Asus S96j Review (pics, specs)

by Philip Cody

Overview and Introduction:

The Asus S96j is a notebook that combines the powerful Core Duo technology with the ATI Mobility X1600 graphics card. The S96j is made by Asus and is part of Intel's VBI (Verified By Intel) program. This program is part of Intel's Interchangeability Initiative. There are certain parts of the notebooks in this program that have interchangeable parts. These parts include: Hard drives, optical drives, LCD panels, battery packs, power adapters, keyboards, and customizable notebook panels. The S96j is very similar to the Asus Z96j which has a higher resolution screen and bluetooth built in. The S96j that I'm reviewing has the following configuration:

Asus S96j Specsas Configured:

• Screen: WXGA (1280x800) glossy screen
• Processor: Core Duo T2400 (1.83 GHz)
• Graphics Card: ATI Mobility X1600
• Memory: 1 GB Corsair DDR2 667 ram
• Hard Drive: 80GB Hitachi 7,200 rpm SATA HD (7K100)
• Optical Drive: NEC ND-6650A DVD burner

Asus S96j (view large image)

Reasons for Buying:

In early January 2006 my notebook died and I needed a new one. I decided that I wanted to save some money and use some of my parts and OS from my old notebook in the new notebook. I then started looking at barebones*. I wanted a 15.4" notebook with a WXGA screen (which I prefer for 15.4" screen). About this time the new MSI and Asus barebones were announced. I was going to get the MSI MS-1039 but the US release kept getting pushed back. When it became obvious that the Asus Z96j (S96j) was going to be released about the same time I started to re-think my choices. I ended up going with the S96j because I really appreciate having 2 cores on my desktop computer and I wanted that same benefit on my notebook. I also really wanted 64 bit support later on and probably being able to upgrade to Merom (Core 2 Duo) later is a big bonus.

*A barebone system means you get nothing but the computer system with the essentials such as a motherboard, battery, case, keyboard etc. The processor, RAM and hard drive are all bought separately and configurable. The advantage of this is it can be a bit cheaper and you can build the notebook to your preferences.

Where and How Purchased:

I bought the barebones S96j from ExcaliberPC and the additional parts I needed (including the CPU) from ZipZoomFly. I would recommend that people buy at least the notebook, CPU, and optical drive from a reseller. When you buy this notebook you can configure what CPU, ram, hard drive, and optical drive are used. Something to keep in mind is that the barebones by itself does not come with the brackets and screws needed to secure the optical drive in the notebook. There are companies out there selling barebones without the optical drive, this is problematic.

Build & Design:

Top view of Asus S96j (view large image)

The build is very good. There's very little flex in screen lidor keyboard. This notebook feels very solid. The hinge is very stiff and this is how I like it. Even though I know the materials are all plastic it does not feel like it is made out of plastic. This is my first Asus and I'm very impressed. The design of the notebook is exceptional while the looks are kind of average. It does grow on you. I like the way the notebook tapers with the thinnest part facing you. I like the simplistic look with very nice lines.

Asus S96j under side view (view large image)

A look inside internals of the S96j (view large image)

Screen:

Asus S96j screen compared to a 19"widescreen Viewsonic LCD (view large image)

The S96j has a very nice 15.4" WXGA glossy screen with a resolution of 1280x800. The screen is made by AUO (AU Optronics) and has a pixel pitch of 0.259, response time of 16ms, contrast of 300:1, and brightness of 180. The screen is very bright, sharp, and with decent contrast. The colors are not as saturated as some LCDs I have used and tones tend to be on the cool side (I imagine that this can be tweaked though). It came with zero dead pixels. I had never had a glossy screen before and I was worried. I really like the glossy screen once I got used to it. Viewing angles are very good. I can comfortably work at on this notebook at 30% brightness setting.

Speakers:

The speakers on the S96jare weak. The sound is OK but the volume is simply toolow. I compared it to a Dell e1505 and the e1505 was louder at half volume. The sound from the S96j is not nearly as full sounding either. This is not a big deal for me because I use headphones mainly anyway when gaming or watching DVDs. The output on the headphone jack is loud and sounds very good with both music and DVDs.

