A quad-core, Blu-ray, Windows 7 desktop for $650
Quad-core? Check. Blu-ray? Check. Free Windows 7 upgrade? Check!
(Credit: HP)Update: Sorry, folks, looks like the discount code has expired.
If you're in the market for a new desktop that's equally well-suited to games and movies, HP has a ridiculously good deal going. It's the HP Pavilion Elite e9110t, which you can get for $649.99 shipped after a few configuration tweaks and a coupon code.
The tiger in the tank, Intel's 2.33GHz Core 2 Quad Q8200 processor, roars along with 6GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and a 512MB GeForce G210 video card. Those are some kick-ass specs.
Other highlights: a Blu-ray drive with LightScribe-DVD capabilities, an 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter, and a 15-month subscription to Norton Internet Security 2009 (aka the good version).
Perhaps best of all, the system comes with Windows Vista Home Premium but is eligible for a free Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade come October 22.
By the way, this is a new Pavilion, not a refurb, so you get HP's full one-year warranty. Here's how to put it all together, courtesy of DealNews:
- Ctrl-click this link to open the product page in a new tab.
- Click the Customize & Buy button next to the $649.99 option.
- Click the Memory option and choose the free 6GB upgrade.
- Click the Primary CD/DVD Drive option and choose the Blu-ray player.
- Click the Networking option and choose the Wireless-N LAN card and external modem.
- Click Review & Buy, then apply coupon code DTM4558.
Presto! That should get you out the door for $649.99. In an ideal world, this system would also have a TV tuner (which you can add for $80), but it's still one of the best desktop deals I've ever seen.
HP's various discounts on this system end Aug. 15, so you've got a little time if you want to shop around. I'll be mighty surprised if you can find a better configuration for the money.
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog. 
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/gateway-sx2800-01/4505-3118_7-33699400.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Although I had some initial grief with my HP, ultimately it's been a terrific system.
Now if I just had $700 laying around....
Seriously, this "deal" has trouble written all over it. I recommend buyers instead look to a refurb. Dell and add Kaspersky AV. They'll be glad they did.
HP is a great brand in my opinion, I've had several more problems with this DELL I'm typing on right now (that's only two years old.....). And the gateway we had 10 years ago, that wasn't so great either.
You can check out the service manuals or their site for more details.
A good quality case helps get heat out more efficiently. Of course it will come with the stock Intel fan/heatsink which is always worthless causing the CPU to not perform as it should, but of course, the "dirty" power coming in from the crap CPU isn't helping matters either. Seagate HD are fairly low end, especially when they give HP a cheap lot with a failure rate, and of course shoddy power isn't going to add anything to the HD is it?
They stuff the cheapest memory they can get their hands in which often is flaky at best.
OEM's really need to clean up their act with PSU's. They put a crappy one in that barely meets the wattage requirements, and of course most people don't give the PSU a second thought and start adding in parts thinking everything is OK, because there are expansion slots so it must be OK. That leads to quicker death as well, which is exactly why they skimp on PSU's. It significantly shortens the life of the system so they can sell more over time.
It is a bad business.
The point is that a "technical" writer should know better then to trumpet up specs as they are meaningless. It is simply poor technical reporting. It is that simple.
Seagate had a crisis last year with 5 models that had firmware that would make PCs run slower and slower (Rick's m9350f had that issue). This issue was solved. I would contend that Seagate/Maxtor is good quality, and that the bad news related to those drives gave them a black eye. I've had no issues with my hitatchis and the perform very nicely
From your other post you said that MAC has better hardware, I have to disagree again based on my experience of upgrading my in-laws MAC.
and oh, an 8x "SuperDrive", how could I forget... hahaha.
Heh. In all seriousness Apple will never hit a price point like this with anything but an iPod Touch or a Mac Mini. Despite the fact that the parts in the desktop are the same off the shelf parts that everyone elses uses they just can't "figure out" how to not tack on an $800 "Apple tax" and shoo customers away. If you want a machine like that running Apple your best bet is to check out the osx86 project, look for a hardware configuration that is fully compatible with OS X, and build yourself the machine. Apple is like the BMW of the computer companies... except BMW doesn't buy engines from GM to put in their cars. ;)
I guarantee you that the benchmarks are this system will be very poor. This is not a fast machine.
I can make a quality sub $500 computer
so there is no reason why Apple can't do it too
Then go to a Dell or HP store, try to match as best as you can the customization, and see for yourself...
Spoiler: same price (if you where able to match)
Spoiler: Failure rate is double for Dell than Apple (I am including troubleshooting to be fair: we have over a 2000 Dell, some failed right out the box, and 200 Mac, none have failed. Also IT charges (ie own accounting charge for the purpose of keeping the management busy) average 5 times more per employee for Dell vs Mac)
Spoiler: the "Apple tax" that Paul Allen use abundantly (remember this is the guy with compulsive behavior, who trow a chair at a staff meeting because he was angry), was not about Mac being more expensive than PC when you buy them, it was about not being able to use the 90% of the Windows only application. Virtualization and built-in Bootcamp remedy this "problem". To that I can add that it's easier to get freebies on a PC than a Mac.
My 2 cents: people don't what they are talking about when they claim Mac is expensive.
And marketing wise, what's the point of competing in the same market than everybody else. You have to offer something different.
Apple may be great, but I just don't understand this myth that PCs brake all the time.
I've been working with several generations of PCs, and I never had a problem. Not with the hardware, nor with the software.
At my laboratory, we have 10 years old PCs (sad but true), and they still work just fine.
"Virtualization and built-in Bootcamp remedy this "problem". " - but you still need to buy a copy of Windows.
And you can't deny that Macs are more expensive than PCs.
Buy an s5150 or s5150t slimline, configure it for $699.99+ and get $250 discount (use coupon DT25587)
Its been almost a year since I've bought my m9250f refurb and I still love it. People that have not used HP for a while should consider trying out their products. I love how quiet my PC is. BTW the m9250f is a fav for hackint0sh, but OSX does not support the Hauppauge tv tuner so I passed. Check out hackint0sh.org (thats a zero), only some systems can be converted or made into dual boot
That leaves just $230 for a motherboard, 6GB of RAM, Blu-ray drive, 500 GB hard drive, 512MB GeForce G210, new case, PSU, Wireless-N card, PLUS a legal copy of Vista Home Premium / Windows 7.
Basically I call bulls**t.
Rock solid machine, I have been very happy with it. XPS 420 has been discontinued since the introduction of XPS 430 with DDR3
Yeah yeah yeah, complain about Dell all you want, this is my third one, all still running. The oldest dates back to 1998 (Pentium III 700) and still does duty as a file server.
hp is only the leader in desktop pc's. its not like they know what they're doing or anything.year after year they only have a handful of idiots who expect the pc to automatically clean up their messes. not even your almighty dell's can do that. you get your money worth and then some with hp. dell is nothing more than an apple without the fruit.
that means its at least better than integrated?
On a sidenote, I hate the new naming scheme for these g--- and gt--- series cards. It's irritating, because they are oem only cards, and are really difficult to figure out what they are equivalent to.
- by SkiBumBL August 12, 2009 8:12 PM PDT
- I can't get the code to work either. They must have taken it away.
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