought this computer as a video server and to function as a server for the PlayOn program, which allows us to stream video from various online services to wireless (and wired) devices throughout our house. I needed a very fast, reliable computer at an affordable price. I used to build computers for a living, so I have always built my own desktops. At this price (with Windows 7 included) I could not afford to build my own.
I was very impressed with the computer the moment it arrived. The packaging was very protective and it arrived quickly. Out of the box the computer preformed beyond my expectations. The first thing I noticed was how quiet this computer is. I built computers to be used in radio studios, and noise especially fan noise was always a factor. I cannot even hear this computer running. I turned it around to look at the power supply fan to ensure that it was, in fact, running. It was! I even called AA Computers to make sure this is normal. They assured me it is. This is a PLUS!
I needed to add a second DVD drive to this desktop and it arrived today. When I opened the case to install the DVD drive I could not believe my eyes. When I built computers, I was a stickler for neatness inside. But this computer was far cleaner and neater than anything I ever built. AA Computers does a great job building these units at least they did on mine!
I am not one to heap flowery praise on a product, but this one deserves it (so far.) I have only used it a little over a month, but so far, so good. I anticipate good, lengthy service from this unit. (And no, I do not work for AA Computers, nor do I know anyone who does!)The AAC-X4 has a lot more muscle for the money (RAM, processor speed, storage capacity, etc.) than comparably priced computers from the big-name manufacturers. I was initially concerned about buying a computer from a small manufacturer. I quickly got over that when prior to making the purchase I e-mailed a few questions to Aaron at AA Computers who responded almost instantaneously with precise answers.
The computer set up quickly and was operational right out-of-the-box. There was a small issue with the DVD+CD player. I e-mailed the issue to Aaron who responded in less than an hour with a fix that took me less than 5 minutes and which worked (a plug had become loose in shipping). Anyone who's had an issue with a new computer knows you can spend hours going back and forth with technical support from the big-name manufacturers who run you through tiresome protocols before coming up with a supposed fix from their computer screen that may or may not work.
The computer is fast and quiet. I've used it daily for a month for e-mails, web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, manipulating photographs, and storage. All of these functions work very well and I believe that the computer has more than enough excess capacity to serve for many years. The free software that comes with the computer works very well and enables the consumer to make choices between utilizing what's provided by AA for free or purchasing software for maintenance, security, word processing, etc. The only criticism is very minor the door for the two USB ports and the microphone/head jacks on the front of the computer is a bit clunky.
I would unequivocally recommend this computer to anyone.I was looking for a faster computer to play Amazon Instant videos and CorelDraw Suite X5 better. This is it! Windows 7 has a problem with the monitor going into sleep mode, but I don't have a Windows 7 compatible monitor yet. These are listed on the Windows 7 Microsoft site and are available on Amazon.
The best thing to do is turn off sleep mode. I checked on YouTube and found many people have ridiculous solutions for this. Just turn off the monitor manually until you get a better monitor or you will have to reboot the computer a couple of times to get out of sleep mode. Also, I signed up to get Windows 8 when it comes out for only $14.99. This is mentioned on other sites but not on Amazon. It is available to everyone who buys a computer preloaded with Windows 7, regardless of where you purchase the computer. The computer was exactly what I have wanted for several years. The 3.6GHz processor has better reviews than the newer 4.2GHz. It overclocks to better than 4.2GHz if needed. I don't need it but that is one of the positives about the bulldozer. I checked it inside when I got it even though it was completely put together. The DVD drive cable had come loose because the wiring was so neatly and tightly bound. One loose screw was in the bottom of the case but not touching anything. I took it out. Just to be safe, I would check it before plugging it in. I have an Electronics Engineering degree amongst others and could not have done better on the price if I made my own! Definitely happy!
Turns out Windows 7 updated and the sleep mode with my monitor works fine.I use the compatibility site at Microsoft to check software and hardware. My monitor is a 2009 Acer X230H and works fine.
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