When our old Compaq outlived it's usefulness, my wife and I did some serious shopping around for a nice computer that would fit our needs...and they were:

- Read/Writable CD rom to keep the photo albums on CD
- Plenty of USB Ports for gaming, and plugging in our digital camera
- Large monitor..cuz I'm getting old and blind!
- Ability to do quick banking transactions
- Emailing/Surfing, etc.
- One-stop packaging

Basically, we wanted something that most families need...not something that fires missiles at third world countries.

We stumbled upon the HP Pavilion 531W at our local Walmart (of all the places to consider buying a computer) and read over the contents on the box. It was so amazing to find everything we were looking for in one box.

Just so happens, the inlaws were in town from the UK, and it was our anniversary...sooooo, they bought it for us. The sale price was $649.00. For all it had, that was a darned good price for a computer.

SETTING UP:

When we opened the box, we took inventory and were pleased that all components were packed and in one piece. The set up instructions were easy, the software was preloaded, and the color coded cables made the set up a snap.

Total time of 15 elapsed from getting it out of the box to plugging it in and getting online. I've never had such an easy experience with a computer.

And of course, this is a smooth and quiet running machine. We instantly download our pics from the camera directly to the CD Rom in seconds. And don't forget the little CD storage tray built into the top of the machine! The small little Polk Audio Speakers do not slide onto the side of the monitor which is perfect because our computer desk is only large enough for the monitor to squeeze in. Those little speakers sure do pack a wallop though with full-range sound.

The biggest thrill we got was with the keyboard. Along the top were a series of buttons with icons that you could program to function as a 1-punch system insteading of going through a myriad of procedures. To go online, just hit the internet key and the rest is done. To operate the camera, just hit the camera labeled button and the program lights up. We've got all our important frequent sites/software programed on these buttons. Even the volume control is on the keyboard.

Though Windows XP looks really neat, I'm finding that some of my old programs are not compatible and have to read software boxes carefully before purchasing to ensure compatibility.

This little machine far exceeded our expections for the price. We got a low-end priced machine with high-end performance. I'm very happy with our new computer, and though we didn't have to pay for it, I'd consider it a great buy and can see it will be with us for quite a long time!


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 649.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40

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