devexityspace wrote:
I have an HP Pavilion and it works great, the customer service is actually why I stick with them-- Way better than Dell!

This comment completely blows my mind, as HP tech support was the single most painful thing I've ever willingly put myself through.

If you buy anything refurbished from HP and need any form of tech support with it, save yourself the headache of their phone "support." Either try email support, or request a case specialist for your issue. Trying to deal with the people on the phone results in agonizing futility between you and someone who does not have a firm grasp of the English language, nor the inner workings of a computer.

If you have to send it back in for repair, I highly suggest you completely troubleshoot the unit yourself to determine EXACTLY what is wrong with it, otherwise their repair department will mark off some sheet and send it back to you, still broken, possibly in worse condition. The only plus to this, is that they do foot the bill for shipping, and FedEx has conveniently located 24-hour offices.

The specs on this machine look great. Hell, if I hadn't recently bought a machine, I'd probably go for it, too, even with the knowledge of how absolutely horrendous HP's customer service is.
For $300 it's worth the risk, just be prepared should you have to get it repaired.



...seriously, my brain is still blue-screening over the "HP customer service is wonderful" thing. Granted, I've never owned nor dealt with Dell so I don't have a basis for comparison, but the only way Dell could be worse than HP is if they sent back a "repaired" computer and it was filled with poop. Literally.

nieltj wrote:Nobody has talked about Win 7 64 bit. Has that been around long enough now that drivers are plentiful?

Drivers are fine. It's the software that is so-so; much of it still runs in 32-bit compatibility mode. Even MS Office's X64 edition of the 2010 version is widely-regarded as a skip. Many others are either in beta mode for x64 or are silent on the issue.

It's getting there, but not yet. No, not yet.

theguruguys wrote:It will be just fine as is. Even the hard drive is 7200 RPM which seems rare around woot refurbs. You could bump of the ram down the road if needed, working with HD video is about the only thing that will push the 4gb is comes with.

Thanks

thanks for all the replies re 2 dvi monitors needing a new video card; why do i need a new power supply, what problems does a weak power supply cause? hard to believe there would be damage if they are shipping out with a weak supply?

thanks again!

This will make a great replacement for the craptastic Dell Dimension in my home office now!

shiframeir wrote:thanks for all the replies re 2 dvi monitors needing a new video card; why do i need a new power supply, what problems does a weak power supply cause? hard to believe there would be damage if they are shipping out with a weak supply?

thanks again!

Shouldn't need a new power supply unless you add a very power hungry graphics card. For video editing you shouldn't need that either, a modest dedicated graphics card will be fine if you want to speed things up a bit. The integrated graphics card on this is not bad at all considering it is integrated.

I've never had a problem with a power supply taking out a computer and I have had several POP and go out while in use.

You can get dual monitor out with the integrated graphics card, but one will need to be VGA.

Here is someone playing Crysis on a similar system with the same HD4200 integrated graphics card.

Casual FPS gaming is possible right out of the box.

Here is someone playing World of Warcraft on this exact system.

Okay, I'm in. Looks like a good PC deal for the family. would you recommend a Square Trade 2-year Warranty on this machine? ($67)

The fan over the CPU heatsink looks like a tiny, flimsy little fan..

I'm no expert but when I think 4 cores, I'm thinking this is gonna run hot when it's being used for intensive games (READ: this unit as-is will need a much more powerful power supply (500-600W) and a better graphics card (PCI-E 16x) before it's fit for such gaming)

I just don't feel like that little fan (or the smaller heatsink), which is the same sort of fan I put on my Motherboard's northbridge. It felt flimsy and easy to break, and in fact it was even shipped (as intended for a fan over my northbridge's heatsink) half-broken, and I had to repair the fan housing myself. Compare that little thing to what I put on my Dual Core Intel CPU, (copy & paste this link) http://rizovski.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/intel775fan.gif?w=550

I'm not saying the AMD CPU is bad, or that it WILL overheat.. I'm just saying I don't trust the "common" fan or a small heatsink for my CPU. And it doesn't look like that motherboard can handle a larger fan/heatsink combo without some heavy (AND VERY EXPERIENCED ONLY) modification. I wouldn't try to force it at all.

