Computer Question

[alonewiththemoon]

Is this HP desktop a good deal for $599?  It's something I could get through my workplace, quantities are limited so fast answers would be good.  Bear in mind that my current system is about seven years old, so it wouldn't take much to be a distinct improvement.  I know the hard drive is not super huge, but that's what my current one is and there's still loads of room on it.  17" LCD monitor would add $199 to the price.


HP DC7700 with 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 80GB HD, and Combo Drive
Item #550E-36-90001
From Hewlett Packard

Specifications

Processor:
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86GHz)
• 2MB L2 Cache
• 1066-MHz front side bus Memory:
• 2GB PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) 2x1GB
• Expandable to 3 GB (3 slots, two occupied) Drives:
• 80GB SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drive
• Slim 24X/24X/24X/8X DVD-CDRW Combo Drive Graphics:
• Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 3000 graphics Communications:
• Gigabit ethernet (10/100/1000) Ports:
• Front:
  • 2 USB 2.0
  • 1 microphone in
  • 1 headphone/line-out
• Rear:
  • 6 USB 2.0
  • 2 PS/2
  • 1 audio in
  • 1 audio out
  • 1 RJ-45
  • 1 external VGA monitor
  Expansion Slots:
• 1 full-height PCI
• 1 low-profile PCIe x16
  (some slots may be occupied) Keyboard and Mouse:
• HP standard keyboard
• HP USB optical mouse Dimensions (h × w × d):
• 12.4 x 13.18 x 2.95 in Operating System:
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 Warranty:
• 3 years (parts/labor/next business day on-site) limited warranty

Comments

[alonewiththemoon]

Nope, XP Pro.

[fajera-danse.livejournal.com]

I'd get it.
We've never been let down by our HP's.
And, it still has win XP.. rather than the Vista nightmare.. I'd buy it for that alone.

[mittenstone.livejournal.com]

Once you add the monitor price, you can get a better and cheaper laptop from, say, Dell. So, I wouldn't bite. Probably not loaded with tons of good software, either, huh?

[alonewiththemoon]

hm, good points. I'd have to check on the software--the ad copy doesn't say so, but since this is a university it might have at least the Office suite.

[mittenstone.livejournal.com]

I'd check on that. The software alone may make it worthy of the price if you're OK with the hardware.

[mittenstone.livejournal.com]

I should probably add that I'm categorically anti-desktop. But that's probably because I haven't had room for anything in years between living in Boston and SF.

[silentq.livejournal.com]

Is this something for word processing, email, web browsing? Will you want to upgrade it later?
The extra RAM slot is good, but I'd worry a bit about just two slots for PCI/PCIe if you think you might need to support special hardware. Do you need to connect it to a printer?

[alonewiththemoon]

It would be for the activities you mentioned, plus occasional music editing and video editing. I'm not sure whether it's robust enough for that or not; since I just got a video camera, the video editing is probably going to become increasingly important to me.

It would need to connect to a printer, but all the other special hardware we've got has USB connectors.

[silentq.livejournal.com]

It doesn't look like it has a DVD burner though. More memory always helps. :)