Advantages: Cheap and lots of features
Disadvantages: average overclocking ability

...The AOpen AK77-600 Max has a unique feature of having double bios chips, specially these days when virus attacks are common these days. With having twin bios, the second bios can store a good bios version that can be used when the first bios other one fails. It is also bundled with a Norton virus 2003, s very helpful software which can protect you from e-mail worms and viruses. This board has via kt600 chipset instead of an nforce 2. The motherboard has a little heat sink at the middle which helps to avoid overheating. All the headers of this motherboard are place on the near bottom of the motherboard. The USB 2.0 header s located at the second third PCI slots. A total of 6 USB ports are located at the back panel of this board. There is also a printer port and 2 ps/2 ports. Four mounting holes are located in CPU sockets, which free... Read review

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Advantages: Very cheap, intelligent electronics keep wasted disks to a minimum
Disadvantages: None so far. How long can something this cheap last?

...speed read machine, was, as I’ve said, a good machine at the time of purchase, but it’s replacement, an AOpen CRW5224, is only costing me a shade over £30 (yes thirty!) from www.dabs.com, AND it’s got a maximum write speed to CD-R of 52x, making full CD copies possible in just a few minutes, and I do mean a few. AOpen may well be more familiar to you as the makers of motherboards. Even if this machine only lasts the 12-month guarantee period and no longer, it’ll only cost me 66p a week to own (as for the DVD player, the most that can cost me is 50p a week thanks to the 2-year warranty). Every month beyond the first year is a bonus for the AOpen, and if it lasts as long as the Yamaha, it’ll cost me about 22p a week. Anyway, that’s got the skinflint bits out of the way. What’s it like to install and use? A BIT OF THE OLD ‘IN OUT... Read review

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Advantages: Reads many formats, cheap
Disadvantages: TOO FAST!

...days ago. It's a 52x CD ROm, and is pretty fast. The reason I got this, was because my previous one could not read many formats or types of CD ROMs. Now this AOpen 52x IDE CD ROM is perfect. It reads every thing. Including CD-RW! It is fairly silent running. It came at a very affordable price, and at great speeds. 7800k/s. Which is quite fast. I am pleased with this buy, and well what more can I say? That's probably as good as a CD-ROM can get nowadays! The only thing this CD ROM doesn't do, is write CDs, or play DVDs, which can be done with other drives that come at a higher price.... Read review

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Advantages: Extremely quite, beautiful machine
Disadvantages: CPU Cooling fan & the floppy drive connector are placed

...The latest craze in the computer world is miniture computer systems first introduced to us as the 'Shuttle' system. Since then many have taken a stab at this market and the EZ18 is AOpens answer to the call. The EZ18 comes in two colours to my knowledge (pearl white, and slick black)so its possible to accessorise according to your personal preference. I myself went for the slick black (or piano black as my friend calls it) with the glowing blue power button. I bought mine from Microdirect for about £148. Unlike some of its counterparts (the shuttle system, BioStar system) the EZ18 is more of a cube rather than a single story tower and it comes with the bare essentials (partly why they have been called 'barebone' systems). It comes with the motherboard which holds the sound card aswell as the on board graphics(i think its nVidia nForce 2... Read review

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Advantages: Tailor Made Spec, Robust Quality build. Nice looking, Good Value, Easy to upgrade
Disadvantages: Needs a high level of technical competance. One or two parts can be difficult to obtain.

...will find is that the centrino CPU can be a bit tricky to find. The other problem is that, if like me, you choose a non-standard DVD-writer in place of the AOPEN reccomended model, then you will have to make up a small retaining bracket which isn't supplied with the case. Reasonably easy to do... but you do need some technical skills. Assembly took about 2 hours once I had realised the need to make a retaining clip for the DVD drive. There are no instructions supplied. But if you use common sense it is pretty obvious how it all comes apart and goes back. Just DONT force anything. If you have to strain it then you are trying the wrong way... ! You can also find hints on the web by via a google search (sorry but I cant recall the URLS) As far as performance and quality in use is concerned, the end result is excellent and I am well pleased... Read review

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Advantages: Very silent, very stylish and very good at performing
Disadvantages: Not too many expansion possibilities, no DVI.

...Great little thing, this machine. I have always been a great fan of Shuttle computers - mainly for the thought that lays behind the systems and the designs. However two things have always been annoying about Shuttle: The price and the noise. AOpen has been pioneers when it comes to Pentium-M and this fact made me confident in buying a small form factor (SFF) system based on the Pentium-M. The system is brilliant and I use it for all my computing-tasks which are surfing on the Net, text- and powerpoint-handling as well as games every now and then and some audio recording and editing. My system is equipped with a 1.6 GHz Pentium-M (bought cheap from eBay), 1GB of Corsair RAM (two different types!), 533 MHz fsb. The system runs with Windows XP Home SP2 - and does so brilliantly. The good things about this machine: - Costs way less than... Read review

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Advantages: Great make / Great Mobo
Disadvantages: None as yet..............

...I have this motherboard for about a year now and it is still a top class motherboard. This was bought in Pc World for about £90 and this borad is still going strong. This would be my third motherboard after 2 Aopen boards failing me within a few monthsof oneanother. (Goddamn Blue Screens) MSI is one of the main giants in the world of computer components and this board is one of the best they have to offer. This board is designed to run on an athlon processor up to a 3200. It also has: 1 x AGP slot 5 xPCI slots 1x Comminications port. 3x DDR Slots(Dual DDR 400 support up to 3GB) It also has RAID capabilities and S-ATA. This board is a serious board if Hard drives are important to you. Also supplies is an add-on bracket with both 4-pin and 6-pin firewire and another bracket which allows you to upgrade the onboard sound to 5... Read review

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Advantages: It worked for a while; Recognised name on the cover
Disadvantages: Everything - slow, unreliable, doesn't work!

...have downloaded new drivers and upgrades to the software and have even tried a different type of re-writing software, in case it was that that was the problem. No luck. This wasn’t cheap – over £200 – and now I’m faced with the expense of replacing it. It certainly won’t be with a Yamaha. I would not recommend this product to anyone. I have decided to go for an Aopen. Dabs.com have the 32r 10rw Int IDE for £135 (inc VAT), which seems reasonable. Their CD-Rom drives are always winning awards for quality and reliability in PC magazine reviews – often coming out with the Gold award. I will do a review of it when I’ve checked it out.... Read review

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Advantages: one of the most beautiful destination in the world
Disadvantages: don't go in summer time

...In summer time the population increases 10 times, hotels and restaurants "shot" incredible and very high prices. At the end of September these isles go back to their normal life. To find an hotel room is quite easy as well as to have a table in a restaurant. But visiting the Aeolian isles not in season means to have clouds as travelling companion, and I had this experience in October 2003. The nature, that is still wild in this constellation formed by seven isles, appears in its full beauty and reality. The presence of Aeolus is more evident as the god and his sons slash the surface of the Tyrrhenian and the faces of local inhabitants and of a few tourists. The wise policy of the local administration has protected the beauties of this heaven preventing the indiscriminate development of mass tourism and the rising of holiday villages... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap and reliable
Disadvantages: Cost me a lot of money by destroying my computer

...... Read review

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