Additionally: I can't see how many SATA ports that mobo has in the images, because the power cables obscure the view of where the HDD plugs in at, but if that's only one SATA port on there, then count me as completely turned off to this sale. It's true that 1TB is a lot of space, but with people downloading more digital content at high quality (music, movies, OMGOMGOMGPONIESOMG PONIES!. many videogames, MMO's included) that Terabyte gets used up pretty fast. And what about room for a back-up drive? (although there are go-arounds for this, I'd much rather have the option for a RAID setting with 2 HDD's in the box.) Does anyone know the made/model of the Motherboard featured in this refurbished model? It would solve a lot of questions/worries.

And does anyone know what brand of HDD ships with this refurbished model?

I bought the same refurbished machine about a year ago. When it works, it's great--really fast. But the motherboard has already needed to be replaced twice.

jade504 wrote:This comment completely blows my mind, as HP tech support was the single most painful thing I've ever willingly put myself through.

I agree, Dell customer service has been much better than HP in my experience.

I've had two extremely frustrating experiences with HP customer service and several very pleasant experiences with Dell customer service.

I would love to pull the trigger on this since I need a computer and like this deal. But having seen these on woot so many times, the success rate of these machines must be terrible. And the prospect of having to deal with HP if something goes wrong is a dealbreaker for me.

I'm not a big fan of HP at all. They do so much with their products now to prevent any kind of user customization by their customers.

I don't recommend this to anyone who might be interested in upgrading this tower down the line. You WILL run into problems doing so.

jade504 wrote:This comment completely blows my mind, as HP tech support was the single most painful thing I've ever willingly put myself through.

If you buy anything refurbished from HP and need any form of tech support with it, save yourself the headache of their phone "support." Either try email support, or request a case specialist for your issue. Trying to deal with the people on the phone results in agonizing futility between you and someone who does not have a firm grasp of the English language, nor the inner workings of a computer.

If you have to send it back in for repair, I highly suggest you completely troubleshoot the unit yourself to determine EXACTLY what is wrong with it, otherwise their repair department will mark off some sheet and send it back to you, still broken, possibly in worse condition. The only plus to this, is that they do foot the bill for shipping, and FedEx has conveniently located 24-hour offices.

The specs on this machine look great. Hell, if I hadn't recently bought a machine, I'd probably go for it, too, even with the knowledge of how absolutely horrendous HP's customer service is.
For $300 it's worth the risk, just be prepared should you have to get it repaired.

...seriously, my brain is still blue-screening over the "HP customer service is wonderful" thing. Granted, I've never owned nor dealt with Dell so I don't have a basis for comparison, but the only way Dell could be worse than HP is if they sent back a "repaired" computer and it was filled with poop. Literally.

There are American phone agents, and most of them actually know what the hell they're talking about as far as computers, too. Chat agents, as far as I know, are always overseas, and are generally way more incompetent (I know, that sounds unpossible, but it's true).

Advice for anyone buying this: GET A CARE PACK. Refurbished units are eligible for the usual suite of warranty extensions, which means for $79.99 you can get a full 2 year hardware warranty with in-home repair service on broken parts. Just call tech support and tell them you want to extend your warranty.

RHaas wrote:Okay, I'm in. Looks like a good PC deal for the family. would you recommend a Square Trade 2-year Warranty on this machine? ($67)

Chances are the hard drive or power supply will be the only things that would go bad. Both would cost about the price of the warranty. I'm not sure how squaretrade handles computer failure (if you have to ship it back to them and they fix or if they will send you a replacement part?) I usually stay away from extended warranties on computer, but with an HP refurbished machine, and at this price, it may be worth it as you are still getting out at around $360. Tough call.

rikua wrote:
Additionally: I can't see how many SATA ports that mobo has in the images, because the power cables obscure the view of where the HDD plugs in at, but if that's only one SATA port on there, then count ...........OMITTED FOR SPACE .............

featured in this? It would solve a lot of questions/worries.

You do realize this is a BUDGET machine at this price? To get everything you are worried about, you will need to pay more.

theguruguys wrote:You do realize this is a BUDGET machine?

Budget smudget, I'm just cheap.

rikua wrote:Budget smudget, I'm just cheap.

I know the feeling! Sometimes easy to get carried away though. Grab a cheap SATA PCI-e card if needed.

Gotweed04 wrote:I'm not a big fan of HP at all. They do so much with their products now to prevent any kind of user customization by their customers.

I don't recommend this to anyone who might be interested in upgrading this tower down the line. You WILL run into problems doing so.