Processor and Performance:

I'm very happy with the performance of the notebook. The performance rivals my desktop computer (which uses an Athlon 64 X2 processor). Everything is very snappy. The 7,200 RPM SATA drive is very fast. Multitasking performance like this on a notebook is a dream, it really changes the way you use your notebook. Gaming performance is spectacular for a 15.4" notebook. I have been playing F.E.A.R., Quake 4, and HL2 at native resolution (1280x800) at mostly maximum settings and they play very smooth. Quake 4 with its multi-core support (with latest patch) runs amazingly well. Also, Half-Life 2 Episode One at native resolution, high settings, and full HDR plays very well.

Theauthor's dogTucker endorses the S96j, here he is seen playing some Quake 4 at the lake on the gaming capable S96j (view large image)

Benchmarks:

Super Pi

Super Pi is a program that forces the notebook processor to calculate Pi to 2-million digits of accuracy. TheAsus S96j took 1m 20s tocalculate this value with its 1.83 GHz Core Duo processor, here's how it stacked up to other notebooks:

Notebook	Time
Asus S96j(1.83 GHz Intel T2400)	1m 20s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Intel T2500)	1m 12s
Dell Inspiron 710m (1.7 GHz Pentium M)	2m 04s
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s
IBM ThinkPad Z60m(2.0 GHz Pentium M)	1m 36s
Fujitsu LifeBook N3510 (1.73 GHz Pentium M)	1m 48s
Dell Inspiron 6000D (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	1m 52s
Dell Inspiron 600M (1.6 GHz Pentium M)	2m 10s
HP Pavilion dv4000(1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 39s
Asus V6Va(Pentium M 1.86 GHz)	1m 46s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s

PCMark05Benchmarks

Notebook	Time
HDD - XP Startup	6.78 MB/s
Physics and 3D	161.26 FPS
Transparent Windows	386.92 Windows/s
3D - Pixel Shader	86.53 FPS
Web Page Rendering	2.62 Pages/s
File Decryption	45.75 MB/s
Graphics Memory - 64 Lines	1098.11 FPS
HDD - General Usage	4.47 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / Text Edit	97.53 Pages/s
Multithreaded Test 2 / Image Decompression	21.92 MPixels/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / File Compression	6.36 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / File Encryption	18.47 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / HDD - Virus Scan	28.59 MB/s
Multithreaded Test 3 / Memory Latency - Random 16 MB	8.97 MAccesses/s

3DMark05 (Using Omega - Cat. 6.3)

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Asus S96j(1.83 GHz Core Duo, ATI Mobility X1600 256MB)	3,9213D Marks
Apple MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB	2866 3D Marks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 Nvidia GeForce Go7800 GTX)	7,0783DMarks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Intel T2500, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410(1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,2733DMarks
HP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)	2,536 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi(2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,157 3DMarks

HD TuneResults:

(view large image)

• 18.1 MB/sec min.
• 47.8 MB/sec max.
• 36.7 MB/sec avg.
• 15.4 ms access
• 85 MB/sec burst
• 2.8% CPU

Heat and Noise:

Asus S96j deconstructed:a look at the cooling system of the S96j (view large image)

The cooling in the S96j is very efficient. While idle, word processing, and browsing the web the notebook CPU hovers around 49 -53C. At these temps the fan is not on. The fan kicks in when the temperature reachesthe mid 50s. The fan is very quiet. My last notebook's fans were very noticeable when they were on, that is not the case with the S96j. I really have to get close to notebook to hear it. The warmest the CPU has ever gotten was 62C and this was when running Prime 95 torture test. The right palm rest is actually its warmest when the computer is at its lower temp because the fan is not running. The right palm rest does get noticeably warm but not uncomfortable. The left palm rest and touch pad does not get warm at all for me and I'm running a 7,200 rpm hard drive which is under left palm rest. The intake vents are in multiple locations and placement of them is well thought out. The exhaust vent is thankfully in the rear of the notebook so no hot air is blown on mouse hand. The underside of the notebook only gets a little warm (even when gaming) so you can definitely use it on your lap.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

Asus S96j keyboard and touchpad (view large image)

The keyboard is very nice, typing over long periods of time is very comfortable. As I mentioned before there is very little flex in keyboard. The placement of the touch pad is perfect, it is just the right distance from keyboard. I never accidentally touch it when hitting the space bar. The touch pad itself is also very nice. The touch pad buttons work well but are kind of loud when clicking.

