Customer Reviews

HP Pavilion Elite M9160F Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 720 GB Hard Drive, Vista Home Premium 64-bit)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are several reasons why I've only given this computer three stars.

1. It doesn't come with a Vista 64 install disk. This makes it impossible to set it up as a Raid0. It's already set up in a non-raid configuration when you get it, and without a Vista 64 disk, you're stuck.

2. It's under-powered. This thing should really have at least a 500 watt power supply. This makes upgrading a chore, since you WILL have to swap out the power supply.

3. HD DVD: can you say Betamax?

4. The case is too small, and it's further cramped with those proprietary portable media bays. Who is actually going to buy one of those overpriced things when they can buy a 1 terrabyte external hard drive for less money?

5. The hard drives keep parking their heads (clicking) unless you turn off the power saving features.

6. It will be difficult to swap out the optical drives without buying them from HP because of their non-standard appearance.

7. Instead of 4 1GB RAM sticks, it should come with 2 2GB ones. Then upgrading to the maximum 8GB of RAM would be as simple as adding two more 2GB RAM modules. As it stands, you have to swap out all of the installed RAM and buy 4 2GB RAM modules.

Other than that, it's a fast quiet computer. Once you go quad-core, you won't go back. I can watch a movie, whilst running a virus check, whilst compiling a C program without any lag. Also, it's pointless having a 64 bit Operating system unless you're going to take advantage of the ability to install 8 gigabytes of RAM!

This computer is fast, quiet and extremely powerful for the price. I was a little worried about getting this computer becouse it was 64bit. have only found one program that wouldn't work. All the games I have work fine so far, Oblivion, WOW, Battlestations, Driver, etc.. Hooking up a TV through the HDMI cable works great, just make sure to run the video card at the same resolution as the tv, not the monitor. Changing channels on live tv seems a little sluggish, but I use the channel guide the most so dont notice it to much. I also have a Dell inspiron 531, dual core 2gb ram with the same video card and many of the same features. This HP runs quieter,faster, and was only about $200 more. I do video editing, burn DVD's, and put them on my PSP or Ipod very quickly with this computer. Gonna give the Dell to my mother for her B-day. Because it has 4GB RAM 1GB is automatically alloted to the OS, and being that it's a Quad core means that its pretty hard to slow it down. I've been able to rip/burn a dvd and watch a recorded TV show, while web browsing with absolutely no lag on the recorded show.This is definitely a computer that you'll want to use with an HDTV and the monitor. Be aware that it only comes with 1 DVI, 1 HDMI, 2 S-Video output. There is a VGA output but it doesnt work do to the Video card. Definitely the best computer I've found for the price.

I am giving this HP a 5 star rating with reservation, because it just is one sweet little computer, probably one of the most powerful machines for the money your can find.

It is fast, quiet and flawless in execution of operation. Vista 64 actually runs most of the old programs I enjoy including BF2 and COD4. Microsoft Flight Simulator X has to be seem to be believed with Direct X 10 on this machine! Havent loaded Crysis yet but I can imagine. So far have only found one program that would not run (32bt virius checker). The on board sound system has as good a sound and utility as any add on sound card I have had in the past including the SB Hi/Fi card.


Of course there is always somethings that needs to be addressed, This computer has limited expansion cabablities. If you dont need a phone moden than you can remove that and open one slot to work with. But other than that the machine comes pretty maxed out with card slots filled. One other thing I find a little on the light side is the power supply is only 400 watts. But adequate for the standard equipment supplied with the machine.

For what it is as it comes from the box, I like this computer very much. Others in this review section have talked about its ablity to multifunction very well. I know I run things on my desktop and game play does not get affected at all. That is amazing if you have ever tried it with a single core processor machine you know what I am talking about.

Just as my subject line says, I was SO wrong. I usually never write reviews for anything, unless it really sucked or pissed me off; however, I am obsessed with this computer right now. I was searching the market for a more than generous gaming computer, and I decided to get this one, although I've been told to either build my own or get a dell for their ability to be upgraded really well.

This computer is CRAZY fast(having owned a pentium 4 processor before), switching between applications is a breeze. I can be in the middle of playing Warcraft3 or UT3 while listening to music on iTunes and Alt+Tab to check my mail simultaneously and there is no wait time at all. Yet the GPU didn't really cut it for me(ASUS 8500GT)so I upgraded to a BFG 8800GT(although no HDMI input now). Damn, now I feel complete. Plus the 720gigs of hard drive space doesn't hurt either.

