Everex with the help of Fujitsu currently makes my laptop of choice, the XT5000T but now they are entering a new game with the IMPACT GC3502 desktop computer to be sold at Wal-Mart stores.

The GC3502 is a no frills budget desktop computer that features a 1.5GHz VIA C7 processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, an 80GB hard drive, DVD burner, integrated graphics and comes with a keyboard, mouse and speakers.  It ships with Windows Vista Basic and come pre-installed with OpenOffice 2.0.

All versions of OpenOffice have been a mixed bag for me with its warnings about compatibility with Microsoft Office formats, in most cases a non-issue but in those rare instances, spreadsheets had missing or messed up formatting as well as documents and presentations.  Let’s face it, almost everything is going to use a Microsoft Office format, a minor annoyance, yes but seeing as with the proper business, government and/or student discounts a copy of Office 2007 Ultimate can be had for as little as $20 so it’s not worth dealing with OpenOffice, in my opinion.

Still, it is nice that OpenOffice is included for those that aren’t so dependent on Microsoft Office formats and if you’re in college, chances are, you will be, the severity of which can be judged by your major.

The desktop comes with no other software or trialware at all, which is a good thing because I don’t think it could handle anything more, what with its limited specs.

It’s nice that you can get a $300 desktop for office applications, web browsing and email but that’s about all it’s good for.  I wouldn’t want to do a lot of heavy CD/DVD ripping or burning with this system, it would be slow and it doesn’t take much for me to consider a system slow, in this case you can thank the low-end (but power friendly) VIA processor.

This desktop is designed for work, not play.  You won’t be playing games, you won’t be running video or photo editing software, you won’t be storing much on the hard drive and you won’t be doing much of anything multimedia wise.  It would probably be fine for an English or History major, everyone else should stay away.

Spending just $200 more gets a system that is far more capable for everything that this one can’t do, the one exception being that it still won’t play games.

Also, don’t forget that Vista Basic does not have DVD authoring tools, media center or support for Aero Glass, just to name a few of the things that it doesn’t do.  I like to say Vista Basic(ally) Useless.

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Entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 9:38 am under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Jonathan Schlaffer.
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