HP Pavilion P6140F Desktop PC Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this with all the bells and whistles out of the gate, rather than worrying about customizing it and then upgrading later, because HP makes it so much less expensive this way. I had a lot of questions that weren't answered until I actually bought the thing, but I was happy with the answers once it arrived.
Facts: Comes with wireless A/B/G/N card and gigabit Ethernet. Shows up in Device Manager as an Atheros a/b/g/n dual-band wireless network module. The external antenna is connected to the system by a 2 to 3 foot cable so you can place it on a desk for better reception. The network card is a gigabit RealTek RTL8168C(P)-family.
The combination power light/on-off switch shines bright blue when on and amber when in sleep mode. The switch is located on the very top of the front panel of the computer on what is the top of the case, so it's very visible in a room without having to squat down or lean over to see it.
The system is fast with the quad-core and is already maxed out at its 8 Gb limit. There is a free PCIe slot (the wireless takes up one), a free standard PCI slot and a free PCI Express x16 for the video card that you'll eventually buy. With the standard graphics chip, you get a Windows Vista 3.5 Windows Experience Index with Vista SP1. There's also an IDE interface for a floppy on the motherboard, but no IDE for hard drives. The power supply is a 300-watt Lite-On.
You can add two more hard drives internally, plus a second optical drive. I think that you can put in a floppy drive where one of the additional hard drives would go and it would have front panel access. There are connectors on the motherboard for four additional SATA devices and there are four available Molex power connectors plus one for a floppy drive. There are no parallel or serial ports available. It's a USB world out there now. The included card reader, that is located in the top front of the case above the CD drive, uses drive letters F: G: H: and I: at all times. The front panel has a slide down cover that reveals two USB connectors and speaker and microphone connectors. There are also legacy PS/2 connectors for a keyboard and mouse on the lower back of the case.
I won't go into details about software other than to say that there aren't any backup disks provided, but they provide a wizard to make your own (B.Y.O.-DVD). The D: partition on the main hard drive is your recovery partition and all software is probably there in some compressed format. If you decide to remove an installed program, you may find difficulty reinstalling it without making the recovery disks first. Update: After owning the machine for several weeks I am now aware that the 3 DVD's that you create are only for a complete rebuild. You can't reinstall individual applications once they're removed.
Pros:
Everything comes with it except for an upgraded video card
Good expansion capabilities with USB and motherboard interfaces
Good DVD and CD burning software included, including Lightscribe
Cons:
Keyboard has non-standard layout above arrow keys for insert/delete, page up/down, etc. Touch typists won't like it.
I switched from my previous computer vendor to purchase this HP because of all the standard features. I'm not disappointed at all in the quality of build or performance. My only planned purchase for this fully-loaded system will be an upgraded graphics card to match the system's other hardware capabilities.


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Whether you¿re surfing the Web, editing photos, mixing your soundtracks or creating your own home videos, HP Pavilion desktop PC¿s offer a variety of ways to make your computing experience richer and more rewarding. As you would expect from the leader in consumer PC¿s, every HP Pavilion PC includes many intuitive features that make capturing and sharing your digital experiences easier than ever.What's in the box: Pavilion p6140f desktop PC, HP USB keyboard, HP USB optical mouse, power cord, Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe software, HP MediaSmart Software Suite, muvee Reveal Basic, Microsoft Works 9, Adobe Reader 8 and Norton Internet Security 2009 with 60 days of complimentary live updates.

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Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7005 TruBrite 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Out of the box this unit worked flawlessly. This is the most attractive notebook I've ever owned. Someone across the room heard a music video I was watching and said "that computer has great sound." It is great to have my numeric keypad back for crunching numbers.
Mobile broadband and 16GB flash drive USBs worked as expected. So did WiFi and a hardwired network. The 17.3" video is just awesome. This is my second, larger, notebook and I'll never go smaller again.
Very satisfied, great price and fast, free shipping from Amazon.

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Toshiba Satellite L555D: Affordable Desktop Replacement with 17.3-Inch ScreenWell equipped yet very affordable, the Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7005 is a great replacement for your desktop computer thanks to its 17.3-inch high-definition TruBrite screen with LED backlighting--providing a wealth of screen real estate for watching movies, editing multiple documents, and more. And thanks to the built-in webcam and Toshiba Face Recognition software on this machine, you'll enjoy a more convenient way to communicate, log on or share your laptop among the family. To top it off, the L555D features a brilliant high-gloss Fusion Finish in Midnight Breeze that's sure to turn heads.
Pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), you'll be able to easily create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Windows 7 is the easiest, fastest, and most engaging version of Windows yet. Better ways to find and manage files, like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews, help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to.



Key Features
17.3-inch high-definition, LED-backlit TruBrite display (1600 x 900) for amazing color depth and clarity. It also provides TruBrite technology, which makes images brighter and more vivid thanks to its anti-glare feature.


2.3 GHz AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile M520 processor with 1 MB L2 cache for excellent multi-tasking. And it's designed to handle simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance.


320 GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 RPM)


4 GB of RAM (800 MHz; 8 GB maximum capacity)


ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics with up to 1918 MB of dynamically allocated shared graphics memory.


8x SuperMulti DVD drive with double layer support and Labelflash printing, which enables you to personalize your discs and keep them looking attractive and organized with direct-to-disc laser printing.

Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for greater speed and range.

