Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Double Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive)

by HP

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 33 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000F3MG22
• Item model number: ER919AA#ABA
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 15, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Whether editing your family photos, balancing your online checkbook, or listening to your digital music collection, Compaq's SR1820NX offers a versatile, strong base for your home computing needs. Focusing on affordability, this desktop has room to grow with two available expansion slots (one 3.5-inch and one 5.25-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 160 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM, 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3400+ processor, dual-layer/multiformat DVD burner, a multi-format memory card reader, and Windows XP Home edition.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: The 160 GB hard drive (7200 RPM) is very large in size compared to other budge-conscious, family-oriented desktop PCs. It provides a good size for a wide range of software applications and a generously sized digital audio library as well as room enough for editing digital home video.
  
• Processor: AMD's Athlon 64 3400+ 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 1600 MT/s (mega transfers per second) 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 512 MB of installed RAM (PC3200) is enough to get you started, but you'll want to add more RAM to handle today's demanding multimedia and productivity suites. This desktop has a very good 4 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 1 GB).
  
• CD/DVD Drive: Offering the latest in DVD writing technology, the SR1820NX's multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing 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 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 16x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.

  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
This desktop features an integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150LE graphics/video card with up to 256 MB of shared video memory. It also offers an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable to 8 speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
For expansion, the SR1820NX has three PCI slots (two available), one PCI Express x16 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). It comes with the following external connectors:

• 7 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (3 in front--including 1 in memory card reader--4 in rear)
• 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
• 2 headphone (1 front, 1 rear)
• 2 microphone (1 front, 1 rear)
• 2 line-in (1 front, 1 rear)

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
This system comes with the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 operating system with Advanced Security Technologies, which helps to reduce unwanted downloads and pop-ups while surfing the Web. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Works 8.0 (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents), Symantec Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition (with 60 days of LiveUpdate), Encarta Encyclopedia 2005, Quicken New User Edition 2005, Microsoft Money 2005, Sonic DigitalMedia Plus, Sonic MyDVD Plus, Google Toolbar, PC Doctor, and HP Photosmart Premier for digital image editing and organizing.

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 SR1820NX 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, one-year technical phone service, and 90 days of software application support.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent computer for the money, May 14, 2006

By 

Chriscissors (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Double Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

Recently I got into playing computer games. In particular, one called Guild Wars. Unfortunately, I was playing on my boyfriends computer because my old Sony VAIO 866mhz Pentium could barely stand the strain of trying to play it. So, I was due for a new computer. I wanted to spend less than $500 for the CPU at most. (I'm saving to buy a house.) After about a month and a half of research, I realized a few things. Athlon's have gotten much better since I last went computer shopping. Their bus speed is almost equal to their CPU speed. I'm not going to say that I understand the full implications of this, however I will say what it made me think. It made me think that it can work as fast, or nearly as fast, as it thinks. Most Intel's have a 5X-6X difference between the CPU speed and bus speed. Topping out at 533mhz for the bus. Also, Athlon's are cheaper. Then enter this computer. I looked up the motherboard on HP's website. The motherboard is A8N-LA and has a 939 socket. What does this mean? The motherboard can take up to an X2 processor. This means, later on down the road, I can actually switch out the CPU to a dual core. That was the main selling point for me and what convinced me to buy it. I actually bought it from CompUSA a couple of weeks ago and now have the computer configured to exactly where I want it. I also got it for less than $400 thanks to a great sale they were having at the time.

The computer has 4 memory slots and comes with 2 256mb sticks preinstalled. After adding 2 sticks of 512mb of RAM, the system flies. (It really only needed one stick of 512, but with the money I saved I figured why not get all the RAM now?) I must say I also bought this computer with the "foreknwoledge" that I would need to upgrade the video ASAP. Well, after adding in the memory I am happy to announce that in fact, I do not need a video card yet. I can play Guild Wars with no problems whatsoever. My boyfriend's computer is a Pentium 2.5GHz and has a very nice graphics card. The compaq seems to run everything he can just as well, if not better. Also, I have to mention the audio. I kept my old speakers which are only 2.1 Yamaha's that I bought from Amazon a while back and which had excellent reviews. When I initially bought them a couple of years ago, I was somewhat disappointed. I didn't understand why everyone had rated them so high. Well, after connecting them to my new computer, I now see what everyone was raving about. The sound is now incredible, as though I'm listening to live performances. The realtek audio chip this comes with had some pretty nice software as well that is preinstalled on the computer. I haven't had use of the DVD's recording functions yet but the DVD seems to work fine itself. I can now play some DVD's that my old computer could not play or had a hard time playing. I have to mention though that the DVD tray is somethat flimsy and that once it is open, the only way to close it is to push it closed;no button for that. No problem there though since I installed a ultility to my desktop to open and close the drive door with my mouse. As for the hard drive, it's not the biggest at 160gb but it's quite an upgrade from my old 40gb. Now, I have the freedom to make an audio library on my hard drive. In addition, this can read several memory cards. A bonus since we have a digital camera that takes SD cards. Now, all we have to do is plug in the card itself.

The appearance of the computer is rather nice. As you can see in the picture, it's mostly black. The power button in the front is large and seems very sturdy. The LED light on the front is green. When the computer's asleep, the LED flashes. Which can be annoying in a dark room. But that's minor. Also, the computer is so quiet you can barely hear it when it's on. My old computer was very loud and you always knew when it was on. There's an extra bay for another hard drive or another DVD player if you must. Oh, also, if you don't have a mouse, buy one. This computer comes with a rollerball mouse and is made of a very stiff plastic that is very uncomfortable in your hand. Though I must admit the keyboard was nice but is very quiet. I kept my old keyboard since I prefer to hear a click when I type. Also, the power supply is only 300 watts. Which is fine as it's configured but later on down the road when you upgrade components, upgrading the power supply may be a must.


As for the software, I must admit this computer came rather bloated. I ended up deleting most of the preinstalled software. I reinstalled a lot of what I previously had with the help of old software discs I had on hand and my network hub which I connected to my old computer. One thing that concerned me is that it didn't come with a restore disk. But my boyfriend, who's more computer savvy, pointed out you can make a restore point on the computer so that if you install anything fishy, as long as you have that restore point, you can go back to it.

So, my verdict on this computer is this. Buy it! Yes, it's obviously not the best computer out there, but if you must have a computer and are budget conscious, you can't go wrong. Plus I believer right now there's a $[...] rebate.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice Mid-level Desktop from Compaq/HP, June 23, 2006

By 

Friendly_cl "cl" (dc) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Double Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

I have had this computer for over a month and I just like it. The tower looks very cool, you can hardly notice any noise from it. A LOT of USB, audio, memory card ports, and many are located in the front panel which is convenient. It has 4 memory slots so if you wanna get ready for Windows Vista, you just buy a pair of 512MB or 1 GB pc3200 memories and set up another dual-channel configuration. Amd 64-bit CPU is the best home-use cpu that in the market. Also the motherboard has an additional PCI-E slot. I just bought another fanless 7600GS video card and now I can play any 3D games. So if you can only afford a mid-level computer because of your tight budget, just get this one. And as this is a good upgradable machine, it will allow you to enjoy the top-level performance once you add in some memories and get a good video card.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC, July 3, 2006

By 

Super Mom (Granbury, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Compaq Presario SR1820NX Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Double Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive) (Personal Computers)

Seems to be an excellent desktop. Bought it for 2 of my sons. Has everything he wanted for web design, school use, downloading music, watching DVD's, gaming or just creating DVD's. Easy to use straight out of box. The AMD processor is fast & strong. I've been using a Dell for years and I think I'll buy myself one, next.