Pros: Buying a recertified computer involves some risk so it's best to control your expectations. The one I received had a few scratches, one missing foot, and was a bit dusty inside. However, it booted up and ran perfectly right out of the box. It is solid, quiet, and comes with Windows XP Pro. I bought this machine and an OEM copy of Eset NOD 32 from a Newegg e-mail promo. The prices for both were teriffic and Newegg's free shipping made for an incredible deal.

Cons: I don't really have any cons - but I do have a few observations that might prove useful. The cord on the PS2 keyboard is very short. It could be a problem in some installations. The USB mouse did not come with a USB/PS2 adaptor. The Registry Key "IRPStackSize" was missing. Common wisdom is that this key was deleted by the pre-installed anti-virus software. Internal power and IDE cabling has to be re-routed in order to install additional memory.

Overall Review: Here's what I did to prepare for and to set up this computer. > Purchase computer and Eset NOD 32 > While waiting for delivery, download IBM manuals, Eset intallation instructions, the N*rt*n removal tool,and a very useful utility called "CPU-Z" > Read all the manuals and instructions > Upon delivery; open the case, check for solid connections, connect monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers - do not connect to internet > Power up - if it doesn't work, exchange it > Follow on screen instructions to set up XP - do not activate XP at this time > Test all drives > Uninstall the pre-loaded anti virus program - then run the N*rt*n removal tool > Intall Eset NOD 32 - connect to internet > Update XP > Run CPU-Z - determine the timing for the installed memory > Order additional memory (with the same timing) from Newegg I conencted this machine to a home network so I added "IRPStackSize" to the Registry.

Pros: Very good image in daylight or artificial light. Noise (grain) is under control in both daylight and IR operation.

Cons: IR capabilites are severely limited. This camera is not equipped to prevent overexposure as the subject moves closer to the camera. Because it is a medium wide angle camera, there is less detail at distance. In IR mode, there is no possibility of facial recognition at distance - say 10 ft or more. Unfortunately, as the subject moves closer to the camera, the subject becomes more and more overexposed. As a result, there is no hope for facial recognition at any distance using IR.

Overall Review: This camera does not switch from color to greyscale under low light conditions. It does not compensate for overexposure during IR operation. If you are going to use the camera in daylight or if you have sufficient artificial light at night, it is a good product. It is useless as an IR, zero-lux camera.

Pros: Installed easily DVI Works as advertised - I haven't tried the VGA or HDMI outputs

Cons: ATI Drivers were uncomfortable to load HDMI audio driver would not load

Overall Review: I bought this card because I made a stupid mistake in purchasing my last motherboard. I neglected to assure that the MB had a DVI port. So, after trying to run a 1680 x 150 display from the onboard VGA, it was plain that a video card was needed. This card does exactly what I need for an office workstation - clear output and very little heat. Passive cooling is perfect for this application. One egg off for the driver installation.

Pros: Good Looking on the outside - spacious and well laid out on the inside. All internal cables are neatly done, properly marked, and long enough to reach where they are needed. Fit and finish as good as any.

Cons: Really, really horrible instructions. A few sharp edges.

Overall Review: Did I mention those really, really horrible instructions. It took some time to figure out that optical drives can only be properly mounted with the front panel installed. Of course this means that the front panel then cannot be removed without first removing all optical drives. Odd, that.

Pros: Works exactly as advertised. Good layout of slots and connectors. Excellent fit in Cooler Master Centurion case. Onboard Intel 4500 video drives 1680 x 1050 Acer monitor with ease. Onboard USB header (to front case connectors) drives a WD My Passport with no additional power supply required. This is impressive.

Cons: So-so documentation - but really no worse than most. All manufacturers could step up their game in this area.

Overall Review: Please note, this is a five star rating for a low-cost motherboard. If you're looking for a workhorse MB for a general-use, legacy (XP) build, this is a very good choice. If you have been reading acticles that say you must load SATA drivers during an XP installation, don't worry. This MB uses an ICH7(no suffix) chip that does not support either AHCI or Raid. In bios, set the SATA controller to "enchanced" mode (default), install your system drive on SATA 0, your optical drive on SATA 1 and install XP - no additional drivers are required. When loading drivers from the included disk, load them one at a time - do not use the "load all drivers" option.

Pros: Mercy - this machine is even better than the first one. It’s not just clean, it’s like new. And, just like the first, it booted up without pause and worked flawlessly from the start. An overlooked “pro” for these machines is that Windows XP is "pre-activated" using an OEM BIOS locking mechanism called "System Locked Pre-installation," or SLP. In a SLP configuration, the PC’s BIOS includes information that is checked by XP upon installation. If the SLP information matches the BIOS information, no end-user activation is required. The big benefit of SLP is that the end-user can change every single piece of hardware, except the motherboard, as many times as desired. Reactivation is never required as long as you retain an OEM motherboard with the proper BIOS. This is a very good thing if you like to experiment.

Cons: These machines do not ship with a separate OEM XP installation disk. However, everything necessary for a fresh installation of XP is included in a non-standard partition on the C drive. If something goes dreadfully wrong, or if you are hit with a nasty virus, a fresh install is easily done. Turn the PC on and immediately start pressing the “enter” key repeatedly. This will get you to a setup menu. “F11” will then start a fresh installation of XP. The only real threat is a catastrophic hard drive failure. Since these are older drives, I cloned the hard drive to a new WD-800JB and set the OEM drive away in a safe place.

Overall Review: If you’re not a gamer or a serious video editor, one of these machines will probably do everything you ever need – all for the about the same price as an OEM copy of XP Pro. User manuals for these machines are available at the Lenovo website. The Microsoft website has everything needed to upgrade to XP to SP-3 and to upgrade the onboard video drivers and the onboard network adapter drivers. What a deal!