Desktop PC

Review by Brent T. Dolan:

For 300 bucks it is an awesome little workstation. I grabbed one of these for a client that I network for. They use most of the computers for web access and Terminal services. So basicly they don’t need a fast cpu or high end graphics card. They just need a workstation to be able to connect to the server via terminal services. I even upgraded to win7 pro to get the Virtual Win XP Mode. So they can use some of their older programs that don’t run on the new win7. Works great so far and is 10000 times faster than the celeron and P4 it replaced. I doubt this is anything more than a web surfing and microsoft office using machine. Maybe some online games too. Still nice little computer for the money. Hard for me to even build one that cheap.

Thanks

Brent

[...]

Review by J. W. Johnson:

Coming from a Dell Precision 320 Workstation to this was definitely something to get used to. As most of the programs that I run will work on Win 7, I didn’t need to worry about getting virtual XP. The only drawback that I have for this computer is the graphics capability, which for me isn’t a huge issue, not enough to dock it a star, as I had a feeling that this would be something that I needed to upgrade anyway.

One caveat if you are a gamer and want to add a new video card in, you will more than likely need to upgrade your power supply also, as it’s only rated for 275 Watts.

Review by Rachel M. George:

I bought this PC 2/12/10 at Best Buy for 9.00. So far, it seems to be working fine. I like the new Windows 7 that was pre-installed on the computer but it will take some getting used to. This computer came with 4GB ram and 640GB hard-drive. I thought that will all the ram it would run faster but the loading time between websites seems a bit long. However, after having this for only 24 hours so far, I think that it is a good computer for the money. The only con that I have is the CD drive. It is somewhat difficult to insert a CD. You can turn the computer on its side for better use but the fan vents would be on top and lots of dust may build up.

Review by Atheen M. Wilson:

I opted for a desk top after years of lap tops, because I found the latter didn’t last very well. One burned itself up for reasons even the geek squad couldn’t acertain, and two had major screen issues again unexplained. As with the other reveiwer, I actually feel the HP slimline is good for what one pays for it, but there were a variety of side issues that made my satisfaction less than perfect. I was told I could use the computer in association with my Samsung TV, which I can, except that the HP sound system does not interface with the TV’s, thus no sound. No variety of computer cables, no amount of on-computer help, online help or telephone help resolved the issue, and visits to Best Buy for an explanation came up with only “the cables are supposed to all be standard. I don’t know what the problem is.” I finally opted for external speakers which hiked up the overall price of the computer. I’ve also discovered that the mouse that came with the machine has problems. No surface seems satisfactory to cruise the cursor smoothly to the site I wish to select. It’s as if the mouse gets conditioned to the surface and then begins to ignore it. It either moves not at all or takes huge leaps across the screen to areas I had no intention of selecting. I will ultimately have to replace the mouse with something a little more controllable, which again makes the computer more expensive than I had intended. Since I’m on a fixed income and every penny counts, the added expenses to bring the machine to a satisfactory functional level do not make me happy.

Review by Sherry:

This computer was purchased for my parents to communicate with my brother stationed in Iraq. They use the web camera and use skype to talk with him from time to time. The computer itself does what they need in a casually used computer. Love the place saving design. Research, that I checked, seems to hold true with this computer. Has all the memory that they will ever need. Processing speed seems a little slow for my personal needs but for them it’s great!

Review by H. Armwood:

I bought this to replace a 4 year old desktop PC. My disappointment is that it is slower than my old Dell right out of the box. You would think that with 4 gig memory it would be faster. This is probally because of the preloaded software. There are too many HP programs in the system.

Review by Jeffrey S. Johnson:

First Touchscreen – occasionally it takes a couple tries to get touch response.

buy screen wipes , you have finger oil and this is one big black mirror

we got this to replace a cluttered noisy desktop, it has no fans = no noise and is very compact, and at 1920×1080 true HD for the 23″ screen, its very productive workspace, very fast.

Problem… It makes such a good media center that there is family competition to use it. It seems to work wireless “n” speeds so Netflix and hulu are stutter-free prefect, its bigger than the kitchen TV. Someone is always using it.

at 1200 bucks it was 2/3 the cost of the system it replaced.

my advice: buy 2 of them.

edit update – we just ordered #2 since the first one never left the Kitchen & Livingroom area, where it will likely live out its useful days so Dads that buy it, set your expectations – Recipies, Netflix, Hulu, Email and facebook, and skype 2 way video ( hi mom! ) youteube, ABC full length shows and Vevo ( Vevo looks amazing ) will rule along with the touch screen magazine catalogs and lookbooks at ctndigital. youtube of this touchsmart doing amazing things in flash [...] it wont be much used for real computing – its all family entertainment.