While I don't really like HP, it has been awhile since I have come across one of their cases that prevented normal upgrades. Sure you won't be able to fit a high end graphics card in this thing (to do so would require a much better power supply, better cooling, and of course the physical space as they won't fit), but you can easily enough upgrade the ram, power supply, hard drive, optical drives... basically the stuff most normal users may need to replace one day.

theguruguys wrote:I know the feeling! Sometimes easy to get carried away though. Grab a cheap SATA PCI-e card if needed.

Naw, see if I got this, it would be as a building block to grow upon for gaming. upgrading power supply; no problem. Flimsy case; manageable. HDD already there; no problem. CPU; maybe a problem. Lack of SATA ports; problem. Have to buy my own gaming Graphics card; manageable, but would take up the 16x slot.

theguruguys wrote:Chances are the hard drive or power supply will be the only things that would go bad. Both would cost about the price of the warranty. I'm not sure how squaretrade handles computer failure (if you have to ship it back to them and they fix or if they will send you a replacement part?) I usually stay away from extended warranties on computer, but with an HP refurbished machine, and at this price, it may be worth it as you are still getting out at around $360. Tough call.

DEFINITELY GET AN EXTENDED WARRANTY! Sorry for shouting, but this is a refurb. I had a brand new HP and thank goodness I had an extended warranty, because I had to use it on more than one occasion. I am thinking of picking this one up also, but I wouldn't even consider it without the possibility of extending the warranty.

rikua wrote:Naw, see if I got this, it would be as a building block to grow upon for gaming. upgrading power supply; no problem. Flimsy case; manageable. HDD already there; no problem. CPU; maybe a problem. Lack of SATA ports; problem. Have to buy my own gaming Graphics card; manageable, but would take up the 16x slot.

Yeah, I wouldn't start with a budget computer as a building block for a gaming PC. You can get these parts (aside from Windows) for about the same price and have a better power supply and a case that may be large enough to fit a higher end power supply. This would be a horrible start to a gaming machine, but good enough for just about everyone else.

EDIT: To clarify, when I mention a gaming machine I usually am referring to something much more powerful than what a casual gamer would use. This one will suffice for many casual gamers.

theguruguys wrote:You do realize this is a BUDGET machine at this price? To get everything you are worried about, you will need to pay more.

What, so when they lowered the price, they took out some of the SATA ports?

How about dropping the patronizing attitude and just telling us how many SATA ports it does have, "guru guy".

Anybody have tips for moving files and programs from my old pc to this new one?

theguruguys wrote:Yeah, I wouldn't start with a budget computer as a building block for a gaming PC. You can get these parts (aside from Windows) for about the same price and have a better power supply and a case that may be large enough to fit a higher end power supply. This would be a horrible start to a gaming machine, but good enough for just about everyone else.

EDIT: To clarify, when I mention a gaming machine I usually am referring to something much more powerful than what a casual gamer would use. This one will suffice for many casual gamers.

So I don't really plan on playing that many games. I'm mainly looking for something to play sc2, left for dead 2, and diablo 3 (when it comes out) and decent to good settings.

Will this machine let me do that? If not, could it be upgraded easily to allow these things?

rikua wrote:The fan over the CPU heatsink looks like a tiny, flimsy little fan..

I'm no expert but when I think 4 cores, I'm thinking this is gonna run hot when it's being used for intensive games (READ: this unit as-is will need a much more powerful power supply (500-600W) and a better graphics card (PCI-E 16x) before it's fit for such gaming)

I just don't feel like that little fan (or the smaller heatsink), which is the same sort of fan I put on my Motherboard's northbridge. It felt flimsy and easy to break, and in fact it was even shipped (as intended for a fan over my northbridge's heatsink) half-broken, and I had to repair the fan housing myself. Compare that little thing to what I put on my Dual Core Intel CPU, (copy & paste this link) http://rizovski.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/intel775fan.gif?w=550

I'm not saying the AMD CPU is bad, or that it WILL overheat.. I'm just saying I don't trust the "common" fan or a small heatsink for my CPU. And it doesn't look like that motherboard can handle a larger fan/heatsink combo without some heavy (AND VERY EXPERIENCED ONLY) modification. I wouldn't try to force it at all.

Additionally: I can't see how many SATA ports that mobo has in the images, because the power cables obscure the view of where the HDD plugs in at, but if that's only one SATA port on there, then count me as completely turned off to this sale. It's true that 1TB is a lot of space, but with people downloading more digital content at high quality (music, movies, OMGOMGOMGPONIESOMG PONIES!. many videogames, MMO's included) that Terabyte gets used up pretty fast. And what about room for a back-up drive? (although there are go-arounds for this, I'd much rather have the option for a RAID setting with 2 HDD's in the box.) Does anyone know the made/model of the Motherboard featured in this refurbished model? It would solve a lot of questions/worries.

