Jerboa wrote:Anyone have any idea how loud this thing runs? Perhaps knowledge of what metal the case is?

I don't know about this one, but I have one of the elite series bought a little over a year ago and this one seems very similar, its loud on startup, but it is surprisingly quiet during normal tasks and even tasks that take quite a bit of processing power.

jerr0328 wrote:...
The real reason we see the discrepancy in disk sizes is that yes, they used base 2. But it's not just because Base 2 makes more sense for computers. The real reason is actually because back in the day, operating systems wanted to avoid confusion with showing disk sizes. ...
Take this example:
How long does it take to transfer 100KB of memory over a 100KB/s bus? If you answered 1s, you are wrong. The correct answer is 1.024s see for yourself.

This is way off topic, but there are two mistakes here. First, there is no "they" deciding about base 10 vs base 2. The early days (like now) were chaotic and fraught with diverse opinions. Most computer stuff was base 2, but most non-computer stuff that involve kilo/mega/gig is and was base 10. Thus there were 2 competing "standards".

Re. How long it takes to transfer X bytes on an byte pipe, note that actually doing data transmission involves a lot of overhead due to encoding addresses, header bytes, framing bytes and other stuff. To send 100K of actual "payload" data, much more than 100K actually gets used so the timing comparison is very VERY simplistic.

Lastly, this computer looks like a great buy. I would happily buy 2 if I could just get shipping to Canada from woot.

sbucci wrote:Does anyone know if hardware virtualization is enabled, or if it can be enabled?

It is disabled by default, it can be enabled. I have essentially the same machine with 6G ram and without blueray... same processor and all the rest. Great computer, fast as heck, and I run XP mode with older software in emulation all day. My older software for work runs faster in XP mode on this computer than it did on an XP Pro computer that was only two years old. This thing rocks!

I've got almost this exact desktop, except I've got the Phenom II 925, a 640GB HDD, no Blu-ray, and a different video card and PSU.

I bought this for around $700 new, and then upgraded to a NVIDIA GTS 250 and a ThermalTake 650W PSU. Everything is a REALLY tight fit, but it works without overheating, even when playing Assassin's Creed II, TF2, CS:S, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Sniper Ghost Warrior on max settings.

Great computer for a great price. I've never had trouble with HP customer service, of course I know more about computers than most of their Tier 1 and Tier 2 techs.

This is a decent deal - I put together a similar system on TigerDirect, using average parts:

Quad Core Phenom/Gigabyte Mobo: $199.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6325063&CatId=3586

Seagate Barracuda 1TB: $59.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4691121&Sku=TSD-1000AS4

Windows 7 Home Premium OEM: $109.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/campaigns/campaigntemplate.asp?CampaignID=1100

Diamond Radeon HD 5450 GPU: $59.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6076844&CatId=3670

Crucial 2GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (X4): $191.96
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4769818&CatId=4153

Thermaltake Mid-tower ATX Case: $34.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5520044&Sku=T925-3018

Ultra 550W PS: $44.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276574&Sku=ULT-LSP550

Total: $701.90 NOT including tax, shipping, and build time.

Well worth it even if you decide to upgrade some parts.

Oops, forgot Blu-Ray AND Wifi - add another $150 to that price...

McGuffy wrote:This is a decent deal - I put together a similar system on TigerDirect, using average parts...

jbob08 wrote:I'd love to say this is a great deal, but since I just paid $899 for it at Best Buy 2 weeks ago I'm going to grumble instead.

I hooked this up to a 36" lcd and use it almost exclusively for media. I love it, fast, quiet and more than enough memory.

It also plays Starcraft II without a hiccup, which was a consideration.

My only problem, and I may just be an inattentive armadillo, is that no matter how many screen adjustments I make I cannot get the entire screen to fit within the 36 inches.

At this price, this is a steal. Albeit a late one...

Should have ATI's Catalyst Control Center on there since it's an ATI card. Under display properties in the control panel, adjust the "scaling" property so it fits the TV.

Is woot sellout down?

jaewon223 wrote:Is woot sellout down?

In response to a couple questions:

1) This this is extremely quiet. Ive owned it for the past two weeks and its still suprising how quiet.

2) I use it daily for hulu and Netflix. In addition to being extremely fast, I haven't had any picture problems of note.

3) I was worried about lagging in Starcraft II, but at this point I've played up to 2.5 hours without a single hiccup at its hoghest settings.

I see a description for the primary CD/DVD drive, does this mean there is a secondary drive?

Jerboa wrote:Can this also read and write DVDs?

■Primary CD/DVD Drive: Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe Technology

This looks like a great idea for someone that doesn't know how to build their own computer. My only concern is the video card, if you're going to be doing any current-gen gaming you'll have problems. Based on benchmarks I'm looking at compared to my laptop's benchmarks, you should be able to play the likes of Fallout 3, Oblivion, Half-Life 2 on medium settings without too many problems. As for current-gen games like Starcraft II, you'll need to stick to low settings.

Another thought - Assuming you'd need to build everything from scratch (Don't have a case, PSU, HDD, anything), it'd be a bit more expensive to build a comparable machine, but I like the idea of 1 year, 3 year, and lifetime warranties on various parts rather than just the 90 day HP warranty.

All in all, this IS a good deal. The big question is if it's got what you need and if you want to take a gamble with a refurb that only has a 90 day warranty.

bradenmcg wrote:Binary vs. decimal. Base 2 vs. base 10.