Review by Ralph Mclean:

One of the reasons that I purchased this computer was a previous good experience with an HP desktop. I have had Gateways, Dells, and Sonys, by my HP desktop outlasted them all, and I never had any trouble with it, until the end (after 3 1/2 years) when one of the hard drives started to go. Anyway, I had been watching the Touchsmart line since they came out, and was waiting for the price to fall. Well, it finally did, and even after they improved the touch system (Go to [...] for a thorough review if you have the time). Getting back to this purchase… This thing is a dream. I was so anxious to get it started, that I opened it and set it up on the kitchen table. I was connected to my home network in only a few minutes, AND with only one cord – the power cord. The touch system is outstanding, and some of the programs that go with it, the Touchsmart Home programs, are awesome(and yes, I know that word is overused nowadays, but stupendous seemed kind of silly). After I transferred over my iTunes library and my family photos, the computer imported them into Touchsmart, and they became soooo easy to work with. Also, I never realized how many programs are optimized for touch, but i’m beginning to find more and more of them. It looks like the wave of the future. It might be time to climb on board. Oh yeah, this has Windows 7, which is light years beyond Vista… And the built-n Webcam is great as well… And did I mention that you can use voice command when working with your photos in Touchsmart Canvass? Oh, and the picture quality is stunning when viewing HD internet TV, Hulu, or Podcasts, and I haven’t even set up the TV tuner yet… Also, Hulu is built right in to the Touchsmart Home programs…

Review by Lonny D. Stark:

This computer, loaded with 8 Gigs of ram and AMD Phenom, is nice and fast.

My own computer use does not include any heavy duty gaming, so I can’t provide any insight on performance from that perspective. However, my job is in computer graphics, and from that perspective, I can say this is a heck of a nice computer. Photoshop really zips on this thing, and my initial experiments with Premiere, Flash Pro, VirtualDubMod, and Pinnacle all look very good in terms of speed. I don’t have any major complaints so far with the hardware.

The downside to any HP computer is that this manufacturer is the worst purveyor of absolute junk software, not to mention loads of demo garbageware from various payola agreements they’ve signed. If you buy this or any other HP computer, and if you really care about its software environment, hop online and look for any guides you can find that describe how to remove and disable HP junk and garbageware. Plan on spending a full day cleaning the computer out. Then replace everything, especially the worthless HP software, with highly regarded opensource programs downloadable from CNET and other reputable sites.

As for Windows 7, while the new operating system is not without a ton of annoyances, it is a reasonable improvement over Vista. First thing I did is kill the notorious User Account Control (UAC), although you need to know what you’re doing if you take drastic measures like that. UAC is the amusing little system that confirms you really want to do whatever you just did, forcing you to click “OK” over and over as you try to actually use the computer. What a joy! I spent another full day changing Windows settings, trying to figure out where Microsoft hid certain features, and dumping much of the helpful (intrusive) trash that comes preconfigured with this operating system. It would be nice if Windows would just stay the heck out of the way.

So my four stars go to RAM and AMD, none to HP or Microsoft.

Review by DON’T TREAD ON ME:

Upon the demise of my four year old single core HP laptop that had served me well I searched for a desk top that would meet my needs. I reviewed Consumer Reports, CNET and other on line reviews of computers. I also looked into many types of processors. Once I found my processor I found the computer that used it and went from there. Long story short I came to the conclusion that this HP with the Core I3 processor was the one for me.

Everything set up easily and has been working very well for about a month now. I am pleased with the size of the hard drive, processor performance and Windows 7 is good too. There are no negatives at all to date.

After shopping around the electronic box stores I determined that there was nothing gained by purchasing from any of them thus I used Amazon and shaved a few bucks off the price.

You might do better with another computer somewhere but for the money I would recommend this one to a best friend.

Review by Lonny D. Stark:

This computer, loaded with 8 Gigs of ram and AMD Phenom, is nice and fast.

