TechieGroups

Reviewing the Dell Studio XPS 7100 recently seemed like a reasonable enough move: we felt it was competitive with rolling your own machine at that price, or at least an excellent alternative to building one for friends or family and fielding their tech support questions. But what can you get at a much lower price? Acer has certainly produced solid bargains in the notebook space, but how do they fare in the desktop space? We review their M3400 tower to find out.

There's an age-old battle between form and function. Some users will give up performance and features for a devices that looks cool, while for others the benchmarks are all that really matters. The ASUS U33Jc doesn't totally eschew function, with plenty of high-end features, but it does pay more than lip service to aesthetics by placing bamboo surfaces on the top panel and palm rest. The result is a unique look with an organic vibe that is sure to turn a few heads.