No problems with Vista so far or the computer in general like odd humming or BSOD(Blue Screen Of Death). Only thing that I really have a problem with is the expandability. Only one PCI-Ex16 slot(already taken by the factory GPU),and one PCI-E slot. I had to remove some wires and take out some cards in order to put in the new GPU I bought; very crammed and kinda frustrating. From what I've learned about HP's since back in the day, is that they don't like people messing with their products in the sense of upgrading or things like that; what you see is what you pretty much get.
The wireless keyboard and mouse look really clean and slick when they came out of the box but after a day of using it, they keyboard spazzed out on me in the middle of gaming. I haven't really researched if other people have had this problem, but it wouldn't pick up any key strokes or anything. It wasn't a connection problem either, so I just replaced it with my old one. Such a shame, it looked really classy too.

I bought the HP monitor(w2408h) with this computer together since they both come with HDMI output, and they compliment each other like coffee and cigarettes. I haven't used WMC(Windows Media Center) yet or connected it to a cable box to record tv, only because its a bit tedious for me.

All in all, I wanted a gaming computer that could handle even the most demanding of games such as Crysis (settings on very high/1024x work flawlessly) or Company of heroes, and couldn't be more pleased considering me being a crazy multi-tasker. I'd recommend this(m9105f) or the M9180F model only because it has a slightly faster processor speed, a TB hard drive and a 8800gt GPU.

Definitely a top notch machine and amazingly cheap! Great performance and runs VERY quiet. My only complaint is that there is not a ton of available slots for expansion.

Out of the box this is a great machine. The case is elegant and quiet. 3GB of ram is the optimal configuration for a box running 32-bit vista premium (4GB can't all be accessed). The TV card/Windows media center intergration is flawless. There are a decent about of usb ports, and I have yet to find anything to tax the cpu. The graphics card is a little bit of a letdown. The graphics card is a low end geForce 8400GS. While the rest of the pc's components manage a Windows Experience index of 4.4, the card lowers it to 3.5. Its fine for general use, but you'll only run into that issue if you plan to run a lot of high end games (e.g. crysis).

The only real down side of this machine is that it attempts to guide you down the path of more hp products by embedding a couple of ports for hp portable drives. The front of the machine has two slots avaiable. If you've ever looked for these drives, you'll quickly realize that they're more expensive than any external usb harddrive but are less compatible (read: will only work with another hp machine with the same ports). In addition to being a bad idea, the ports take up crucial real estate needed when trying to add additional drives or access memory modules. Bad HP. This isn't a deal breaker (I love mine), but something to be wary of. Overall a great system.

Have to admit that I lived with a single core pentium notebook for a long time. This machine (purchased at Best Buy) is just a terrific value. About the fastest Intel (I recommend staying away from AMD) quad cpu's currently on the market, 3gig memory, and a 750 gig 7200 rpm disk.

I was pleasantly surprised on two other counts. The utility software and web were easy to work with, and I had little trouble migrating all of my files and applications from my old PC. (PC Mover is a good product)

What really surprised me was the 24/7 technical support. I had two issues: 1. First is was attempting to create recovery disks on read/write dvd's. They nailed that one quickly and advised that the program requires one time writeable disks 2. Second time through the configuring of an HP all in one printer, i managed to erase the HP help and support files. That one took about an hour, however support was excellent. And yes in the second case it was provided by a foreign call center.

I purchased a two year extended warantee from Best Buy (Geek Squad), but am going to swap it for an extended warantee from HP.

Great performance, great value, and actually great support...i am not sure that is a combination i have ever experienced before.

This is a 'can't go wrong' product. Good luck, N.Rich

Good basic machine. Not very expandable, unless you plan to use vendor-specific USB hard drives. Only 1 PCI slot available.

I'll keep it short but sweet. This machine is great . It is easy to set-up and the features all work great. If I were to say something bad about it is that norton internet security, the security system it comes with, slows the system down to much; I would recommend another internet security system. I'm a college student and this system is perfect for my scholastic endeavors. I highly recommend it.

Follow up:
Oct. 11, 2008- Great computer! I would like to retract some previous advice. I stated above that you should buy different anti-virus software. Well I did and the results weren't so great. My computer caught a virus, and the anti-virus I got (kaspersky) wasn't powerful enough to save my info. But the computer works great. I called HP and they walked me through restoring my computer and told me that Norton is the best anti-virus for my PC. But it's a great computer. No doubt!

I'm using it work and for video editing and this is a very fast computer. I recomend it highly. If you are going to edit video, I suggest upgrading to 8 gigs, the 64bit Vista can handle it.