Compaq Presario SR1650NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer 16X DVD+/-R/RW Drive)

by HP

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 16.5 x 7.2 x 15.4 inches ; 24 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 24 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BC2FF0
• Item model number: ED881AA#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 9, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Whether editing your family photos, balancing your online checkbook, or listening to your digital music collection, Compaq's SR1650NX offers a versatile, strong base for your home computing needs. But it also adds Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 operating system for a wealth of multimedia options. Focusing on affordability, this desktop has room to grow with one available expansion slot (3.5-inch), 2 available PCI slots, 7 USB ports for connecting peripherals, and the ability to add up to 4 GB of RAM. This desktop comes with a large 160 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+ processor, multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual layer support, additional CD-ROM drive, and a multi-format memory card reader.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The 250 GB hard drive (7200 RPM) is super-sized when compared with other family-oriented desktops. It provides a good size for a wide range of software applications and a large digital audio library.
  
• Processor: AMD's Athlon 64 3500+ processor is built for tomorrow's 64-bit applications, which will require a processor with significant power. This 2.2 GHz processor offers a system bus with speeds up to a blazing 2200 MHz and 512 KB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance.) It includes such AMD features as HyperTransport Technology (which increases the communication between integrated circuits) and Cool'n'Quiet Technology that conserves power while also keeping the PC nicely quiet.
  
• Memory: The 1 GB of installed RAM (PC3200) is a good start, but you'll want to add more RAM to handle today's demanding multimedia and gaming software. This desktop has a very good 4 GB maximum RAM capacity.
  
• CD/DVD Drive: Offering the latest in DVD writing technology, this multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD+RW, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds. This desktop also comes with an additional 48x CD-ROM drive.

  This LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art .
  

• Keyboard & Mouse: It comes with a Compaq keyboard and scroller mouse (both with PS/2 connections.

Screen, Graphics and Sound
The integrated video/graphics card (with up to 128 MB of allocated video memory) is adequate for streaming Internet video, but won't be enough for today's demanding immersive 3D games. It also features an integrated audio card and headphone, microphone, and line-in jacks.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
For expansion, the SR1650NX has three PCI slots (two available), one PCI Express slot (available), two 5.25-inch external bays (one available), two external 3.5-inch bays (one available) and one internal 3.5-inch bay (occupied), and three PCI slots (two available). It comes with a built-in floppy drive and the following external connectors:

• 7 USB 2.0 ports (3 in front, 4 in rear) for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)
• 1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners
• 2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 9-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I and II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, and XD Picture Card

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
The pre-installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2) is essentially Windows XP Professional Edition with a variety of tools to help you to create, organize, and enjoy digital media ranging from music to home movies to photo slide shows. The Update Rollup 2 upgrade offers support for the Windows Media Center Extender technology built into XBox 360 game consoles, which lets you access entertainment from your Media Center PC--whether itÕs live and recorded TV and movies, music, photos or Online Spotlight--on any TV in the house. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Works (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents), HP Image Zone Express 1.5, Symantec Norton Antivirus 2005 (with 60 days of LiveUpdate), Encarta Encyclopedia 2005, Quicken New User Edition 2005, Microsoft Money 2005, RecordNow, WinDVD Player, Sonic DigitalMedia Plus, iTunes, and PC Doctor.

Dimensions and Weight
This desktop measures 15.4 x 7.2 x 16.5 inches (HxWxD) and weighs approximately 30 pounds.

What's in the Box
The Presario SR1640NX desktop PC comes with a power cord, keyboard, and scroller mouse. It is backed by a one-year warranty for parts and labor from date of purchase, and it includes 90 days of toll-free software technical assistance.

Product Description

Whether editing your family photos, balancing your online checkbook, or listening to your digital music collection, Compaq's SR1650NX offers a versatile, strong base for your home computing needs. But it also adds Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 operating system for a wealth of multimedia options. Focusing on affordability, this desktop has room to grow with one available expansion slot (3.5-inch), 2 available PCI slots, 7 USB ports for connecting peripherals, and the ability to add up to 4 GB of RAM. This desktop comes with a large 250 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3500+ processor, multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual layer support, additional CD-ROM drive, and a multi-format memory card reader.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great bang for your buck, October 4, 2005

By 

M. H. Taylor (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1650NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer 16X DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

When my old, self-built Thunderbird 1600 started dragging its feet when I was trying to convert RAW image files in PhotoShop I knew the time had come to upgrade. Looking around it quickly became apparent that I could no longer build my own PC for the price of a ready built one. Being a AMD loyalist I wanted another Athlon based machine which immediately ruled Dell out (as the people's PC only comes in the Intel flavor).

I wanted a pretty powerful machine for a good price and the Compaq Presario SR1650NX seems to be right in that sweet spot for me. For $700 I got the 64 bit 3500+ processor (pity the OS doesn't take advantage of 64 bit yet), 1 gig of memory, 250 gig SATA hard drive, a lightsribe DVD burner. I did my homework and what really attracted me to the SR1650NX was the room for expansion. A cheap PCIe dual head video card cost me $75 - I'm not a gamer but I do like my dual monitor set up. A second gig of memory cost less than $100 - the SR1650NX has 4 memory slots allowing a maximum of 4 gigs of memory if you can use it but Photoshop seems to run very nicely with 2 gigs. I moved a 350gig drive from my old PC to house my photo collection and projects. All this fit and worked in the SR1650NX without a problem.

I did spend quite some time uninstalling all the unwanted software from the SR1650NX before I could really move in and make myself at home but you have to expect some amount of advert-type applications on a ready built machine. The SR1650NX comes with XP media edition but I'm not really taking advantage of any of the extended features yet. My only other complaint is that the built in media reader seemed to be painfully slow to transfer data from my memory card to the PC, however, my external USB2 reader that sits on my desktop is more convenient as well as much faster anyway.

The kind of little upgrades I have made make this good machine, great for a total investment of less than $1k. Certainly I couldn't find anything else that gave quite the same bang for buck and I'm very happy with how my digital darkroom now performs. If you're in the market for a pretty powerful, home PC and you want an AMD processor the SR1650NX is certainly worth checking out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice computer, February 14, 2006

By 

Sandiego Bene` (Aviano, Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1650NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer 16X DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

I just bought this computer from our local Military exchange. I am overall pleased with it. I live overseas and was able to quickly connect to the internet with a local ISP in minutes. I tend to run several programs at once for photo editing and custom projects, and I love that I can switch between programs with no drag time at all. The large video card has enable us to finally play MOH games that our old system couldn't support.

My only issue is with all the pre-loaded stuff. I dislike Norton because it continually pops up in the middle of tasks and is as annoying as using IE.... but I won't get into that. I also don't care for the compaq organizer that pops up. However, going into add/remove programs fixes this quite easily.

I also delete all the hot deals, AOL... another annoying browser/isp/pia....

Overall this computer gives you alot for a decent price.

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm extremely happy with the Compaq SR1650NX, April 7, 2006

By 

Victor Solanoy (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1650NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer 16X DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

This system hasn't had a single glitch since I got it -- like Taylor, I spent some time removing unwanted software, and there's a ton of it.

I've been doing lots of Photoshop work on it,and it speeds along with no problems. I'm very happy with the 250 gig HD. I would say the only thing that this configuration is missing is the dedicated DVD player -- it has a DVD Writer, and the second drive is a CD-ROM.

The media reader is a little on the slow side and is very apparent when transfering 6 and 8 megapixel RAW files.

The system runs very quietly, even after 2 or 3 days of not being powered off.

Overall, I highly recommend this system.