Any thoughts on HP all-in-one desktop pc quality etc?

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gzt

10979 posts

Uber Geek

# 77101 10-Feb-2011 22:52

A friend of mine is planning to buy an HP 200 5240a all-in-one desktop pc (new) for $1400.

His main activities are amateur photography (including some video from same still camera) and TradeMe, nothing too serious.

The spec seems ok, and even slightly better than the dell all-in-ones for the money.

No room for upgradability, but that is acceptable.

Anything I might be missing, particularly on the photography/screen side of it? Any other comments about this brand/configuration?

Core 2 Duo E7500 (Wolfdale) 2.93 GHz (65W)

Display 54.61 cm (21.5 inch) Thin-Film Transistor LCD displayResolution 1920 x 1080 (16:9 aspect ratio) Colors 16.7 millionColor Gamut 68% ~ 72% Response time 5 ms (on/off)Contrast ratio 1000:1 Image brightness up to 250 nits

1066 MHz front side bus

Socket 775

Intel G45

MotherboardManufacturer: Quanta

Motherboard Name: ZN6HP

Power supply 180W

Memory Installed 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)

Maximum allowed 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) (64-bit OS) / 4 GB* (2 x 2 GB) (32-bit OS)

Speed supported PC3-10600 MB/sec

Type 204 pin, DDR3 SO-DIMMs

Hard drive 750 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)7200 rpm

Slim Tray 8x Supermulti DVD Drive with Lightscribe

Wireless802.11 b/g/n PCI express wireless half-length mini card

nVidia GeForce G210512 MB memory

The system provides an LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) output for the card.

Sound/Audio Integrated High Definition audio

Audio codec: Realtek ALC269

Supports 2 audio channels through an analog connection

Network (LAN)Integrated 10/100/1000 Base-T networking interface

Memory card reader Integrated onto motherboard

2W internal speakers

Built-in webcam

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

powerforce

162 posts

Master Geek

# 438295 11-Feb-2011 14:13

Quite Honestly, if you want the best bang for your buck you should build the PC yourself. (or buy from a company such as computerlounge or playtech)

Its not very hard to do, infact it can even be fun. Doing all the research on parts, how to put it together etc and you will learn alot along the way.

for $1400 you could build/buy a much more powerful machine.

gzt

10979 posts

Uber Geek

# 438324 11-Feb-2011 15:28

powerforce: Quite Honestly, if you want the best bang for your buck you should build the PC yourself.

I agree with your comments. Unfortunately my friend is very non-technical, and outside the main centres. Also, I will be unable to provide support when he needs it. He seems keen on the all-in-one concept and willing to pay a little more for it, up to this point anyway.

Last time he purchased a machine a few years ago I advised him to take it back (celeron!) so this time he is checking with me before opening the box.

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

# 438424 11-Feb-2011 19:50

it seems a little out of date now. It is still the old C2D CPU. Also graphics are not that hot. If he is just looking for an ok computer to get by, he should be fine with it is good enough for playing around on and doing daily computing tasks. Amazing that we can now say that about a computer that 5 years ago would have seemed ridiculously fast! The all in one thing is good and keeps the desk free and uncluttered.

If he wants to get serious though, he needs to be looking at far better GPU as adobe photoshop CS4 and the other programs in the adobe creative suite can now take advantage of GPU acceleration to push the picture processing. If he decides this would be good in the future, he would be out of luck with an all in one. I would research if the current GPU is supported for this, but I dont think it is.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/405/kb405445.html

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

cyril7

7092 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

# 438427 11-Feb-2011 20:14

If your client is really into Photo Shop then spending the premium coin on an apple solution is well worth the effort. I dont normally recommend OSX, but depending on the client and their needs they may well love you for ever for pointing them at a Mac.

Cyril