Pavilion 6633C
Written: Mar 06 '01 (Updated Mar 06 '01)
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Pros: Fast enough performance; easy to upgrade memory and graphics.
Cons: Standard RAM allotment and standard integrated graphics hurt overall performance.
The Bottom Line: Overall, I'm happy with the Pavilion 6633C. The upgrades later on may seem like a hassle, but they'll turn a good computer into an awesome budget performance system.
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| wildwigman's Full Review: HP Pavilion 6633C |
The Pavilion 6633C was an attractive computer when I first purchased it in 2000 because of its price and features. For under $1,000, I got a system with a 500 MHz Celeron processor, 20 GB hard drive, and a CD-RW drive. Overall, I was initially satisfied with the performance.
However, over time, there were two areas of the system's performance that annoyed me. The integrated Intel 810 graphics caused for slow game performance, and with only 64 MB of RAM, the system felt constrained at times. This was especially true when gaming, since the integrated graphics took up to 11 MB of system RAM for itself, leaving only 53 MB available for the rest of the system.
During the past couple of months, I have upgraded these two areas. While the system's motherboard doesn't have an AGP slot, I did purchase a PCI version of the 3dfx Voodoo4 4500 video card with 32 MB of memory. After doing this upgrade, the graphics performance of the system dramatically improved. All of my games suddenly ran much better, with improved visual quality and smoother graphics. I also added an extra 64 MB of RAM to the system, bumping it up to 128 MB. While the memory boost wasn't as dramatic as the graphics upgrade, there was still a noticeable performance boost.
Outside of those two areas, the rest of the system is more than adequate for most tasks. The hard drive still has an ample amount of room left for games and music files, and the CD-RW drive works nicely for backing up data without using hundreds of floppy disks (or thousands). The combination modem/sound card of the system works fine for games and music and consistently connects to the Net at about 45K. The Polk Audio speakers produce good sound. The multimedia keyboard, with its large volume knob, is awesome. However, the scrolling mouse feels a little cheap when compared with a Microsoft mouse.
Overall, this system now represents half of what's sitting on my desk. I'm running a Dell Dimension 4100 system which I'll eventually cover in another review. However, for those looking for a system with good performance and a budget price, you can't go wrong with the Pavilion 6633C. And upgraders willing to create a performance system on the cheap will find it easy to add extra RAM and a PCI graphics card.
Final Note: The specs below represent the configuration of the machine at the time I purchased it. I've mentioned the upgrades that I did to it earlier in this review.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 998
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: 401-500
RAM: 64
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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wildwigman
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