And does anyone know what brand of HDD ships with this refurbished model?

Motherboard specifications:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02560084&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=5049513

It has 4 SATA ports. Also, the HSF mount should, but don't rely on this, be standard AM3. I'm pretty sure the holes are standard AM3, anyway.

In any case, stock cooling is fine; the BIOS on an OEM unit will not allow overclocking, in any case, and the stock HSF will handle the normal temps for that processor (it's rated to 95w TDP).

The brand of HDD will most likely be either Seagate, Hitachi, or WD. All three are possible in any HP model.

suntiger wrote:**specs**

thumbs up!

Any reson not to get this???

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 (p4 3Ghz) with virtulz 0 problems, also have a HP Pavillion P4 2.8Ghz, that has had 2 PS & 4-5 Video cards replaced. Both are same age. PassMArk just gave my CPU a 744.4 & video a 450/195 (2D/3D)

The HP of course is mine, and I just lost 1 of the 2 original HD's last week, so I'm sure the other is not far behind.

I'm mainly office/web user, occasional light graphics game; but I really need to be able to edit HD movies & burn to DVD's. My last video card I have is a Nvida ge210 512M (passmark reports as 1G) if this is better than the onboard video, and I have a Corsair 400W PS as a backup. I'd be keeping my old 20" flat lcd screen w/dvi ports.

So is this machine going to work for me, even tho I don't like HP?

Also looks like @ crucial 4Gb = $30 8Gb = $60...

etfrisco wrote:Cheaper to get an HD Media player like the WD Live or Zinwell - check Meritline.

best/inexpensive for streaming media and adding lots of channels besides netflix is a Roku. Most expensive model is only $99.

theguruguys wrote:While I don't really like HP, it has been awhile since I have come across one of their cases that prevented normal upgrades. Sure you won't be able to fit a high end graphics card in this thing (to do so would require a much better power supply, better cooling, and of course the physical space as they won't fit), but you can easily enough upgrade the ram, power supply, hard drive, optical drives... basically the stuff most normal users may need to replace one day.

HP used to be good, but it turned sour after buying/merging with Compaq. I used to always get HP machines, then they started getting bad, mostly with the laptops, with a lot of overheating issues. Customer Service is one of those regional things. Some regions were good for it, others bad. And upgrading a HP is 50/50. Certain things are difficult, others easy, but it all depends what's proprietary on the machine to start with (and it's rarely 100%!)

As far as using this as a base to build a "dedicated gaming" PC (not casual games), that's why I'm so full of questions over it. I'm trying to figure out if there's enough in this package that's salvageable, to the point where it equals the cost I would take on for building my own PC from scratch. Kind of a "time/effort saver" .. But it's looking like a big N-O.

suntiger wrote:Motherboard specifications:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02560084&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=5049513

Good spec look-up! Thank you.

playfulotter wrote:Anybody have tips for moving files and programs from my old pc to this new one?

Windows 7 has a program built it that will transfer all your files. I don't know any technical stuff for computers but it was so simple even i managed to do it without calling one of the kids.

LarryCebula wrote:I am thinking of quitting my cable package and getting a media center PC to hook up to the TV for Netflix and Hulu and the like. Would this do the trick?

Yes, and if you add a tuner card, the built in PVR/ Media center is better than a cable DVR setup.
I have now 2 very similar HP quad core's, (even look the same) The first one I got was advertised as a media center, and had 2 Hauppauge HVR 1600 cards installed. I liked it so much, I bough another one last week off CL to replace my old work computer.

Only drawback is the lack of expansion slots on the motherboard. Otherwise it runs great.

jade504 wrote:This comment completely blows my mind, as HP tech support was the single most painful thing I've ever willingly put myself through.

If you buy anything refurbished from HP and need any form of tech support with it, save yourself the headache of their phone "support." Either try email support, or request a case specialist for your issue. Trying to deal with the people on the phone results in agonizing futility between you and someone who does not have a firm grasp of the English language, nor the inner workings of a computer.

If you have to send it back in for repair, I highly suggest you completely troubleshoot the unit yourself to determine EXACTLY what is wrong with it, otherwise their repair department will mark off some sheet and send it back to you, still broken, possibly in worse condition. The only plus to this, is that they do foot the bill for shipping, and FedEx has conveniently located 24-hour offices.

