Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Double Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive) | List Price: $646.51
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Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Binding: Personal Computers
Excellent computer for the money [Posted on 2006-05-15]
Recently I got into playing computer games. In particular, one called Guild Wars. Unfortunately, I was playing on my boyfriends computer because my old Sony VAIO 866mhz Pentium could barely stand the strain of trying to play it. So, I was due for a new computer. I wanted to spend less than $500 for the CPU at most. (I'm saving to buy a house.) After about a month and a half of research, I realized a few things. Athlon's have gotten much better since I last went computer shopping. Their bus speed is almost equal to their CPU speed. I'm not going to say that I understand the full implications of this, however I will say what it made me think. It made me think that it can work as fast, or nearly as fast, as it thinks. Most Intel's have a 5X-6X difference between the CPU speed and bus speed. Topping out at 533mhz for the bus. Also, Athlon's are cheaper. Then enter this computer. I looked up the motherboard on HP's website. The motherboard is A8N-LA and has a 939 socket. What does this mean? The motherboard can take up to an X2 processor. This means, later on down the road, I can actually switch out the CPU to a dual core. That was the main selling point for me and what convinced me to buy it. I actually bought it from CompUSA a couple of weeks ago and now have the computer configured to exactly where I want it. I also got it for less than $400 thanks to a great sale they were having at the time.
The computer has 4 memory slots and comes with 2 256mb sticks preinstalled. After adding 2 sticks of 512mb of RAM, the system flies. (It really only needed one stick of 512, but with the money I saved I figured why not get all the RAM now?) I must say I also bought this computer with the "foreknwoledge" that I would need to upgrade the video ASAP. Well, after adding in the memory I am happy to announce that in fact, I do not need a video card yet. I can play Guild Wars with no problems whatsoever. My boyfriend's computer is a Pentium 2.5GHz and has a very nice graphics card. The compaq seems to run everything he can just as well, if not better. Also, I have to mention the audio. I kept my old speakers which are only 2.1 Yamaha's that I bought from Amazon a while back and which had excellent reviews. When I initially bought them a couple of years ago, I was somewhat disappointed. I didn't understand why everyone had rated them so high. Well, after connecting them to my new computer, I now see what everyone was raving about. The sound is now incredible, as though I'm listening to live performances. The realtek audio chip this comes with had some pretty nice software as well that is preinstalled on the computer. I haven't had use of the DVD's recording functions yet but the DVD seems to work fine itself. I can now play some DVD's that my old computer could not play or had a hard time playing. I have to mention though that the DVD tray is somethat flimsy and that once it is open, the only way to close it is to push it closed;no button for that. No problem there though since I installed a ultility to my desktop to open and close the drive door with my mouse. As for the hard drive, it's not the biggest at 160gb but it's quite an upgrade from my old 40gb. Now, I have the freedom to make an audio library on my hard drive. In addition, this can read several memory cards. A bonus since we have a digital camera that takes SD cards. Now, all we have to do is plug in the card itself.
The appearance of the computer is rather nice. As you can see in the picture, it's mostly black. The power button in the front is large and seems very sturdy. The LED light on the front is green. When the computer's asleep, the LED flashes. Which can be annoying in a dark room. But that's minor. Also, the computer is so quiet you can barely hear it when it's on. My old computer was very loud and you always knew when it was on. There's an extra bay for another hard drive or another DVD player if you must. Oh, also, if you don't have a mouse, buy one. This computer comes with a rollerball mouse and is made of a very stiff plastic that is very uncomfortable in your hand. Though I must admit the keyboard was nice but is very quiet. I kept my old keyboard since I prefer to hear a click when I type. Also, the power supply is only 300 watts. Which is fine as it's configured but later on down the road when you upgrade components, upgrading the power supply may be a must.
As for the software, I must admit this computer came rather bloated. I ended up deleting most of the preinstalled software. I reinstalled a lot of what I previously had with the help of old software discs I had on hand and my network hub which I connected to my old computer. One thing that concerned me is that it didn't come with a restore disk. But my boyfriend, who's more computer savvy, pointed out you can make a restore point on the computer so that if you install anything fishy, as long as you have that restore point, you can go back to it.
So, my verdict on this computer is this. Buy it! Yes, it's obviously not the best computer out there, but if you must have a computer and are budget conscious, you can't go wrong. Plus I believer right now there's a $[...] rebate.
A nice Mid-level Desktop from Compaq/HP [Posted on 2006-06-24]
I have had this computer for over a month and I just like it. The tower looks very cool, you can hardly notice any noise from it. A LOT of USB, audio, memory card ports, and many are located in the front panel which is convenient. It has 4 memory slots so if you wanna get ready for Windows Vista, you just buy a pair of 512MB or 1 GB pc3200 memories and set up another dual-channel configuration. Amd 64-bit CPU is the best home-use cpu that in the market. Also the motherboard has an additional PCI-E slot. I just bought another fanless 7600GS video card and now I can play any 3D games. So if you can only afford a mid-level computer because of your tight budget, just get this one. And as this is a good upgradable machine, it will allow you to enjoy the top-level performance once you add in some memories and get a good video card.
Returned it [Posted on 2006-06-30]
After it loaded Windoze XP, it kept re-booting (about 10 times before I called teh Help Desk). They guided me thru a restore and re-load - very patient. Still a problem - kept re-booting indefinitely. HP recommended returning it which I did. Since I needed it right away I went to the local Circuit City store and bought an HP - no problems at all and $20 less for same equipment. Still waiting for my refund from Amazon.
Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC [Posted on 2006-07-03]
Seems to be an excellent desktop. Bought it for 2 of my sons. Has everything he wanted for web design, school use, downloading music, watching DVD's, gaming or just creating DVD's. Easy to use straight out of box. The AMD processor is fast & strong. I've been using a Dell for years and I think I'll buy myself one, next.
Does not work [Posted on 2006-07-06]
I have had this item for one month. Despite many hours spent with customer service (most of them "on hold") it still does not work properly. Some of the customer service people try to help but several have been quite rude. Now I am shipping it back for service. They will not refund my money nor will they give me a new computer.
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