Acer Aspire AXC-603G-UW30 Desktop PC Intel J1900 Quad-Core 2.00GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, HDMI OUT, USB 3.0, Windows 8.1 64-Bit

Pros: Installed Ubuntu Server 14.04 without any problems. Just disable secure boot in the BIOS and you can boot or install something else. There are guides online on how to do this, even on Microsoft's website.

Cons: Installing windows 7 may require a BIOS upgrade.

Overall Review: Was really cheap when I bought it.

Pros: Good HTPC, fast processors

Cons: Windows 8.1 Core not Pro, Difficult to install Windows 7 because BIOS downgrade required.

Overall Review: To run Windows 7 you must flash an older BIOS and repartition to MBR format, and older BIOS is not available from Acer. Google/Bing is your friend, or upgrade to Windows 8 Pro to get Media Center. Otherwise you will have to run NextPVR or something else to make this an HTPC.

Pros: Low price $144 after rebate Low power consumption Comes with windows 8 that boots up fast. Small case Quiet HDMI output Replaces my $17 month cable/DVD box Plays nice with my silicon dust hdhomerun.

Cons: Had to upgrade to windows 8 pro then add WMC, another $69 total. So $144+$59=$203 for the HTPC set-up Required driver updates out of the box to correct video/audio errors. (From Intel site) Barcode label was not on a retail type box, just on the cardboard shipping box...I hope the rebate works.

Overall Review: This is a great low cost/ power option to replace the cable box I was renting. Add XBMC and I'll have an ideal setup.

Pros: This is an information follow-up to my previous post. Please see Other Thoughts!

Cons: When installing Windows 7 use all of the ACER Driver downloads for Windows 8.1 except: NOTE: I went to the ACER site by model and downloaded all drivers first! Use the following drivers: a. Immediately after the Chipset driver install the following USB 3.0 Drivers Intel USB 3.0 driver Ver: 3.0.0.19 Windows 7x64 http://asrock.com/mb/Intel/Q1900B-ITX/?cat=Download&os=Win764 b. After USB 3.0 Drivers Intel Embedded Video Adapter https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23584 Realtek LAN http://www.realtek.com.tw/Downloads/downloadsView.aspx?Langid=1&PNid=13&PFid=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false Also: In order to recreate Windows 8 environment must set Bios as: I created Windows 8.1 System Recovery Media to a 32GB Flash Drive. . . A. Authentication Menu: Ensure that Secure Boot is “ENABLED” B. Boot Options Menu: CSM is set to “NEVER” C. Boot Options Menu: Boot Menu is “ENABLED” Boot from System Recovery Media A. U.S. Keyboard (or your choosing) B. Troubleshoot C. Reset Your PC D. Choose Target Operating System Win 8.1 (if drive is empty option doesn’t exist) E. Reset PC F. Next G. Repartition Drive (highly recommend) H. Just Remove Files (unless selling/disposing of machine then select “Clean Drive”) I. Reset

Pros: Small, quiet, nice appearance, WIN 8.1 OS (latest OS), decent hard drive space. Nice price after rebate ($150).

Cons: Awkward CD/DVD drive (vertical) making it difficult to insert CD/DVD disc. Comes loaded with "crapware" from Acer, Microsoft Office 365, and anti-virus. Minimalist BIOS settings and set up in UEFI mode. Will likely have to use alternative BIOS if you want to run other OS. Average integrated video and not for any level of gaming.

Overall Review: A dice roll on refurbished equipment, but so far so good. Took ~3 minutes to boot OS out of the box (long time to complete USB/SATA channel search and lots of hard drive access time). Removed all crapware and installed my favorites (AVG, Malware Pro, CCleaner Pro, etc). Scanned and cleaned up registry, etc. Now boots up in under a minute.

Pros: Cheap cost, but has quad cores did just what i needed. no expansion but fights under TV just fine. Perfect for my HTPC and feeding networked TV tuner to two other TVs.

Cons: Came with win 8.1 and i wanted windows 7 as my Ceton echos don't work with windows 8. Had some trouble downgraded to win 7, but there is a new BIOS released that will do it now with out hacking it. Keyboard was missing a key cover but was so cheap i would never use it any ways but for $179.00 for a complete PC is a deal.

Pros: Still a decent deal for what I paid.

Cons: Read review from another site informing me of processor swap and after running Piriform Speccy I was let down to see -" Name Intel Celeron J1850 Code Name Bay Trail-D Package Socket 1380 BGA Technology 22nm Specification Intel Celeron CPU J1900 @ 1.99GHz"

Overall Review: pcie available - " Slot Type PCI-E Gen 2 x1 Slot Usage Available Data lanes x1 Slot Designation MINI1 Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME Slot Number 0"

Pros: Worked correctly out of the box, with a fresh install of Windows 8.1. Plugged in a cheap USB wifi adapter, and was online immediately. System seems rather quiet, even running Passmark BurnInTest. Seems reliable, thus far. I will update if anything fails in Passmark. Case construction seems pretty good. Must remove the cage to access the hard drive, which is mounted underneath the DVD drive. The power button and eject button on the front panel seem sturdy. Runs quietly! I hear it sips power, but haven't measured yet.

Cons: Refuses to boot off anything but the hard drive. I tried to boot a couple different Linux distributions, but no amount of BIOS settings allow it to do so. I have even disabled SATA 0, which forces it to boot from something other than the hard drive, and it hasn't worked. Both USB boot and DVD boot media fail. Tried enabling the F12 boot menu, but nothing appears except for the Windows boot option. No Windows 8 restore media included, or serial number provided. I recommend purchasing a 16gb+ USB memory card and running the restore image creator, so you can recover from hard drive failure. Only 1 USB 3.0 port. 4 USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 2 rear) VGA + HDMI ports

Overall Review: Future upgrades are very limited - you can upgrade the RAM and HDD, but that's about it. I have run the system off VGA, for the purposes of testing. I have not yet tried the HDMI port. Use Belarc Advisor to retrieve the Windows 8 product key.