Thoughts on this deal...

[Dieb11]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/P...av=&browse=&lang=en-US

What do you guys think?

Warranty & Returns:

* HP 2-year limited PC hardware warranty, 1-year limited monitor warranty
* Returns accepted within 90 days of date of purchase

Processor & Memory:

* Intel® Core? 2 Quad Processor Q6600 at 2.4GHz
* 2 x 4MB L2 cache
* 1066MHz Front Side Bus
* 3GB DDR2 SDRAM memory (2 x 1024MB, 2 x 512MB), expandable to 8GB

Drives:

* 400GB (7,200RPM) SATA hard drive
* LightScribe DVD±RW drive with double layer support

Graphics & Video:

* HP w2408 Vivid Color 24" widescreen BrightView flat panel monitor with adjustable tilt; integrated speakers
* 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8500 GT graphics card with TV-out, DVI and HDMI capabilities

Communications:

* 802.11b/g WLAN
* Integrated 10/100/1000 network interface
* 56K modem

Audio:

* High Definition Audio, 8-speaker configurable

Keyboard & Mouse:

* HP wireless keyboard
* HP wireless optical mouse
* HP Media Center remote control with IR receiver

Expandability:

* Four DIMM (240-pin DDR2) memory slots (occupied)
* Expansion slots: one PCI (occupied); two PCI-E x16 (one available); one PCI-E x1 (occupied)
* Drive bays: two external 5.25" (one available); one external 3.5" (occupied); two internal 3.5? (one available)
* HP Pocket Media Drive Bay

Ports:

* NTSC TV tuner, over-the-air ATSC TV tuner and FM tuner (antenna included)
* Front panel 15-in-1 media card reader (with built-in TV remote receiver) supports Compact Flash I/II, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital, Mini Secure Digital, xD, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+ and IBM Microdrive
* Six USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear)
* Two IEEE 1394 (Firewire) ports (1 front, 1 rear)
* Microphone; headphone; audio L/R; S-video out; composite video (FRONT)
* Two PS/2 ports; digital audio in/out; LAN; rear speaker out/side speaker out/center (subwoofer); microphone/line-in/line-out; VGA-out (REAR)

Operating System:

* Microsoft® Windows Vista Home Premium

Additional Software:

* Microsoft Works 8.0
* Norton? Internet Security? 2007 (60 days of complimentary live updates)

 

[MarcVenice]

Depends on what you want to do with it. The videocard sucks. I think it can be done cheaper, but with all the extra's it might come close. That's to say, 90% of those 'extras' would be useless to me.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I don't really feel like doing the math, but you can add the same hardware from any site and see how it adds up. Basically that looks like a pretty solid build. The video card is really low end, but if games aren't important to you.

Also building vs buying depends on your confidence with computers, and how apt to troubleshooting you are and being your own tech person. If you don't feel confident in your hardware abilities or don't know much about computers, the way they work, what you are buying and why you are buying, then a prebuilt is probably the way to go.

As far as upgrading, HP will only let you go so far.

 

[Dieb11]

It would be a gaming computer, although I dont need top of the line. Im completely out of the loop on the video card wars. What do you recommend? I guess I could just put together anand's recent midrange system and run with it... Truth is ive been out of the hardware world for about 3 years now so it might be a good idea to just buy something that is pre-built?

 

[JustaGeek]

Satisfaction from building your own computer - priceless.

For everything else, there is Master Card...

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Looks like this computer is designed to be an HTPC - it has a low-end video card with HDMI support, TV and radio tuners, high-def audio and a remote control. Considering it includes a 24" widescreen flat panel, that's actually a pretty solid price.

However, a quad core and 3GB of RAM is overkill in an HTPC. As well, 400GB is a small amount of storage when you're dealing with high-definition content.

As onlyCOpunk mentioned, your options may be limited for upgrading the graphics card - who knows what kind of cheap PSU this tower might have.

Bottom line - for a gaming computer, you can get better components. For an HTPC, you could build a better value system.

 

[jkresh]

decent price, thought the gpu sucks. Costco's warranty is a nice bonus, but if you want to game you will have to upgrade the gpu and possible the psu to support the gpu upgrade. You can definitely build cheaper on your own, but you wont get the warranty (or good return policy).

 

[Ika]

keep in mind that HP wont really let you tweak the computer (read: basically no overclocking).

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i'd build... for $1600 u have much better options

 

[BadRobot]

For me the deal breaker is the crappy vid card, you would almost definately need to buy something better... although for the rest of it, it is not a bad deal necessarily...the monitor is what almost makes it worth it.

uhhh here is a build you could try...

Dieb11's test build - $1330.89 w/out shipping or tax

edit: you *should* (no promises) be able to get a decent overclock out of this build...

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Aflac
keep in mind that HP wont really let you tweak the computer (read: basically no overclocking).

Meet the OC'd HP

 

[egale]

Building your own will probably not be cheaper (in my case it ALWAYS goes way over budget) but when you build your own, you know every part that went in it, know how to upgrade it, and have the satisfaction of building it yourself.

There is one really big drawback though of doing it yourself. Once you shop around and get all your parts from several different vendors and you put everything together and then you push the power button for the very first time and NOTHING happens, what do you do? You have no tech support to call really. First you have to figure out which part is at fault or what you did wrong. Then you have to take everything apart to RMA the part thats at fault. If you are past the return or exchange period, you have to talk to the manufacturer for an RMA. You may find that the manufacturer will blame another component and insist it is not their part thats failing. You then call a second manufacturer who points a finger at someone else. Nobody takes responsibility and it is totally up to you to get it all working.

When I put something together, I almost always break something or am not happy with something and buy another or I upgrade something else that I wasn't planning to because I have upgrade fever.

So, it costs me more, gives me more headaches, takes way longer than I planned and when I am done swear I am never going to do that again! But a year or two later, the fever returns and I am doing this all over again and the cycle repeats!

 

[Dieb11]

Hahahaha Egale, I swear, you are 100 % right on that. I feel the exact same way! Espeially that dreaded feeling, seconds before hiting the power button for the first time I too always swear that I will never go through it again, and every 2/3 years I get the bug again. regarding the HP build, the screen is def the most attractive part of it. I saw it in person the other day (thats how I found the deal) and was very impressed... I have put together anand's midrange gaming system in new egg (minus mouse and keyboard and speakers) and everything with shipping comes out to about 1400, and a lot less after mail ins. So whats this I hear about waiting until november to buy the video card?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Originally posted by: Dieb11
It would be a gaming computer, although I dont need top of the line. Im completely out of the loop on the video card wars. What do you recommend? I guess I could just put together anand's recent midrange system and run with it... Truth is ive been out of the hardware world for about 3 years now so it might be a good idea to just buy something that is pre-built?

Build your own if you have the interest in PC's & time.

Its your own satisfaction you are also investing in.

Good Luck,

Cheers

529th

 

[novasatori]

I am planning to build 2 quad systems similar to this and have complete builds less a monitor, case, and media drives priced around $900-$1000

Q6600
2x2gb 4gb DDR2 800 or 1000 both similar price
ASUS P5K-E
520HX Corsair PSU
TR 120X + Scythe Fan
500GB HD
and planning a 8800GT or R670 @ ~$249 when they come out...

Mostly from newegg/clubit at the lowest prices - leaves ~$500-$700 for a monitor, case, KB/Mouse and DVD-R/W plus depending on your location you may save on taxes