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2014 Best Home Computer Reviews and Comparisons Displaying 1 to 10 of 12 « Previous 10 | Next 10 »

Ov erall Rating

Performance

Memory & Storage

Design

Help & Support

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Rank #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10

10-9 Excellent

8-6 Good

5-4 Average

3-2 Poor

1-0 Bad

Velocity Micro

Vector

HP Envy Dell XPS Asus M HP Pavilion Lenovo K Mac Mini Asus CM Acer Aspire Dell Inspiron

Reviewer Comments

Ratings 9.78 9.32 9.10 8.88 8.55 8.38 8.25 7.90 7.73 7.50

Performance

Base Processor4th Gen Intel

i5

4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i5

4th Gen Intel

i5

4th Gen Intel

i5

4th Gen Intel

i5

3rd Gen Intel

i5

3rd Gen Intel

i3

3rd Gen Intel

i3

3rd Gen Intel

i3

Upgradable Processor4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

3rd Gen Intel

i7

3rd Gen Intel

i7

4th Gen Intel

i7

3rd Gen Intel

i5

Processor Speed (GHz) 3.0-3.5 3.4-3.5 3.3-3.4 3.0-3.5 3.0-3.5 3.0-3.4 2.3-2.6 3.3-3.4 3.3-3.4 3.3-3.4

Base Video CardIntel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

NVIDIA

GeForce

GT635

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Intel HD

Graphics

Upgradable Video CardAMD Radeon

R7

NVIDIA

GeForce

GTX645

NVIDIA

GeForce

GTX650

NVIDIA

GeForce

GTX660

NVIDIA

GeForce

GT625

AMD Radeon

HD 8670

NVIDIA

GeForce

GT620

NVIDIA

GeForce

GT640

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Electronics » Computers » Home Computer

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

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Operating System Windows

8.1/7Windows 8.1 Windows

8.1/7Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 OS X Windows 7 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1

Base Audio Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated

Upgradable Audio

Sound

Blaster

Recon3D

Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi) 802.11ac 802.11n 802.11n 802.11ac 802.11n 802.11n 802.11n 802.11n 802.11n 802.11n

Bluetooth 4.0

Memory & Storage

Primary Base Hard Drive 1TB 2TB 1TB 2TB 1TB 500GB 500GB 2TB 1TB 1TB

Upgradable Primary Hard Drive 1TB SSD 256GB SSD 2TB 4TB 3TB 4TB 256GB SSD 4TB 2TB

Secondary Base Hard Drive 1TB 1TB 1TB

Upgradable Secondary Hard Drive 3TB 3TB 256GB SSD

RAM (GB) 8-16 12-32 8-16 2-32 6-16 4-32 4-16 4-32 8-16 8-12

Base Optical Drive24x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

24x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

24x DVD +/-

RW

8x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

Upgradable Optical Drive12x Blu-ray

Burner

Blu-ray

Player & 16x

DVD +/- RW

Blu-ray

Burner

Blu-ray Player

& 16x DVD +/-

RW

Blu-ray Player8x USB

SuperDrive

Base Dual Optical Drive24x DVD +/-

RW

16x DVD +/-

RW

24x DVD +/-

RW

Upgradable Dual Optical DriveBlu-ray

Reader

Blu-ray

Player Blu-ray Player

Design

Height (inches) 13 16.2 16 16.5 15.35 17.97 1.4 14.2 14.9 14.45

Width (inches) 7 6.8 7.3 6.9 6.9 7.12 7.7 6.8 7.1 6.89

Depth (inches) 15 16.7 17.5 15.8 14.48 15.74 7.7 15.8 15.8 17.32

USB 2.0 3 8 4 6 4 2 6 8 4

USB 3.0 4 4 6 4 2 4 4 4 4 4

HDMI

DVI

Memory Card Reader

Help & Support

Warranty 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year 1 Year

Max Extended Warranty 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 1 Year 3 Years 3 Years 3 Years 1 Year 3 Years 4 Years

Phone Support

Email Support

Driver Download

Live Chat

Home Computer Review

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By Mark Welling

Why Buy a Home Computer?

