Gamers dream!
Written: May 01 '01
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Pros: Very diversified. A little of everything. On-board ethernet. Good price.
Cons: Case is a little large but some think that a plus. Crappy video card
The Bottom Line: Great machine for power hungry individuals. Great gaming machine with a few mods. VERY upgradable! HP scores again.
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| clbrunson's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion 8860 (P2941AR#ABA) PC Des... |
OK, so it might not have started out as the gamers dream, but this computer is HIGHLY upgradeable. I had just moved out of the HP 6740c (very small case, NOT upgradable!) when I bought this one. I was tickled pink with the size and power of this monster. It has a wopping 1.0 gig Athlon processor (for those of you that aren't very knowlegable in computer hardware, that is equal to a 1.4 gig Pentium 4), a 60 gig hard drive, 128 megs of pc133 ram, 12x dvd, 8-4-32 CDRW, 16 meg NVida TNT 2 graphics card (don't know about you, but that didn't impress me as a gamer), on-board ethernet (doesn't require a card slot), and front access usb and serial ports.
The price was right ($1150), so I bought it (always been a big HP fan), but as a gamer, I needed to make a few adjustments. First, I added a Radeon 32 meg DDR video card, more ram (another 128 megs) and then Sound Blaster Live! Platinum. As a gaming and multimedia machine, it was nearly unbeatable! Friends of mine couldn't believe the fps (frames per second) I was getting, and it got a 1950 score with Mark2001! My old computer with the same hardware got a score of 870.
Cons: My biggest gripe with this computer was the video card. When you pay this kind of money for a computer, you expect that everything will be upgraded equaly, but this card is the same one that is in most of HP's "off-board video" systems, even much cheaper ones. TNT may be a good brand, but this card is custom built for HP and obviously to lower specs then the stock 16 meg. This card wasn't even able to display DVD correctly (very low frame-rate) straight from the box using their DVD player and software! Doesn't make much sence, huh? However, after replacing the card with a much better one, all my problems went away.
As far as who this computer may be good for, it is definatly for more advanced users. Those new to computers may get a bit overwelmed. Also, those new to computers wouldn't need so much space and might find the case a little bulky. If you would like an idea as to a good starter computer, check my other opinions for a write-up on the HP 6740. That is a great little system that any "newbie" would enjoy.
Thanks for looking and feel free to leave any comments.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1150
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
clbrunson
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Location: Olive Branch (Memphis), Ms. USA
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
I'm a serious cyclist and a real tech freak. Love me or hate me.
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