The industry standard for desktop PCs
Written: Dec 08 '00
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Pros: Excellent quality system; fast, highly upgradable
Cons: Somewhat more expensive than comparable models from other companies
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| basilisk4's Full Review: Micron Millenia MAX Series |
Recently, while perusing the ads in the Sunday paper, I came across the circular for one of the major electronics chain stores (either Best Buy or Circuit City). Although there's absolutely nothing I need in the way of electronics right now, I can always find something I want within these catalogs, so it's just as well if I don't look through them.
Nevertheless, as I picked up the circular and flipped through it, I was surprised to see the store advertising a Micron desktop system on sale. The surprising part here was not the price of the computer, but the fact that there was a Micron computer being advertised there at all. You see, as far as I know, Micron has always elected not to sell their computers indirectly through retailers, as do most computer hardware manufacturers. Rather, over the years, Micron has done their business over the phone and through the website, dealing directly with their customers. For the experienced computer user, this has always been a nice luxury, in that it enables one to personalize a new computer much moreso than when buying one in a store.
My father has been buying Micron desktop computers for more years than I can remember. I'm not entirely sure how many he's purchased over the years, but I'm certain that the number must be at least somewhere around ten. Right now, my father has at least three or four Micron Millenia series desktop computers, and my mother and sister each have one (which was chosen by my father) as well. In fact, the computer I'm using right now is a Windows 2000-based Micron Millenia system with somewhere around an 800-MHz Pentium III processor and 512 MB of RAM. There's another, similarly equipped Millenia over on the other side of the room which is running RedHat Linux.
One of the greatest aspects of the Micron Millenia MAX GS is its tremendously high level of upgradability. After all, when you're getting ready to spend a fair amount of money on a brand-new computer, you want to be sure that you won't have to be right back there doing the same again in another six months. You want to be sure to purchase a computer which will be able to meet all your demands at the current time, but you also want the option to be able to upgrade in the future, both for obvious reasons and unforeseen circumstances.
For starters, this machine takes 133 MHz SDRAM DIMM chips, which are the latest and greatest. Moreover, you can upgrade the memory all the way to 768 MB, so this bad boy should more than meet all your needs in terms of computing power. While there are only three memory slots, this shouldn't be too big of a deal since DIMMs don't need to be switched out in pairs (like SIMMs did).
Although expansion slots aren't as necessary as they once were, it's still nice to have several in case you need them for whatever reason. The Millennia MAX GS has six PCI slots and one Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). Given the fact that many features which formerly had to be purchased and installed separately (e.g., sound cards, modems, etc.) in PCI slots are now typically integrated, six PCI slots should almost certainly be enough for anyone.
One thing which has annoyed me somewhat about my own computer is the lack of drive bays. Since my computer is housed in a rather small minitower, I have only two external drive bays, plus the built-in floppy drive and the internal hard drive bay. When I got my CD burner at the beginning of this year, this lack of expandability became somewhat annoying in that I had to choose between removing either my CD-ROM drive or my Zip drive. If I want to install a second hard drive at some point in the future, that will be a problem as well, since there's no room for it inside my computer. I would either have to remove the current hard drive, the CD-ROM drive, or my CD-RW drive.
The Micron Millenia MAX GS, on the other hand, has a whole lot of extra drive bays. This is due both to intelligent design as well as to the fact that the housing is a somewhat larger "Midsize Tower." As a result, there are two external 3.5" drive bays and three external 5.25" bays on the front of the computer alone. There are an additional four internal 3.5" bays as well. For those of you who don't know, 3.5" bays generally hold 3.5" floppy drives and hard drives, whereas 5.25" bays hold most other internal peripherals (e.g., CD-ROM drives, etc.).
So, as an example, in this machine you could quite easily have four separate, physical hard drives on the inside, as well as having a CD-ROM drive, a CD-RW or CD-R drive, a DVD-ROM drive, and a Zip drive installed all at the same time. If that's not a powerful desktop computer, I don't know what is.
Amazingly enough, I've never known any of the various Micron Millenias I've used to have any kind of major problems not directly associated with software programs. As a general rule, they run both quickly and smoothly, and the components seem to last just about forever with no snags. The only possible downside that I've seen to the Micron Millenia MAX GS is the fact that it costs a little bit more than most other comparable desktop systems. For example, you could probably get a system with the same specifications as a nearly $1,600 Micron Millenia desktop from Hewlett-Packard for about $1,200 or $1,300 or so. So, obviously, you're paying somewhat of a premium for Micron quality.
In my opinion, though, the Micron quality is definitely more than enough to make up for any difference in price. The next time you're in the market for a new computer, I would certainly recommend giving this one a second look.
Recommended:
Yes
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 801-900
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
basilisk4
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 233
Trusted by: 214 members
About Me:
Soon-to-be married 26-year-old lawyer who likes electronics, computers, and cars.
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