(warning, nerdy tangent ahead, read on if you want to learn something.)
*snip*

Holy Crap!! I actually understood all that. Thanks!

Can you turn this thing into a hackintosh? If so, I'm in!

BEWARE! I bought my daughter an HP refurb laptop with a Blu-Ray player. The Blu-Ray player jammed 91 days after purchase, so HP customer support gave my daughter the raspberry (in Indian, naturally). I then bought her an Apple laptop. Not only can HP not take care of its own house, it doesn't take care of its customers.

I bought this exact machine a while back "minus the blu-ray" and i love it. I put in a radeon 5650 and i have no problem playing any games that i want at max resolution. This is a great price and a great deal,wish i needed another one.

does anyone know if I could add an esata bracket expansion to this, but plugging it into one of the internal SATA ports on the motherboard?

karenozug wrote:Be warned, It has a ton of processing power, but If you are a gamer, you will want to upgrade that graphics card... Shes a weak one

Damn, so I can't play starcraft 2 on it???

omnipotentq wrote:The problem with buying prefabbed computers is that, inevitably, the case (at a minimum) is designed to only hold manufacturer-specific parts, plus they're designed so cramped as to be nearly impossible to hold anything extra inside. I haven't bought a new desktop pre-made in 2 or 3 years though, so lmk if things have radically changed. I know Dell hasn't, since I bought some for a client a few months ago that were like that.

The prefab computers are not hard at all to work on in this midsize configuration. As is this is a great price for a pretty powerful configuration that in no way could you build for the same money. The only thing that you would ever need to upgrade would be the power supply and graphics card - and that would be only if you were a serious gamer. 99.9% of people out there would not exceed the capacity of this videocard for gaming. Replacing Power supply, videocard and adding a Hard drive is very easy in this size case- I do it all the time. They make these cases very user friendly.

gak0090 wrote:The prefab computers are not hard at all to work on in this midsize configuration. As is this is a great price for a pretty powerful configuration that in no way could you build for the same money. The only thing that you would ever need to upgrade would be the power supply and graphics card - and that would be only if you were a serious gamer. 99.9% of people out there would not exceed the capacity of this videocard for gaming. Replacing Power supply, videocard and adding a Hard drive is very easy in this size case- I do it all the time. They make these cases very user friendly.

I agree i put a 550watt power supply and radeon5650 in this machine very easily. Even a shmuck like me could do it.

OK guys, quick question, I've never bought a refurb computer. If one buys this, do you get or is there a way to get the Windows 7 CD and recovery disk?

glendower wrote:Let's ban churches while we're at it, too.

I agree!!!! Or at least, let's make all non-profits pay property taxes!!!

botkin wrote:what is a TB? is this a ton of ram or does it refer to something else?

It's the current God of memory and storage. 1TB will take care of pretty much all of your needs as far as file storage goes.

I had an HP similar to this. I loved the card reader slots on the front. It is the one thing I miss on my new computer. I really wish more computers had those, I have to say HP did do that part right.

Does this video card HDMI and DVI support dual monitors?

ricadelide wrote:OK guys, quick question, I've never bought a refurb computer. If one buys this, do you get or is there a way to get the Windows 7 CD and recovery disk?

You do not get a windows 7 disk but the first thing you do when you get the computer is make your own recovery disk. it is very easy to do with windows 7. It takes about 2 hours. Hope this helps.

nmctwx wrote:Just a bit touchy subject matter in the blog tonight considering how close we are to 9-11.

Next thing you know, they'll want to build a mosque across from the Woot Headquarters.

There are offices there now, but there is a non-demoninational church next door, bent tree or something like that.

I drive past Woot every day to work.

TheGreenHornetVsKato wrote:Damn, so I can't play starcraft 2 on it???

SC II doesn't require anything really, not that "advanced" of a game as far as graphics are concerned.

Plus a guy on the I pooped. Just a little though. said he has this and plays SCII.

It should run just about everything, and graphics intesnive games at mid-low settings, but if you want pretty OOH AHH you'll need to update the PSU and GPU.

jakestonebender wrote:So, the commonly used verbal abbreviation should be "jiggs" instead of "giggs"? Not sure I would recommend that...

Gettin giggy wit it

ggoodpaster wrote:Does this video card HDMI and DVI support dual monitors?

NO

You do not get a windows 7 disk but the first thing you do when you get the computer is make your own recovery disk. it is very easy to do with windows 7. It takes about 2 hours. Hope this helps.

Thanks bop13!!

bop13 wrote:NO

But it does have hdmi port for hi-def monitors.

Couldn't you have this woot tomorrow too?? I mean, please have it tomorrow, I get paid tomorrow. Beautiful CPU for the price!!

bop13 wrote:But it does have hdmi port for hi-def monitors.

I hope so

the flavor text was kinda stupid today...

for $539...

http://www.onsale.com/p/HP-Desktop-Computers/product~dpno~8194980~pdp.gccbjcf

Jerboa wrote:Anyone have any idea how loud this thing runs? Perhaps knowledge of what metal the case is?

I've got this unit's sister HPE-112y, almost identical hardware inside. This unit is just about silent! It has 4 fans running on PS, CPU, Video card and case. Runs very cool and it is Fast. The case seems to be 'standard' sheet metal that HP has been using for years on their PCs.

Want it but can't have it
You should seriously consider shipping to Puerto Rico!!! I've been searching for a new computer for the past few days and when I find the one I want... can't have it... I guess my search continues.

This machine has a ton of power and runs whisper quiet. I bought one new with several discounts from ST**LES for about $700.