Asus S96j keyboard mediabuttons (view large image)

Input and Output Ports:

The notebook has 4 USB 2.0 ports (2 on back 2 on right side). It also has a firewire port, a VGA port, a S-video port, modem jack, and ethernet jack on the right side. There is an ExpressCard slot on the right side as well. The headphone jack, microphone jack, and 4 in 1 memory card reader are on the front. There is no DVI port or PCMCIA slot.

Asus S96j front side view (view large image)

Asus S96j back side view (view large image)

Asus S96j left side view (view large image)

Asus S96j right side view (view large image)

Wireless:

The S96j can be configured with the Intel 3945 wireless card which works very well. It does not come configured with bluetoothand there is no infrared port.

Battery:

I'm happy with battery time. The fact that this notebook comes with the powerful X1600 obviously impacts battery time. Following is summary for regular notebook activity (without wireless):

• 100% brightness - 2:00
• 80% brightness - 2:15
• 50% brightness -- 2:45
• 30% brightness -- 3:30

With DVD playback I get a little over 2 hours at 80% brightness and 2.5 hours at 50% brightness. When gaming I got 1:10 playing Quake 4 at 80% brightness and 1.5 hours playing at 50% brightness (at maximum performance with both cores). There is a larger 9 cell battery available that extends a bit out of the notebook that has an additional 2,400 mAh (for a total of 7,200 mAh).

Operating System and Software:

I did not have the system configured with an OS because I have a licensedWindows XPdisk from a notebook that died. Resellers can configure this notebook with Windows XP home or Pro.

Customer Support:

It is my understanding that the reseller will handle the support as long as you buy at least the barebones and the CPU from them. It is also my understanding that additional support will be handled by Intel and not Asus. The warranty was initially one year but it sounds like it is now 2 years. Many resellers will let you add years to warranty.

Miscellaneous:

DVDs look very nice, ghosting is not overly noticeable. Black levels are fairly decent for a notebook LCD. There is a webcam on this notebook and it works very well, even in low light. The notebook has a lot of the weight in the rear so it can get a little tricky when actually using on your lap. The cooling assembly is very well designed. The heat sinks for both CPU and GPU are copper and touch CPU and GPU directly. The battery is in the rear of the notebook. There is a second larger 9 cell battery available that extends a bit out of the notebook.

Conclusion:

I would definitely recommend this computer to someone. I'm very happy with it!

Pros:

• Very well designed.
• Solid build.
• Exceptional ergonomics.
• Fantastic cooling and very quiet.
• Easy to assemble.
• Very good gaming performance.
• SATA hard drive support.
• Very likely can upgrade to Core 2 Duo later.
• Decent headphone jack output.
• Great value.
• Average looks (wolf in Sheep's clothing).

Cons:

• Quiet speakers
• Average looks
• No DVI output

Glamour Shots of Asus S96j

The S96j in a pastoral setting...

(view large image)

(view large image)

 

Nice review Flip, thanks for the effort here. What was the final price of the system once you had purchased everything? Great looking dog too -- is he trained to retrieve the laptop without biting down on it? That'd be pretty clutch.

 

Very nice Flip.

Hope the dog didnt damage scratch the notebook at all.

Very nice looking, and great pics!

 

nice review!, i like the pics, details are great

Good Job.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

I ended up paying about $1,150 but I had my own optical drive and windows xp (and assembled myself). I got is before the Duo price drop so you can now get the 2.0 Duo for about what I paid for the 1.83.

Yes he is trained to only bite softly and he has never damaged it and he uses it a lot.