My own computer use does not include any heavy duty gaming, so I can’t provide any insight on performance from that perspective. However, my job is in computer graphics, and from that perspective, I can say this is a heck of a nice computer. Photoshop really zips on this thing, and my initial experiments with Premiere, Flash Pro, VirtualDubMod, and Pinnacle all look very good in terms of speed. I don’t have any major complaints so far with the hardware.

The downside to any HP computer is that this manufacturer is the worst purveyor of absolute junk software, not to mention loads of demo garbageware from various payola agreements they’ve signed. If you buy this or any other HP computer, and if you really care about its software environment, hop online and look for any guides you can find that describe how to remove and disable HP junk and garbageware. Plan on spending a full day cleaning the computer out. Then replace everything, especially the worthless HP software, with highly regarded opensource programs downloadable from CNET and other reputable sites.

As for Windows 7, while the new operating system is not without a ton of annoyances, it is a reasonable improvement over Vista. First thing I did is kill the notorious User Account Control (UAC), although you need to know what you’re doing if you take drastic measures like that. UAC is the amusing little system that confirms you really want to do whatever you just did, forcing you to click “OK” over and over as you try to actually use the computer. What a joy! I spent another full day changing Windows settings, trying to figure out where Microsoft hid certain features, and dumping much of the helpful (intrusive) trash that comes preconfigured with this operating system. It would be nice if Windows would just stay the heck out of the way.

So my four stars go to RAM and AMD, none to HP or Microsoft.

Review by DON’T TREAD ON ME:

Upon the demise of my four year old single core HP laptop that had served me well I searched for a desk top that would meet my needs. I reviewed Consumer Reports, CNET and other on line reviews of computers. I also looked into many types of processors. Once I found my processor I found the computer that used it and went from there. Long story short I came to the conclusion that this HP with the Core I3 processor was the one for me.

Everything set up easily and has been working very well for about a month now. I am pleased with the size of the hard drive, processor performance and Windows 7 is good too. There are no negatives at all to date.

After shopping around the electronic box stores I determined that there was nothing gained by purchasing from any of them thus I used Amazon and shaved a few bucks off the price.

You might do better with another computer somewhere but for the money I would recommend this one to a best friend.

Review by Christian Rickeby:

This computer was bought to replace an Acer AspireRevo 1600. The Revo might have its uses but daily computing even casual computing became a chore on the slow Revo.

This computer is twice as much as the Revo but I think the value for your money makes it well worth it. It handles multitasking without any hitches. I was able to do the following at the same time without experiencing any hitches or delays.

* Copied large amounts of data from an external HDD to the HDD.

* Run IE with several windows each with at least 2 tabs.

* Burn a DVD.

* Install Programs.

* Stream music through Pandora.

The computer is quiet and is a bit larger than an average sized shoebox. It easily fit on my desk.

The reason this computer doesn’t get five stars is that it comes preloaded with a bunch of useless programs installed. It takes only a little time to remove it, but it would be nice not to have to do that. The supplied mouse is awful. The keyboard is just ok.

I have not yet had time to test the graphics on the computer, by playing games on it.

As a whole I’m very pleased.

Review by Physicsmind:

Pros: It’s hard to find a better configuration at this price. Triple Core, 4GB RAM, Ge9200 256MB Video graphics. It’s slim and small but is not much lighter than more desktop–I feel that it’s slightly heavier than my newly bought Compaq Presario CQ5320F. Many USB ports. Windows experience score 4.4, which is very high as most have between 3-4. Has HDMI port.

Cons: The DVD Rom can be troublesome–it’s vertical. The eject button and the power button are akward. Noisier than many, especially when burning DVDs. Not as fast as it should–this is probably affected by the DVD rom’s performance–I was doing other tasks when burning a DVD. My first one received has a defective DVD rom. Returned it. 2nd one seems to have some internal processing problem–freezes a few times and the system doesnt respond well. Completely disappointed and decided not to get this model again. Also it has No DVI. No factory restore image on partition–which allows you to restore to its factory original setting without having to create the recovery DVDs.

Other than this, it’s a good home desktop. Plays DVD and HDVD flawlessly. Gaming is pretty decent and video quality is excellent.

After returning the Acer, I went for the Compaq CQ5320F. Although this Compaq is bulkier and bigger, it’s lighter than this Acer. The compaq got two cores but performs multitasks like a gem, even better than the Acer with triple core. But the only problem about Compaq is the many useless add-ons and programs that I would never use. After all, I prefer my new compaq than Acer.