Hornet Pro, somewhat disappointing, just read on
Written: Dec 16 '04 (Updated Dec 16 '04)
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Pros: look, feel, availability of options, components, good price, COOL factor.
Cons: a bunch of problems relating performance issue, built quality and others.
The Bottom Line: If you're big on cool factor, this is one to consider.
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| jlkp2102's Full Review: Monarch Hornet (90583) PC Desktop |
I got the Hornet Pro recently because of its size, look, and potential performance. Also, partly because Monarch is a reputable company. Since I found out about this Hornet Pro PC, I was itching to sell my old ancient gray looking Dell PC and buy this Hornet Pro. Eventually, I did sell it and buy the Hornet Pro. Waiting for the Hornet Pro was a pain and it took a while to get it. If I remember correctly, it took about 3 weeks, probably more, to the time I ordered the PC and I received it. Packaging was very impressive by the way; it was properly packed with a lot of padding and foams.
Hornet Pro is about the size of a half mid-tower case. It seems small, and it is actually, but it is not as small as Polywell Mini QBOX or Shuttle Mini PC. One cool feature it has is the neon light. You can turn it on or off while the computer is running. I know that some PCs with neon can’t do that. The built quality is disappointing somewhat. I ordered my Hornet Pro with two clear side panels, with a fan on the right panel. Because installation wasn’t a top-notch job, the socket next to the CPU is interfering with the clear side panel fan itself, so the fan can’t spin. I had to take the clear side panel out and use the regular plain side which the fan has a bit more room to work with. I’m disappointed because the extra money I had to pay for the clear panel was a waste since the fan isn’t able to spin, due to the black socket that interferes. The installation could’ve been better. Monarch claims PCs they build go through a lot of test stages and I can’t imagine how they could’ve missed the fact that the fan couldn’t spin. Before I knew the socket was interfering, I gave Monarch a call to see why the fan doesn’t spin, a guy on the phone told me that it spins at certain temperature and an e-mail support guy told me it should spin all the time. The e-mail support guy was right. The case is pretty neat by the way. It’s really easy to open this PC up, there’s a bunch of large screws you can hand open and pull the panel. It’s pretty simple.
As far as the performance goes, I ordered 3200+, and I have to say that the performance is also a bit disappointing. I feel as thought this PC is just a tad faster than my last PC, which was Dell Pentium 4 1.8gig, 640 RDAM. Even the Raptor 10,000rpm HD and 1 gig of ddr ram don’t make Hornet Pro decisively faster. I have had unexpected, unknown reason crushes at times but they occurred very rarely. That never happened with my good old Dell PC. Another problem I have found is the reinstallation problem. I’ve been trying to reinstall a fresh copy of window XP and so far, it’s been telling me that I have no HPA enabled drive. Right now, I’m in the process of finding out how to go about reinstalling a new window. Again, Dell was so much easier to reinstall a new window anytime I felt like. Hornet Pro isn’t a perfect one by any mean. They included a free Far Cry game and I played it for a week. The performance showed that this isn’t a very fast PC. I couldn’t play Far Cry with the highest graphic level. For one thing, almost everything turned to white and the game was noticeably sluggish, meaning there’s a graphic driver glitch and PC is slow. I believe my video card is Nvidia 5700 256 ddr ram. Another issue is that I have a TV tuner and Hornet Pro won’t let me watch TV and DVD at the same time. That’s probably another graphic issue which wasn’t the case in Dell PC. I could turn on both TV and DVD at the same time.
If you’re tired of your old PC look and feel, Hornet Pro is a cool PC you should go with, of course if everything goes well for you. In my case, there are a lot of problems. Having said that, it’s amazing how many options there are available for Hornet Pro. I’ve searched other PC vendors and Monarch offers probably the most options at a good price. If you have decided to buy Monarch Pro, I suggest you should get a plain panel since clear panel fan might not work. And just go for the fastest component you can afford. Also, expect a mediocre performance if you’re not spending a lot. I give this Hornet Pro a C+.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1300
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
jlkp2102
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Reviews written: 13
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