I would like to point out some resellers that I have become acquainted with during this process and I would recommend them for people looking for the S96j:

Gentech PC:
http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=S96J

Geared 2 Play:
http://www.geared2play.com/store/products/laptops/asus/s96j/s96j.htm

Power Notebooks:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=1430

R&J Technology:
http://www.rjtech.com/s96j.htm

And in Canada: MilestonePC
http://www.milestonepc.com/canada/p...=1142&osCsid=09d40c251f15c990adf841ae004df716

 

Hmm, i might of misread or something, but is that a webcam? If so, hmm it's like notebooks these days are becoming standardized with those things.

 

Yup, there is a web cam and it works pretty well.

In the review it had DVD playback at 50% brightness at 2 hours and it is really 2 1/2 hours. Quake 4 at 50% brightness is 1 1/2 hours and not 1 hour. I guess it is not taking 1/2...I changed in above review.

 

Hi everyone,

I have been researching a new latop purchase for a few days and have narrowed it down to several.

1) Dell e1505 - $1350 (epp with 750 off 2000 purchase)
T2500/2GB 533/80GB 7200rpm/X1400 256MB/DVD Burner/9Cell Battery
802.11a/b/g bluetooth
Windows Media Center / 1 year warranty

2) Dell e1405 - $1250 (epp with 750 off 2000 purchase)
T2500/2GB 667/80GB 7200rpm/950 integrated graphics/DVD Burner/9Cell Battery
802.11a/b/g bluetooth
Windows Media Center / 1 year warranty

3) Asus S96J - $1469 gentechpc.com
T2500/2GB 667/80GB 7200rpm/X1600 256MB/DVD Burner/6Cell Battery
802.11a/b/g
Windows XP Home / 1 year warranty

Questions, is the S96J worth the extra money? How do these 3 compare? Any other ideas for similar notebooks from other vendors under $1300. I really don't want to spend more than $1300 if at all possible.

Thanks so much,

Brandon

 

what is the reason of heat under the right palm rest? is there a GPU?

 

Good review. From a cost point of view, it makes sense to buy a barebones notebook and assemble yourself.

 

Hey Flip,

Can you do a test for me, when the notebook is switched on, can you tap the back of the screen to see if there are any ripples present on the LCD. I had a notebook with a Samsung screen which was terrible. Even the sligtest movement caused ripples throughout the screen.

Thanks

Enlighten

 

You can definately get the S96j configured for $1,300 if you need to (by downgrading CPU and Hard drive. By the way, the S96j has a 2 year warranty. If you do any gaming the S96j is the way to go of those 3.

 

The X1600 GPU would be my guess (that and the ram for X1600). The GPU and its ram is in close proximity to the right palm rest.

 

If I tap the screen or move it I get no ripples. If I press very hard on back I can see some ripples. It is better than other plastic notebooks that I have handled though.

 

nice review, it was very informative. but i'll never dare to put my laptop in such dangerous situations.

 

Can the Ram and Harddrive be easily upgraded by myself if I decide to configure this laptop a lite to keep the price down. I saw the video of how easy it was to upgrade the ram and harddrive on the new macbook.

Thanks,

Brandon

 

Thank you for this review. I have a question for Tucker.

Woof woof graphics card woof CPU woof woof palm rest hot? Glossy screen woof? Arf arf.

 

Yes, very easy. the hard drive is in a tray which pulls out after unscrewing 2 screws. Remember that it is SATA if you buy one. The ram and wireless card is also easy as well. Unscrew 3 screws and panel bottom panel slides off (you can see in picture). Be sure to use a screw driver that is small enough.

 

Nice review and even more on the work , congrats on your new notebook .

From the glamour shot I see it probably has the best accidental water demage warranty ever , if it was my notebook hanging over the lake setting like that it wouldn't have been so pastoral to me .

 

Lol, my cat tried hard to get a cameo in something I was working on for this site. But I denied her. =) Very cool review, barebones do make sense.

 

I am trying to narrow down my laptop purchase decisions. I think I am down to two options, and would like everyone's opinion.

