Multimedia Computer Review
Be the cinematographer, director, editor, and star in your own home studio with a fast processing multimedia computer.
Increasingly, people are using their computers to manage and edit their media, including video, digital photos, and music. Looking to convert all your VHS home videos to DVD? Compiling a multimedia library?
Multimedia computers will serve you best in the following tasks:
Multimedia computers require higher quality components than general use computers. We looked at several different systems from a variety of providers, and then compared their ability to handle media applications. We selected products with a retail price of under $2500 and were marketed as “multimedia” computers.
Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate multimedia computers:

Be the cinematographer, director, editor, and star in your own home studio with a fast processing multimedia computer.
| Rank | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor
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Apple iMac | HP Pavilion Elite e9280t | Dell Studio XPS 9000 | HP Touchsmart 600t | HP Pavilion Elite e9250t | Sony Vaio JS Series | Dell Studio One 19 | Gateway LX-6810-01 | Dell Studio XPS 8000 | HP Touchsmart 300z |
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| Reviewer Comments |
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| Lowest Price |
$1,149.00 |
$999.99 |
$1,048.00 |
$999.99 |
$999.99 |
$853.29 |
$999.00 |
$625.00 |
$699.00 |
$799.99 |
| Overall Rating | ![]() |
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| Ratings | ||||||||||
| Features | ![]() |
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| View Specifications | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! | Go! |
| Features | ||||||||||
| Hard Drive | 500 GB | 750 GB | 640 GB | 750 GB | 640 GB | 500 GB | 500 GB | 640 GB | 640 GB | 320 GB |
| Memory | 4 GB | 8 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 3 GB | 8 GB | 4 GB | 2 GB |
| Audio | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated | Integrated |
| Optical Drive | DVD-RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD RW | DVD Burner |
| Video Card | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M | ATI Radeon HD 4650 | NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 | NVIDIA GeForce G200 | ATI Radeon HD 4350 | NVIDIA GeForce 9300M | NVIDIA GeForce 9400 | NVIDIA GeForce GT120 | NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 | ATI Radeon HD 3200 |
| Video Memory | 256 MB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 320MB | 512 MB | 256 MB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 1 GB | 256 MB |
| Warranty | 1 Year | 2 Year | 2 Year | 1 Year | 2 Year | 1 Year | 1 Year | 1 Year | 2 Year | 2 Year |
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| Processor Speed | 3.06GHz | 2.66GHz | 2.66GHz | 2.1GHz | 2.66GHz | 2.70GHz | 2.93GHz | 2.33GHz | 2.66GHz | 2.70GHz |
| 2nd Optical Drive | None | |||||||||
| Depth | 7.44 in. | 16.9 in | 20.9 in | 2.8 in | 16.9 in | 6.2 in | 3.2 in | 19.0 in | 20.7 in | 20.5 in |
| Height | 20 in. | 15.8 in | 19.4 in | 17.8 in | 15.8 in | 16.1 in | 15.5 in | 17.7 in | 16.1 in | 16.2 in |
| Operating System | Mac OS X | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows Vista Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows Vista Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre | Windows 7 Home Pre |
| Weight | 25 lb. | 28 lbs | 40 lbs | 35.3 lbs | 28 lbs | 18.7 lbs | 22.7 lbs | 37.2 lbs | 22.4 lbs | 24 lbs |
| Width | 21.77 in. | 7.1 in | 7.8 in | 23.0 in | 7.1 in | 19.2 in | 21.9 in | 7.5 in | 7.3 in | 4.7 in |
| Reviewer Comments |
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| Lowest Price |
$1,149.00 |
$999.99 |
$1,048.00 |
$999.99 |
$999.99 |
$853.29 |
$999.00 |
$625.00 |
$699.00 |
$799.99 |
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