Does anyone happen to know if this machine supports visualization in the bios?
I tried out Win 8 beta and from a business machine perspective, it would cost at least 2 days time to re-train people to use the OS and ensure older apps would work with it, so I don’t recommend Win 8 at this time.
Win 8 interface is great for phones and tablets. As for a home system, the tiles would be great for a Home Theater PC (HTPC), however Media Center is only included in the Pro version, but can be purchased. Check out JRiver’s Media center software also.
BTW, I use Linux (laptop, raid, etc) at home, with exception of my HTPC.
Woot isn’t offering the Square Trade extended warranties anymore?
Bummer. Deal breaker.
Usually, anyone can buy a Square Trade warranty on their own. I bought one for a Woot Lumix refurb camera and actually used it. ST stood by it. Does anyone know any reason ST would not allow a warranty on this item?
There are some things being sorted out with the Square Trade warranties, but you can always visit their website to purchase a warranty. Sorry for the inconvenience. 
Thanks. Concur. The warranty I mentioned for a previous Woot item, I bought on my own, not through Woot. I’d imagine you could do the same for this.
Plus, if you sniff around, it’s pretty easy to find a 30% discount code – and you have several weeks after purchasing the item to buy the warranty.
The Square Trade site doesn’t have any information on purchasing a warranty for a refurbished item. =(
I’ll try writing them to find out.
From Square Trade’s site:
The specs of this PC are fine for email & Internet browsing. It will feel snappy for several years.
Don’t pay attention to the spec snobs if you don’t care about playing games.
One potential catch - the lack of an HDMI video connection if that matters to you.
I think you mean virtualization. 
Would this be a good starting point computer if I wanted to upgrade it to a upper-mid tier gaming computer? I know the graphics card is not the best but everything else is decent, right?
FWIW I hooked up a 10’ DVI-D to HDMI cord to my parents seriously OLD eMachines PC and the quality looks just fine on their 50 inch LCD whenever they decide to stream something to it. I wouldn’t call lack of HDMI out a deal breaker at this price.
Also FWIW I have a hand-me-down HP Pavilion that’s about 7 years old as the sole PC left in our house and it’s running just fine. Yeah the processor is slow but if you’re smart with what you allow to to run on the machine and if you upgrade the RAM and maximize windows to low settings it really will run fine for every day usage. Obviously not for gamers!
edit: the reason we get by with this PC is because we’ve mainly transitioned to mobile :o)
Even though it is integrated, can it run high graphic games?
Have not messed with 8 but my newest puter came with 7 and I love it. Especially since my newest puter is an upgrade from a Vista OS.
I misspoke. It sounds like SquareTrade stopped selling warranties on refurbished items directly to consumers about 6 months ago. I’m really sorry to have gotten your hopes up.
No HDMI but it does have a pci slot and a few other where you could insert a HDMI video card for about 40 bucks.
I7 gonna run you around 200 just for a processor…not a good comparison at all…the main board is made by MSI and you can bump it up to a AMD 5800K if you want a bit more speed. I suspect few on this site are looking to play games on this computer let alone play them at a ultra setting. This is a solid computer for the family. Boots up really quick and windows 8 has a learning curve but I figured it out after a day or two. If you are looking to get a video card it’s going to have to be a low profile and keep in mind you power is probably not going to be able to sustain a decent card.
The computer is also wifi enabled which is huge. Getting a motherboard with this capability will run you easily over 150 bucks…good deal here folks…
I don’t know of any integrated graphic chips that can run high end games on high…
It will be a pain in the neck because for this motherboard you drivers are not easily found…if you wipe the hard drive and do a clean install you may have a very difficult if not impossible time locating and downloading all the drivers for the mainboard. The main board is made by MSI Jasmine 7778. Look for the drivers now before you decide to reformat and save them on a USB ahead of time.
For a good graphics card you are going to have to upgrade the power or PSU and you are very limited for space because this is a mini atx case. If you were to upgrade the PSU I would suggest buying something over 500 but I’m not sure the newer PSU would fit in the case. Some computers have proprietary components.
What does it mean when it says 300w max? can it be upgraded to a bigger power supply?