Option 1)
Dell E1405 - $1308.77 (Shipped and tax included)
Windows Media Center 2005 with Remote
14" WXGA+ UltraSharp / TrueLife
T2500 Intel Core Duo
Integrated 950 Intel Graphics
2GB 667 RAM
100GB 7200rpm HD
Wireless a/b/g
Bluetooth
Larger capacity 9 cell battery
Extra AC Adapter
1 year warranty

Option 2)
Asus S96J - $1511.00 (Shipped, does gentechpc.com charge tax?)
Windows XP Home
15" WXGA
T2500 Intel Core Duo
X1600 256MB Graphics
2GB 667 RAM (Corsair)
100GB 7200rpm HD
Wireless a/b/g (NO Bluetooth)
Stardard capacity 6 cell battery
1 year warranty

The ASUS carries a premium over the Dell because of the Video Card primarily. Right now I do not play any pc games, however, it is very nice to know that I can play games on the ASUS laptop no problem.

If I take out gaming as a consideration, the Dell wins in value hands down. It includes Windows Media Center, the remote control, and bluetooth. Also, a larger capacity battery and extra AC adapter.

Does the ASUS offer any hidden perks over the dell other than the video card, camera, and slightly larger screen?

I really don't want to spend more than $1300, so both of these are high, but I could "dumb" down the ASUS a bit to get it under $1300 dollars (T2400, 1GB ram, etc), and maybe take a smaller harddrive on the Dell.

Any insights would be great, especially any other systems that are comparable.

Thanks so much,

Brandon

 

Brandon, I don't know anything about the Asus but before you decide to buy the Dell, have a look at this thread: E1405. how happy are u.

 

The other major perks are build quality and service/support. Dell Inspirions tend not to have very good build quality (as opposed to Asus'es and Dell Latitudes)

If you're looking to spend a bit less, the T2400 has a much better price/performance ratio than the T2500 does. You won't likely notice the difference between the two.

If more mobility is important for you, go the route of the Dell. If it isn't, I'd suggest going the Asus route.

 

Thanks SMT. Will I notice much difference between a 5400rpm to a 7200rpm harddrive? Also, If I go with 1 stick of 1GB 667 ram, with the plan to add 1GB more later on, will I have any ill effects from not having a dual channel RAM config?

Thanks so much,

Brandon

 

You will get a decent boost in HD intensive applications going the 7200rpm route, but how much of a performance boost you notice really depends on what type of applications you use. On the other hand, a 5400rpm drive is usually quieter, doesn't produce as much heat, and uses less battery. What you chose really depends on your needs. Personally, I'd get more memory before going 5400->7200 rpm, because it's a better investment.

Not having a dual channel RAM config will work perfectly fine. Getting one stick of 1GB ram is much better for upgradability reasons than getting two sticks of 512mb ram for the marginal speed boost.

 

Thank you for the extra insight. I really need the laptop now, but at the most I could wait until August. Will there be any significant improvements available at the same price by Aug. for any laptops? Or will waiting not provide much extra bang for buck. I don't want to buy today and have a new chip come out in a month that is XX% faster...buyer's remorse.

Thanks,

Brandon

 

Here are some pictures with extended battery. Testing to follow.

 

Might be hard to use the USB 2.0 ports that are right next to the battery w/o a little extension cord. Looks very tight. That being said, I would just use the other two.

-Brandon

 

nice review, nice pick of your dog playing quake4, it be nicer if we can see the screenshot in the picture though... very daring for leaving your laptop on top of a wooden support right by the lake and take those pictures...

i liked the concept of barebone laptop but it's not barebone enough... i would like the ability to select the vid card myself... the dell inspiron's are very upgradable yourself already... especially if u buy it cheap with coupon and upgrades all the other stuff yourself (selling existing parts)... and u can upgrade select vid card on the inspiron depending on model...

hoping for the day of build your own laptop like desktop pc...

thanks for the review and nice pictures... the integrated webcam is a nice touch...

sg

 

Great review. Thank you very much.

I have some questions, Does 7200rpm Hitachi hard drive make any noticeable

heat or noise?? I heard that Hitachi HDs make more heat and noise then

seagate HDs(7200rpm). Also, how's the keyboard flex?? You said there's a

litte bit of flex but I want to hear some more detailed comment from you.

I'll appreciate your answer^^ Thank you.

 

WOW $1100 for this? What a steal.
Would it be rational to compare this laptop with the Acer 8204?
They would seem to have the same specs, but priced much differently.

