Customer Reviews

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Desktop (1.7-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB hard drive)

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

 

 

This is my second HP. It' a great value and a really fast machine. The one flaw is it does not come with recovery cd's or an xp cd. It's all loaded on the hard drive. So you don't really get 80gb because 10 gb is used up by the recovery program. If you want to custom configure the machine you have to go out and buy a separate copy of xp yourself. Even with that it's a great deal. If not getting the recovery cd doesn't bother you then get it.

Watch out for HP Pavilion "support." HP answers the phone during the warranty support, but once you go on the extended contract, HP is no longer the manager of the support. If you try to cancel your extended contract, HP keeps 75% of the money you paid and there is no recourse - even if you don't get any service. I found the basic HP support hot-line to be almost useless. The answer to everything is "we need you to format your hard drive". I have 3 Pavilions and I guess I was fairly stupid. I will not buy another.

Bought this unit 48 hours ago, and have already been through two CPU's because of the modem. According to HP's tech support, MS XP-incompatible Lucent modems are being installed simply to get the units on the shelves for X-mas. Will stick with Gateway and Dell in the future. At least there is 'some' quality control.

The reality is that this HP computer is as good as any of the others and has just about the same configuration as Sony, Compaq, IBM, Dell etc. The system was easy to hook up, is fast enough for 95% of the people who buy them. What sold me on the HP 7965 is that it has a sizable hard drive, comes with 512K ram (expansion to 1G) and hit my price point.

The only complaint I have is that it's somewhat ugly looking compared to the Sony and, doesn't have a very good manual to help undestand how to change some of the settings on the internet keyboard buttons. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the "connect" button to fire up the MSN service vs. AOL.

Beyond that, it's a super computer. I didn't buy the HP 19" monitor due to cost and it's seriously ugly. I went with a ViewSonic for $250 after the $50 rebate. All in all, the system is a good one. Loading digital pictures is a snap.

I would recommend the system as long as it hits the $ you have in mind (if the Sony 1.8GHz model had the ability to upgrade the ram from 512K to 1G, I would have bought that unit for an additional $100).

This computer is worth more than what I paid for. I went with the whole package from Circuit City and got the monitor and printer with It (the mx-75 and the 940c) along with my rebates, the monitor practictly paid for itself, but even without the rebates, the computer itself was more than worth it. I've had no problems with anything, and the ram and hard drive are amazing! go to (...) website and custom make your computer with everything this computer has along with a 17 inch flat screen monitor and a printer that prints 12 ppm and see how much you'll pay. one of my favortie things about this computer is the modem, that in someones earlier review criticized. i love it, i connect (dial-up) in like 15 seconds, and my downloads are amazingly fast. unlike sony's computers, this came with microsoft works, not to mention some awesome games. burning CD's is easy as 1-2-3, put in a blank CD and the easy to use burning software, created by HP, starts up. This computer is the best. its a multimedia/office/gameing/internet computer in one, and you won't regret this one!!!!!!! of course, i HIGHLY recomend it!!!!!!

This is my first computer and I am absolutely impressed with it. The speed and performance is great and its looks and design are just as good. I also like the keyboard and the electronic mouse is much better than a roller ball. From reading the reviews on not having the Window XP CD, I am a little disappointed with this too. Hopefully I won't need to reload.

When I first bought this computer, I was very impressed with it. It had a nice balance of power, memory, performance, ease of use and price. I was an Apple user and this was my first Windows machine. I did not have any difficulties with adjusting to this machine.

Before this computer turned 2 years old, I got a message that said my hard drive was about to fail. Then I could no longer boot from the hard drive. I called customer support, which consisted of some guy in India who put some US customer support person out of a job. He was no help at all. I told him that I needed a recovery disk. Of course, after a half an hour, he said he would send me one after paying HP $10. I was outraged at the fact that I would have to pay HP money for what should have been provided free since I bought the computer, and theoretically all of the software (including the operating system) which was contained on the hard disk. But I had no choice since I need the recovery disk to either try to salvage my hard drive or to place a new one. I think I'll buy Dell next time.

Hey there!

I want to take the time to review my new HP. First of all, I work with an Imac G3 at school, and it's less fun than using my personal PC at home. This computer (HP 7965) is a great machine with a remarkable speed. I can finally do the work required to practice my Computer Graphics course while not at school. My old computer had a hard drive of 16 gig. I am so happy to have a machine which can handle more than one program at one time.

My machine came with the Windows HP home edition included, and it has never been easier to install myself on a computer before.
There are lots of beautiful backgrounds you can choose from for wall papers and screen-savers. Personally, I like the moon over the mountains one. Gorgeous!
The Polk Audio speakers may be tiny, but they know how to produce a strong sound frequency whilst listening to my DVDs and CDs. Speaking of DVD/CDs, the whole apparatus handles playing music and movies pretty well. I don't even need to buy a regular home DVD player now. I like the idea of working on the net while being able to hear music at the same time.

And the english/french keyboards? Well, the soft, light touch is wonderful. No more loud, sticking keys while typing. Typing is easier to do on the angle the keyboard stands at. I think this PC is a true jewel for a person who has always worked on a slow, out-dated macine. Hewlett Packard has definitely lived up to its name in quality. I do not regret investing in a PC right now, considering I use an Imac 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. One more thing, the sleek, lightness of the model is easy to stick in the corner of your desk. Mine is under the desk, on a table, out of the way.

I hope my short but really honest review has helped you. Go out and buy yourself an HP desktop computer today!

I switched from an Apple G3 (that nearly drove me insane) to PC land, yeehaw! Now I do everything that I wanted to do with the Apple AND I don't have to be a computer specialist or spend hours with tech support. In the old days, it was un-thinkable to edit video with PC's and those days are oover. Macintosh is for little kids, students, and creative professionals- this is the way to fly.

My Pavilion seems to perform fine and I would recommend buying it unless you are concerned that it ships with Windows XP preloaded. That means you don't get a CD with XP on it and you don't get a Recovery CD and you don't get the MS Backup software that is shipped on the Windows XP CD.

What you get from other manufacturers on CDs is instead put in a hidden (recovery) partition by HP. This reduces the useable size of your hard disk by about 7 GB. It isn't much of an issue unless your hard drive crashes. If it does, you have to return the hard drive to HP who will send you another preloaded hard drive. If this happens after the warranty expires, HP will charge for replacing the hard drive, but I have not been able to find out the cost. If you want to replace your working hard drive with a bigger one, you can but it is not as simple as it used to be. You have to buy a program like Norton Ghost (...) and it may or may not work.

You also have to buy your own backup software since none is preloaded by HP (even though it is included on the Windows XP CD if you were to buy your own copy.)

In fairness to HP, there may be some advantages to shipping the Pavilion with XP preloaded, but I have not been able to find out what they might be.