Gateway SX2800-01 Slim Desktop PC

Sep 24 2009 - Priced under $500, the Gateway SX2800-01 has a surprisingly long list of features for a slim desktop system. With its relatively compact design, it still manages to pack in a quad core desktop processor, above average sized hard drive and a wide range of peripheral ports not found on competing systems. All of this add up to an outstanding value for those looking for a small sized desktop to be used for almost any type of application.

Sep 24 2009 - With a price tag of under $500, the Gateway SX2800-01 offers a wide range of features that is surprising to find in a low cost slim desktop system. It is probably one of the least expensive systems available equipped with an Intel Core 2 Quad processor for strong multitasking performance that puts most slim desktops in this price range to shame.

Gateway didn't skimp on the peripheral connections either like many budget class systems do. It offers an amazing 9 USB 2.0 ports but also comes with a FireWire and eSATA port for high speed external storage. It also comes equipped with a HDMI connector for use with HDTVs or digital monitors.

Many low cost slim desktops are also cutting corners these days on the storage side. This generally means smaller hard drives in the 320GB to 500GB size range. Gateway has decided to equip the SX2800-01 with an above average 640GB drive that provides more space for applications and data. The DVD drive is a full size desktop drive with 18x recording speeds and provides burning labels directly to Labelflash media.

Another surprising aspect to such a small desktop system is the possible upgrades. There is space for a half-height PCI-Express graphics card. The big limitation with this is that the graphics card must not require an external power connector thus limiting the options even further. The system also comes equipped with four memory slots that are capable of supporting 8GB of total memory. The problem is that the slots or tucked away underneath the optical drive making it very difficult to actually perform such an upgrade.

One big drawback to the SX2800-01 is the software or more specifically the trialware applications that tend to bog down the system. It is fairly easy to correct this by removing unnecessary programs to help speed up the process a bit.