Need some ammo here for a PC argument

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PenaltyShot

Gawd
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Sep 4, 2002
Messages
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A friend of mine needs a new PC and is considering buying this:
http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/productDetailSpecification.do?oid=109035

He does digital photo, the usual Word and personal finances, and may get into video editing in the future. He also needs a fast system to take full advantage of Verizon DSL. He's not one to build his own systems, and probably needs the support, so I'm sticking with recommending a pre-built PC for him. I already recommended either a Dell XPS or 8400, or an Alienware 5500.

My gut feeling is that HP has been crap in the past, though I don't really remember exactly why I felt that way, or what their standing is now. What I need are just some reasons why buying this HP system would be a bad idea...or possibly a good idea?

I keep telling him that a halfway decent system is going to run him at least $1200 to $1700, but it looks like he's cutting corners and going "See?...this is a Pentium 4 3Ghz system too, and it costs way less."

So I need some "Yeah, buts....." to counter that. :)

Thanks for any input!
 
Well, I guess it comes down to specs?
Dell isn't that expensive, so if this HP system is that much cheaper than the Dell system you picked out, there should be obvious reasons why?
Less memory, smaller/slower HDDs, no DVD-RW drive, cheap onboard video... whatever?
 
First off have him read the reviews, especially noting the one that "died" losing all of the users data.

Second, if he wants to do any up to date gaming the onboard graphics are going to be less than satisfactory.

Third, it comes with XP Home edition (althought that might not be a big deal for many users)

Even though you think he should get a dell XPS, which obviously is the better machine, does he really need that power? He could probably do almost anything that you described with this HP, albeit slower. But for the money he would save he could probably deal with that.
 
I'm totally loving the fact that the HP you linked to has NO video card in it, and uses it's motherboard's intergrated graphics. There's your corner-cutting, now go build a system for half of it's price!
 
Thanks, guys. I knew it came down to specs, but he was about ready to go out and buy the thing and I didn't have enough time to go through a detailed specs comparison. Just sort of wanted some impressions as to HPs in general and anything that stood out right away as a red flag...

I see a review that says it's too expensive for the components you get:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4545-3118_7-31153737.html

Besides it being too expensive, the bad points that I see are:
1. Pentium 4 530, an outdated Prescott LGA775. Seems like it would be better to spend the little extra to get a 640 or 650.
2. Integrated Intel graphics -- ugh!!
3. Integrated sound -- not too bad for him to have it integrated, but I have no idea of its quality.
4. 512MB of RAM (400Mhz PC3200 184-pin DIMM). I consider that to be the bare minimum these days for XP. Better with 1GB.
5. XP Home...should go with Pro instead.
6. Intel 915G Express chipset. Might not be a big factor but I'm not real familiar with this chipset. Been looking at 925X up until now.
7. 300-watt PSU. Probably not a huge factor for him, but I usually balk at anything below 400 watts.

So I think I have most of the "gotchas."
 
Call me crazy, but I have two HP computers, a laptop and a desktop, that have been very good to me. The desktop, I purposely made sure I bought it WITHOUT integrated graphics... If your friend gets an HP, I advise him to do the same!

I've done a LOT of upgrading to my HP desktop, I've added a second hard drive, added a DVD+/-RW drive, changed to a 6800 GT, put the whole system in a new case :p , installed wireless, and put in a much larger and more powerful PSU. Obviously, this was all done over time.

I imagine though that there are a lot of flakey HP computers out there, but fortunately I've had good experiences with them. I wouldn't go with their budget computers, that's probably where the problems are. My HP computers were pretty much top of the line at the time, so maybe that's why quality is a lo tbetter.

Their tech support has also been fairly good too, as I once had to order a set of CDs from them and they showed up at my door two days later!
 
PenaltyShot said:
Thanks, guys. I knew it came down to specs, but he was about ready to go out and buy the thing and I didn't have enough time to go through a detailed specs comparison. Just sort of wanted some impressions as to HPs in general and anything that stood out right away as a red flag...

I see a review that says it's too expensive for the components you get:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4545-3118_7-31153737.html

Besides it being too expensive, the bad points that I see are:
1. Pentium 4 530, an outdated Prescott LGA775. Seems like it would be better to spend the little extra to get a 640 or 650.
2. Integrated Intel graphics -- ugh!!
3. Integrated sound -- not too bad for him to have it integrated, but I have no idea of its quality.
4. 512MB of RAM (400Mhz PC3200 184-pin DIMM). I consider that to be the bare minimum these days for XP. Better with 1GB.
5. XP Home...should go with Pro instead.
6. Intel 915G Express chipset. Might not be a big factor but I'm not real familiar with this chipset. Been looking at 925X up until now.
7. 300-watt PSU. Probably not a huge factor for him, but I usually balk at anything below 400 watts.

So I think I have most of the "gotchas."
Click to expand...

Don't get intergrated graphics, it'll suck and you might not be able to upgrade.
XP Pro isn't necessary unless there's some specific reason for it
My onboard audio has been excellent, great sound for games/music/movies
512MB is to cut costs, you can always upgrade later on...
300watt PSU is fine until he wants to put in a huge graphics card, which he can't if he has the intergrated graphics... So it'll be fine if he doesn't plan to do major upgrades
Don't know too much about the chipset

hope that helps
 
Don't be crazy about RAM. 512 is more than enough for the average user. If he starts video editing he can drop another $80 tops to double it later on.
 
Can't he just disable the integrated graphics controller in the BIOS? If he decides to get this PC, I'm going to advise him to fill that 16x PCI-E slot with an ATI or nVidia card.

He's probably all right with XP Home, I imagine. The 915G chipset specs also look OK for his needs: http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/915g/index.htm

If he starts video editing, I'm going to recommend that he upgrades to 1GB of RAM, and gets a DVD+/-RW drive instead of the CD-ROM. (He already has a good 52x CD-ROM drive in his old, now-dead system).

Thanks for the advice.
 
I guess everyone missed the line that stated even though it has integrated graphics... it also has a PCI-X slot??


Hell, if your friend is so dead set to get it, get it. Talk him into upgrading to 1.5 GB RAM (Adding a 1 GB stick), and a decent video card, and there ya go!

If the price is what is getting you... think of it this way:

Base machine: 900.00
RAM Upgrade: 100.00
VC Upgrade: 200.00

1200.00 total.
 
Base machine: 900.00
RAM Upgrade: 100.00
VC Upgrade: 200.00

1200.00 total.
Click to expand...

Yep, basically what I told him to start with -- a decent system is going to cost him $1200 at least.
 
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