37Like

To get the most out of streaming video, downloading music or researching for a school paper, you need enough

computing power to make it doable. A good home computer needs to be a versatile machine that fulfills the

many needs of your family, all without costing as much as having another child. The best home desktop

computers have solid processors, abundant storage for music and photos and useful support should anything

go wrong. Home computers like the Velocity Micro Vector, the HP Envy and the Dell XPS offer a variety of

upgradable options so you can create a home computer that is perfect and powerful enough to do exactly what

need it to do. To learn more about home computer technologies and to find the best one for you, read our latest

articles on home computers.

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Home Computers: What to Look For

Home computers come with many different options and configurations, so you’ll want to find the configuration

that is right for you and your family. When you’re looking at your options, it’s important to understand something

about the computer’s performance, memory and storage, design and help and support to find the best desktop

computer.

Performance

The processor is the brain of the computer. It provides the power your home computer needs to perform

its tasks. The processor should be the foundation on which you build the rest of your computer. Most

Intel processors will provide a good base level of graphics and audio capabilities for your PC. Look for a

processor that has multiple cores and higher speeds, as both of these features will improve the

computer's performance. Dedicated graphic and audio cards can increase the base processing power

for audio and graphical performance. If you opt for graphical upgrades on basic systems, you will

generally get enough power to do beginning-level gaming on your home computer.

You might not think wireless computing is important for a desktop computer; however, a good wireless

card allows you to get high levels of internet performance without running another wire to your desktop

PC. The best home desktop computers are compatible with 802.11ac wireless technology. Systems that

use this wireless standard let you access ac-wireless networks that are more than twice as fast as

networks set up with older n-wireless technology. Plus, ac Wi-Fi technology is reverse compatible, so

you can run an 802.11ac device on an n-network or an 802.11n device on an ac-network. Additionally,

Bluetooth technologies are useful for connecting to printers, keyboards, mice and other peripherals

wirelessly. Look for a computer that has built-in Bluetooth 4.0 technology.

Memory & Storage

Home media files, such as music, movies and photos, take up large portions of hard drive storage

space, and you’ll need a desktop PC with the proper amount of storage to hold all of your files. Even

better, look for a system that can grow with you and has room for expansion. Many tower computers have

open hard drive bays that allow you to add an additional hard drive in the future for further storage space.

Memory is also important. RAM is the lifeblood of any good home computer, and a lack of RAM will bog

down your computer's speed. Generally, 8GB of RAM is enough to run a majority of basic programs

smoothly. For heavy photo or video editing, you’ll want about 16GB, and anything above 16GB is

generally only needed if you want to do high-end gaming.

Optical drives are important for both storing and retrieving information. Blu-ray drives let you watch Blu-

ray movies on your computer, and most optical drives include a DVD burner for creating CDs and DVDs.

Design

The size of your home computer's tower will influence where you place it in your home, with smaller

cases and multiple ports offering a greater variety of computer placement options. Look for computers

that have USB ports on both the front and back of the tower. This gives you more options for how to

connect peripheral devices to your computer, and it can help prevent the jungle of mish-mashed cables

extruding from your PC.

The types of ports on your desktop computer are also important for determining what types of hardware

will be compatible with the system. HDMI ports allow you to connect to both HD video and sound to

displays. Memory card readers let you access the data on memory cards without having to plug an

adaptor into a USB port. USB 2.0 ports are good for connecting low-performance peripherals like

keyboards and mice, while USB 3.0 are best for higher-performance peripherals like external hard drives

and media devices that need quicker transfer rates.

Help & Support

Purchasing a computer is a large financial commitment, so the support you receive with this purchase is

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important to consider. A warranty gives you assurance that if something goes wrong on your computer,

you will have a way to fix it, and the best manufacturers offer support you can actually use, as opposed to

a sea of technobabble. Look for companies that have invested in simple, helpful and informative support

tailored to meet your needs.

To get the most out of a home computer, it is important to find one that has sufficient performance capabilities

and enough storage and memory for the programs you want to run. The right computer for you will be designed

to fit into your home and provide you with help and support should something go wrong. With these principles in

mind, finding the right PC for your family won’t be too daunting.

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