HP Pavilion M8330F Desktop PC (AMD Phenom 9500 Quad Core Processor, 3 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) | List Price: $829.99
Discount Price: $800.98
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Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Binding: Personal Computers
Features: - Powerful multimedia desktop with TV tuner (NTSC/ATSC), personal video recording functionality, and programming guide
- 2.2 GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core processor, dual 320 GB hard drives, 3 GB RAM (8 GB max), 16x LightScribe DVD drive
- NVidia GeForce 8500 GT graphics with up to 1535 MB total available memory; 10/100 Ethernet; open bay for optional HP Personal Media Drive
- Connectivity: 6 USB, 2 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 S-Video, 1 composite A/V, digital audio output, surround sound speaker output, 15-in-1 memory card reader
- Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (with Media Center capabilities); includes remote control
Great computer for the price. [Posted on 2008-06-04]
I got this on sale for under 600. Amazing deal. I give it five stars at that price. Fast, Vista, lots of HD, lots of RAM.
Complaints... I had to add a PCI-e x16 card as the on-board graphics capabilities are not so good (scored a 3.0 on Vista benchmark). have to be careful on what card you get as there is not much room inside so some larger cards would have issues. Also the power supply is low wattage and most newer video cards will require more. Also should mention that it does not come with any software disc. No Windows Vista disc and no Recovery disc. It has a 10 gig partition labeled as RECOVERY. You can burn the image to three DVDs or keep the partition there for recovery from the boot screen by F11. If you had harddrive failure it would be lost. Be sure to burn the discs just in case. Still a great deal for the price.
Great desktop! [Posted on 2008-06-13]
I purchased this PC from a source other than Amazon, after doing a lot of research on different brands and models. I was a bit skeptical at first because I had never owned a machine with an AMD processor and I had heard so many terrible things about Vista... but after having used it daily for over 3 months now, I haven't had a single problem with it. Unlike some of the people who have reviewed this machine, my dvd/cd drive works great and I love the LightScribe option. Since I have passed the learning curve now, I can honestly say that I like Vista, too!! This is my 4th HP computer and I have never experienced a problem with any of them. Problems with Windows, yes, problems with monitors, yes... but never a problem with the machine itself. I am still running my 6 year old HP Pentium III desktop in another room and have both PCs connected to a multi-function HP printer through a wireless network. Everything works together flawlessly! I purchased a 24" Samsung HD monitor to compliment the capabilities of this PC and together, they smoke!!! The only thing I would wish for is a blu-ray drive to go in it. I hear that HP is releasing an external one soon but I haven't seen anything about it in the past couple of months. I'd rather have one to go in the empty bay on the machine but I'll settle for an external one if that's all that is available. Would I purchase this machine again if I had to buy another computer? Without a doubt! It does everything I need it to do and more.
Great computer for the money! [Posted on 2008-06-17]
I'm so glad I paid the extra $130 for the quad core processor! It will extend the life of the computer by a few years and it makes the computer run really fast now! Even Windows Vista can't slow it down! And...despite all the bad stuff I heard about Windows Vista -- I really like it. Everyone complains that Windows Vista is too slow -- but not with this computer! And the TV tuner card is great -- we get 34 channels and we just use an antenna!
Good for the money [Posted on 2008-06-19]
HP's AMD Athlon dual-core 6000 plus w/3 gigs of RAM is the minimum here, as a power-hungry Vista OS sucks any extra speed out of this system. TV tuner card blows, so don't buy this setup for that (which I did). Graphics card is faster than average, but not top-notch. I still can't figure out how to run analog signals from my camcorder and have them play on the monitor, even though it has composite video IN through AV cables, and an (overrated) "media center" configuration (makes 10 dollar sounds but delivers 5 dollar performance). Others have written that the drives are noisy, but it's only the the seeking portion of the multi-drive that is loud, plenty quiet for my needs, and money saved is several hundred dollars less than a comparable Dell.
Rough Start But Up And Running Now [Posted on 2008-07-04]
HP Pavilion M8330F Desktop PC (AMD Phenom 9500 Quad Core Processor, 3 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)
Got the computer quick tried to fire it up but system could not find boot disk and wanted me to install it. After looking at the computers initial settings noticed only one 320gig hard drive was recognized opened case and noticed the serial cable was not connected to the second hard drive (the one with vista installed on it). Plugged it in and started right up;however, Vista would not display on my TV (32in pc ready HDTV). Hooked it up to old monitor and it worked eventually played with the graphics card settings and got everything straight. Using a HDMI cable was able to connect PC to HDTV. IF USING A TV FOR MONITOR RECOMMEND USING AN HDMI CABLE TO CONNECT WITH PC. There are options you can play with to get the desktop to fit the screen. Now the computer works awesome, no other problems with tuner card, video card, hard disks or processors. Although Intel chips are better this machine still smokes anything I have ever owned. Definitely something I would recommend even with the hassle.
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