Extremely versatile in every situation!
Written: Jun 11 '03
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Pros: Fast, Cutting-edge components, media in/outs, super quiet, cool case!
Cons: Expensive, HP motherboard
The Bottom Line: This computer does everything and it does it well!
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| manofsteel921's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Media Center pc 884n (D205AABA) PC... |
Story: Ordered a Compaq 873n (Media Center, 2.53ghz) in 12/02. Computer was sent for repair, had some customer service issues, then decided to buy back the 873n and give me a free 884n (06/03) which is their latest, top of the line Media Center PC.
I have always built my computers before this HP, so my comparison is based on my many years of experience with pre-builts such as this, and the custom computers I've built in this past. The first thing I've noticed is this computer is super super quiet... you cannot even hear it running until using the DVD+R/CD-RW/CD. I believe this is possible because of a huge heatsink and a huge, slow rpm fan, but the CPU and case temperature remain very low, even during intense use (3dmark2k1 looping).
It includes 6 month old sound (Audigy 1 vs 2) and 6 month old video (Ti4200 vs. FX series or radeon9700/9800) but it really won't stop you from running the latest games with high resolution and high sound settings.
The only thing I can even say that is upsetting with this PC is that the BIOS/motherboard cannot be overclocked. I have had bad experiences with overclocking in the past (burnt mobos and cpus) so maybe it isn't a bad thing for me.
As for the media center part? Pretty neat, but I refuse to watch TV / movies on a PC monitor. However, it was really cool to convert my 8mm home videos to DVD+R!
3DMark2k1 pulls around 15,000 points. My old 1.6ghz athlon XP and radeon 8500 pulled about 8,000 so this is an impressive jump for me. This is a solid computer with a solid warranty -- HP really takes care of their customers.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 0.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
manofsteel921
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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