The specs on this machine look great. Hell, if I hadn't recently bought a machine, I'd probably go for it, too, even with the knowledge of how absolutely horrendous HP's customer service is.
For $300 it's worth the risk, just be prepared should you have to get it repaired.

...seriously, my brain is still blue-screening over the "HP customer service is wonderful" thing. Granted, I've never owned nor dealt with Dell so I don't have a basis for comparison, but the only way Dell could be worse than HP is if they sent back a "repaired" computer and it was filled with poop. Literally.

I didn't "blue-screen" like you, but the pro-HP Customer Service comment DID make me laugh out loud. +100 on all your points, especially on your use of the word "painful"...

I've never opened up an HP refurb that looked as though it had actually BEEN refurbished. Most don't even get cleaned. I even had one with no transfer paste on the CPU. It kept locking up and rebooting. Sad, really.

The plus factor here is that the machines in question aren't all that old so hopefully they're in better physical condition.

1st woot and I instantly get a phishing email from the "FDIC" about the security of my credit card. Can't wait to get the computer, phishing ass wipes can suck my balls.

dustyrogers wrote:Can you upgrade the psu on these easily? I thought most PC makers used proprietary units typically... far as I know Dell always has anyhow.

No, Power supplies are pretty easy to replace. You just need to make sure the new one has enough power and enough connectors. It is usually 4 screws and then plug all the wires into their respective connectors and you are done.

If this deal had popped up in three more bloody days...I need a beater system. Achvell, next time woot, NEXT TIME!

shiframeir wrote:could i run 2 dvi monitors on the current video card (with a y-splitter dvi plug)? or will i need a new card?

I have 2 very similar HP models, and either of them can run 2 monitors, but they both only have 1 DVI port.

This one has a DVI, a HDMI and an s-video connector.
The other has a DVI, an HDMI and a VGA connector.

It handles both monitors well, in high resolution (one 1080p TV and a 24" 1400x?), but again, even though it has 3 connectors, the GPU will only handle 2 displays.

bryanw20 wrote:Any reson not to get this???

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 (p4 3Ghz) with virtulz 0 problems, also have a HP Pavillion P4 2.8Ghz, that has had 2 PS & 4-5 Video cards replaced. Both are same age. PassMArk just gave my CPU a 744.4 & video a 450/195 (2D/3D)

The HP of course is mine, and I just lost 1 of the 2 original HD's last week, so I'm sure the other is not far behind.

I'm mainly office/web user, occasional light graphics game; but I really need to be able to edit HD movies & burn to DVD's. My last video card I have is a Nvida ge210 512M (passmark reports as 1G) if this is better than the onboard video, and I have a Corsair 400W PS as a backup. I'd be keeping my old 20" flat lcd screen w/dvi ports.

So is this machine going to work for me, even tho I don't like HP?

Also looks like @ crucial 4Gb = $30 8Gb = $60...

The p4 is little faster than an atom processor, the mhz is misleading. This system wipes the floor with that old computer.

Only issue is upgrading the gpu if you want to game. Probably can handle a low mid end gpu with built in psu. Vdieo editing/encoding heavily core dependent, 4 core is good.


Mainly the drive on such an old p4 system is very low density and thus slow, and all those parts..and now at high % chance of death..like a 20 yr old car, time to not rely on it anymore.

Thanks. First thing I'm doing is buying a bigger box and PSU and transferring my drives.

suntiger wrote:Motherboard specifications:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02560084&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=5049513

It has 4 SATA ports. Also, the HSF mount should, but don't rely on this, be standard AM3. I'm pretty sure the holes are standard AM3, anyway.

In any case, stock cooling is fine; the BIOS on an OEM unit will not allow overclocking, in any case, and the stock HSF will handle the normal temps for that processor (it's rated to 95w TDP).

The brand of HDD will most likely be either Seagate, Hitachi, or WD. All three are possible in any HP model.

theguruguys wrote:For the price this is a great machine, WAY more than enough power for the office or home. I almost want to recommend it to a customer of mine, but...

Be sure to open the unit up when you get it and make sure it is clean inside, the last time I jumped on an HP refurbish desktop offer that was this good it came full of dust.

The CPU fan/heatsink looked like this:

A refurb showing signs of wear, and one easily rectified by that? God forbid.

LarryCebula wrote:I am thinking of quitting my cable package and getting a media center PC to hook up to the TV for Netflix and Hulu and the like. Would this do the trick?

Honestly, a toaster could nearly work as an HTPC. Go for it.