 

A 8204 is probably closest to the S96J's higher resolution brother, the Z96J. With equivalent configurations, the Z96J should be about 400-500$ cheaper, and even more cheaper if you buy barebones+parts. The major difference is that the Z96J has a glossy screen, and the 8204 has a matte screen.

 

i was wondering if it's possible to get 3+ to about 4 hours of battery life on the 6-cell? like are there settings you can do ( besides screen brightness) that would help it last that long, like tone down ur graphics card somehow? or turn off one of the cores of the processor? ( i'm not sure if any of this is possible, just worried about battery life).

 

My Hitachi does not make any noticeable heat or noise. When Hard Drive is working hard it is running at the most 44-45. Most of the time it is running in high 30s. When the hard drive is at its highest temp I can still not feel the heat on the left palm rest. I think it is very quite as well. There are times that the only way I know it is running is with the light. Something to note is that the Hitachi drives have a 3 year warranty and the Seagates are 5 years.

Storage Review still has the 7K100 on the top of the notebook leaderboard:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200511/notebook_1.html
They had the 7K100 as quieter than the Momentus 7200.1 (though not by much). They also have 7K100 using less power at idle but more a start-up:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200511/notebook_7.html
You will notice on above page as well that power usage is not related to rpms.
In there conclusion they also say:"interestingly, one sacrifices neither quiet nor cool operation when choosing a 7200 RPM device over a 5400 RPM one."

There is very lettle flex in the keyboard. Better than most notebooks I have had. The left side of the keyboard (Q,W,A,S,Z,X) has the most flex but is still is not a problem for me.

 

3 - 4 is doable but with brightness way down. I got 3.5 hours at 30%. I can work at 30% but only in a dim room. I have tried different CPU modes but it seems with Duo this has little impact, it is very efficient at saving power.

I'm testing the extended battery right now and it is looking really good. I believe I will get 3:15 - 3:30 at 100% brightness. It also does not add a lot of bulk. More results to follow.

 

Thank you so much for your answer^_^

 

A question for FlipTwister: where did you obtain an extended battery? Most resellers I've looked at only carry 6-cell batteries.

 

Buy.com, $94.99 and free shipping:
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202476857&loc=101&sp=1
This is the cheapest I found if you include shipping.

I know that Geared2play has them as well:
http://www.geared2play.com/store/products/accessories/power.htm

You can also Froogle "NG51B2000"

 

Great review mate, am really interested in this model but I have one question.

Does anyone know of any European resellers? Ive only found ones in the US but it'll cost a fortune to import it. Customs loves ripping you off

Any help would be great.
Thx

 

great review, but you said something I was concerned with. you said this computer can use Windows XP home & Pro, but can it use Media Center Edition 2005?

 

mediacenter only comes prepackaged with notebooks. thus, only large notebook companies, e.g. dell, have the option to have mediacenter in their notebooks.

 

so I cant just go pick up the OS and put it on this laptop?

 

that's correct. you can only pick up home or pro.

 

Well, actually, I found one reseller of the S96J that does have WinXP MCE: ibuypower.com. So theres always that option if you want. However, iBuy Power is slightly more expensive than othres like gentechpc and powernotebooks.

 

yeah but its priced $200 higher than at geared2play.com. and $200 isnt worth a media program

 

Flip, any updates on your extended battery testing?

 

FlipTwister, what was the PC Mark 05 for s96j? I'm trying to compare it against hp's nc8430 and the W3j. Thanks

Bonesaw

 

You can get Windows Media Center through an OEM reseller if you want. Newegg.com sells it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832102357

Oh and this is my first post so... Hi!

 

Your absolutely correct, and beat me to this comment. Although Microsoft recommends that only manufactures install XP MCE onto their machines, Microsoft allows for and sells MCE as OEM software as well. It's a deal as well, only 100 dollars for the media functions and a windows xp pro engine.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Micr...dition_2005_OEM,__7675569/search=Media+Center

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Micr...ition_2005_OEM,__13666754/search=Media+Center

 

Flip, I noticed that in your picture there's only 1 stick of RAM
don't you have to have two for dual channeling?