Question 1

Does this have a serial (RS232) port?

Accepted Answer

The s50 I have is a 8183 model. It looks to have (2) 9 pin male ports. I have not used them to verify the functionality.

Question 2

Is this machine configured with two 512MB sticks or one 1GB DDR memory module?

Accepted Answer

This M50 has 2 DDR sticks in the 2 RAM slots. Mine had 2 DDR 333 Mhz sticks, 512 Mb each.
I pulled them out. I had a 512Mb pc3200, 400Mhz stick. I bought a 1GB pc3200 400Mhz stick
from Newegg. After I installed the new RAM it booted up faster.The BIOS recognized the 
new RAM and increased the RAM bus from 333MHz to 400 Mhz. So now I have 1.4GB of the 
faster 400 MHz RAM.  Previous comments have said the max. is 2 GB of RAM. I recommend any
RAM upgrade to be the pc3200--400MHz RAM because the system speed increase is worth it.

Question 3

does it have wifi capabilities?

Accepted Answer

This computer does not have wireless support out of the box but will support most separate wi-fi adapter's which can be bought right here on newegg or at any electronics retailer.

Question 4

Does this have an HDMI output on the video card? Also, how many internal hard drives can I add to this machine? I am looking to find a cheap PC to turn into my XBMC media center. The processor speed on this bad boy is 4x faster than my Pi.... Any advice would be of value.

Accepted Answer

I hate to burst your bubble, but...
(1) There is NO HDMI outpit, only VGA.
(2) I've only been able to put in ONE hard drive, while I keep my files on an external.
(3) NO, this computer does NOT run XBMC! Even after I doubled the ram and hard drive space, the video STILL tears and the colors bleed to the point it's unwatchable.

My advice to you, stick to the PI... it may be slower, but from what I've hear, it's more reliable this THIS bucket of bolts. I wound up scrapping this thing about a couple of months after buying it.

Question 5

Can you add a cheap video card with HDMI out, a USB TV tuner to this desktop if so what kind is compatible?

Accepted Answer

there is room for add on cards but not for the video types, also there are plenty of USB connectors. The hard drive is too small by the time you install some basic software like office, antivirus pdf reader etc there is hardly any space left, the cabinet is too small to add any other dirve etc, looks like this unit is meant to be a dumb terminal on a network like banking etc where no software is needed and all data is stored on servers.

Question 6

Says it has 1gb of memory, but doesn't Windows 7 require 2gigs minimum to work?

Accepted Answer

Sorry, don't know. Bought as gift, don't know how they made out with it. Seems reasonable that IF win-7 was loaded in it (I never fired it up), it must've been able to run in order to accomplish the install. How efficiently & whether can run other aps simultaneously.....?

Question 7

Can the Windows 7 key from this machine be used on different computer?  I'm building a new computer and I wanted to use this key to load Windows 7 on it.

Accepted Answer

Not as far as I know. The included key is associated with the exact same version of Windows installed on the unit. I think you'll find if you try using the serial from the Lenovo on a different machine with some other windows 7 disk, it will not accept it in order to properly activate it. The Lenovo does not come with a Windows disk, just the key if I remember correctly.  I gave this unit to another person after I purchased it ,,,, Hope that helps

Question 8

Could I use a VGA to RCA converter box/cable on this?

It's no big deal if it doesn't, but I want to know before I buy a cable/box to go with it.

Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

Hello Chris, Thank you for your interest in this item. I am not sure if this is possible I would suggest checking our eggxpert.com forum and submit the question there about this item. A lot of helpful customer there that can answer this for you. Thank you, Newegg Support.

Question 9

WOW, Does the pictured Floppy slot still function ? I have alot of those old floppys around,,, in the pic it looks lit up and ready,,,,

Accepted Answer

I have not tried the floppy. I don't think I will. I like flash drives and it has
plenty of USB ports.  Using the floppy drive brings back to many painful
memories about struggling with floppy failures 
Don't forget to run it with the case cover open---it runs hot

Question 10

does it come with the windows 7 CD? not the restore CD the OEM version?...thanks..

Accepted Answer

No. As soon as I switched it on I found the "Do you want to make a 
restore disc?" and I put in a CD and made a restore disc. 
That is OK for me because I bought W7 Home a few years ago. So in
theory I should be able to make a fresh installation using  the code on 
the IBM S50 case.
You may not get that far if you don't run it with the cover open and 
using an external cooling fan.

Questions & Answers