Crash Test for HP 6640C
Written: Apr 25 '00 (Updated Jul 11 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great Value, Great Capabilities
Cons: Crashes from time to time.
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| Montepenny's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion 6640C (D9287A#888) PC Des... |
I am very specific about what I want in a computer, so I spent considerable time comparing brands and models before I decided to buy a Hewlitt-Packard 6640C.
It offered everything I was looking for...15 Gigs of hard drive space, 48 Megs of RAM (I don't need more than that), a CD-Writer and a reasonably fast processor, the AMD K6.
If you are one of those people that need the state-of-the-art technology that is faster than anything else on the market, well, you will be looking for something with an Athlon or Pentium III processor. That is a whole other ballgame. Heck, that's a whole other ballpark.
The 6640C was made for people with modest needs, but are a little more into their computer and its capabilities than the person who just wants to send e-mails, surf the net, or word process at home. This is a great computer for the price, and the price is well under a grand (less monitor, of course).
I am extremely satisfied with Hewlitt-Packard. Everything about this computer meets reasonable standards. The software package is decent (Windows '98, Easy CD Creator, etc.), but it lacks Microsoft Office so you won't get Microsoft Word with it, nor will you get Word Perfect. Keep that in mind, if that is something your new computer MUST HAVE.
However, HP has a sharp set-up and the tutorial and user guide are presented well and easy-to-follow. The computer itself is sleek looking and relatively quiet when it is running. Believe me, I had an NEC that would wake the dead whenever I launched a program.
I have already burned several CDs with it -- audio and data -- and it has performed flawlessly. In fact, the CD-creation software is so user-friendly that I just jumped into it without reading instructions and I haven't had a single problem with any of my CDs.
The reason I bought this computer was that I wanted something with decent storage space (15 Gs) and a way to back-up when I ran out of room thanks to my ever-growing collection of MP3s, pictures, software, etc. It has surpassed all of my expectations and I couldn't be more pleased. I have never had any problems running software, although, I do not play the heavy graphic computer games, so I don't know how it fares there.
The processor won't break any speed records, but it keeps up with me and I like to think I am pretty demanding of it. If you are worried about speed, you will be looking at an Athlon or Pentium III anyway. I do know that the K6 is a step-up from the Pentium II. Many will argue that they are relatively the same capacity processor, but I believe the K6 has better graphics' conversion and has the edge over Pentium II.
I would give my HP a perfect five stars, but I have noticed one odd little quirk among HPs. You see, a friend of mine has one and both of our computers inexplicably freeze up from time to time. Given, I run computers hard enough to crash them all the time, but the HP completely freezes to the point that you cannot simply shut the computer off, then on again. You have to unplug the darn thing or flick the switch in your surge protector in order to start it up. Every time this happens, Windows 98 runs its diagnostic and usually finds nothing. Occasionally it finds a missing block and repairs it.
This may scare you a little off of HPs, and maybe it should, but I have all the Norton software and the computer always runs well. I think I simply overload the computer with too many open programs. This is something I will do with every computer I ever own and I have always crashed computers -- Macintosh or PC. However, I think it has only happened to my friend a few times -- probably because he uses his computer to a much lesser degree.
With that said, it may seem like a bad idea to buy an HP, but I truly enjoy mine and it doesn't crash very often anymore. I have learned when to coax it and when to push it.
UPDATE 7/11/00: It has been over two months since I originally posted this review and I thought, since this is such an expensive purchase, I would update this review. I have now owned the computer for a sufficient enough time to genuinely believe that it is quite a dependable workhorse.
I have burned many, many CDs on it, surfed the web for countless hours and have had no problems while in Word or Word Perfect.
The computer still crashes from time to time, but not very often. In fact, I am surprised every time it does. Once in a while it will crash while I am surfing. It runs most of my games OK -- The Simpson's Virtual Springfield, The Simpson's Cartoon Studio, Life, Yahtzee, Star Wars' Monopoly, Burning Monkey Solitaire and Q-bert all run fine.
The only games I have had trouble with are Centipede (which has heavy graphics, but I am not sure if the problem stems from the game or the computer since I am unimpressed with the game's programming) and Scattergories.
Scattergories doesn't crash on my friend's computer so I am more apt to believe that it is the HP. It only does this once every 10-12 games or so, but it is quite annoying because it always seems to crash in the middle of a really good game.
At any rate, I am still going to stick with four stars because I think it has a little room for improvement, but I would certainly suggest this computer to anybody with similar computer needs to me.
P.S. Oh, and a 17' HP monitor is worth the extra bucks. This thing is great and the whole computer experience seems more pleasurable -- kind of like watching home movies on a 19" TV as opposed to a 13" TV.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Montepenny
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Member: Chris Pollay
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Reviews written: 163
Trusted by: 264 members
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