1.3 megapixel webcam with Face Recognition capabilities for added security. And if you're using one laptop for several users--say for the whole family or for a small business--Toshiba Face Recognition lets you switch profiles with one simple look.
Built-in stereo speakers
Fast Ethernet (10/100)
5-in-1 memory card reader compatible with Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card
Three total USB ports with one eSATA/USB combo port that also features Sleep and Charge capabilities, allowing you to charge your mobile phone and other devices even when the notebook is asleep or off.
VGA video output
104-key keyboard with 10-key pad
Enjoy proactive PC health--without the worry. For your peace mind, this laptop comes with an innovative PC Health Monitor that constantly keeps tabs on things like your machine's power usage, temperature and hard drive--so you won't have to.
Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. And you can watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV on Windows Media Center. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium.
Get more features with Windows Anytime Upgrade. It's the best way to add features to Windows 7, takes as few as ten minutes, requires no software or downloads, and you'll keep your existing programs, files, and settings. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process.
Pre-loaded software includes Microsoft Works SE 9.0 for word processing and spreadsheet work. Enjoy a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007.
6-cell (4000 mAh) battery for up to 2 hours, 45 minutes of continuous use

Weight: 7 pounds

Dimensions: 16.4 x 10.7 x 1.58 inches (WxDxH)
Warranty: One-year limited hardware warranty
Energy Star 5.0 certified
Gold EPEAT designation for meeting standards to help reduce its environmental impact.
RoHS compliant effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances

What's in the Box This package contains the Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7005 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions.

It also comes with the following software: Norton Internet Security 2010 (30-day trial), Toshiba PC Health Monitor, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial), Windows Media Player, Corel DVD Movie Factory, Google Toolbar, Google Picasa, PowerCinema, WildTangent Orb Game Console

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Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVD?RW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is my second Gateway desktop. Not much over a year ago a model like this was selling for about $200 more. Yet, now, you get a 64 bit system (crunches data much faster), a quad core that hardly anything can slow down, big hard drive, and a good quality of design and construction.
Also important is the quality of Gateway support: the one question with my previous model was handled via a chat session with a tech who knew what he was talking about and was very professional.
The Vista SP1 which it ships with has been a pleasant experience. It's best to discount all the dissing it gets and just see how well it works in practice. There is a learning curve if you are coming from XP, but it is worth getting to know. I like it. I probably would like Apple's Leopard operating system, too, but I don't care to pay anywhere from two to six times as much for their machines.
I just surf the web, do light photo and video processing, and watch a movie on it sometimes. For these tasks this machine is overqualified - a dual core machine would do about as well. But, how about a few years from now? A quad core machine may well be necessary for these or similar tasks then.
A little confession: I took my previous Gateway desktop apart to replace the motherboard with a newer type. I was impressed with the quality of design and construction. The Apple desktop which starts at around $2500 would impress me much more, but I don't need its particular qualities for what I do with a computer.
You ought to know that the setup of this machine was the sweetest, most trouble free computer installation I have ever done. It just goes out and does practically everything for you. That is thanks to Vista and Gateway's well thought out systems.
The hard drive is a Western Digital, which has a good reputation. But start backing up as soon as possible after you finish the OS installation. By the way, there are no disks to load into the machine. It's all on the hard drive already.
My first backup after I had finished most of the setup to the point where I am happy with what is on the machine took up just 18.1GB on an old Maxtor 80GB external drive I had from a few years ago using an excellent backup software called ShadowProtect which has gotten excellent reviews and I would call it the easiest and best software of that type I have ever used.
You get 586GB free on the hard drive as it comes from the factory with the Vista and a small partition which I believe holds a recovery version. So, forget 640GB. The actual space you get is noticeably less that what is stated - it's always that way.
The ATI Radeon HD3200 onboard video chipset is fine for any ordinary use. Heavy gamers will have to pay another $100 or more for a video card such as the Sapphire ATI HD4830 which joins its power with the onboard unit to give much better gaming performance. I have that card which I will install shortly and leave some thoughts on how much better it is. You will also need a good power supply to go along with the HD4830 card. Corsair makes some good ones supplying 520 watts and up. Just around $100 as well. So, when you want to, this machine is upgradable.
I ran a cleanup of the unneeded files and also did a defragmentation for better disk performance at startup. The defrag took much less time than my previous Gateway. Vista SP1? 64 bit? Anyway, that's an improvement.
Also, gigabit ethernet may not be anything you need now, but in a few years with streaming video heading this way, you might be glad you have it. There were no problems whatsover with making the ethernet cable connection with my motorola modem/router. I didn't have to do a thing. Plug in the cable and forget it.
This has an onboard video out in the form of HDMI and VGA, which is what I'm using. The image quality to my HP 2207 monitor is excellent.
If you have this shipped to you, try to restrain the urge to rip open the package until a couple of hours have passed for it to warm up to room temperature so that there will not be condensation on the cold computer during winter shipping from moisture in the inside air.
It ships with a large, easy setup sheet. Just follow the color coding. You can't go wrong. In an hour and a half or so you will be through with the basic setup, but it may take five to ten hours of downloading and installing your favorite software to complete the installation.
Also important is the merchant: J&R Music And Computer World in New York. I have bought a few items from them during the past few years and they ship fast (I get it the next day near Boston with standard shipping) and seem to be straight shooters. Let you know how the graphics card install goes.
UPDATE AFTER 6 MONTHS:
No problema! Hardware is solid, dependable, certainly fast enough for me. It's still a great buy. I haven't even used half the hard drive space yet, so I would say for most people it has plenty. Card readers and CD/DVD units are still fine. Sound quality from the built in chip is excellent for playing my 20GB of music on my Klipsch powered speaker system. Just no complaints about this. It does what it should. I may upgrade to Windows 7 after the initial bugs are worked out in six months or so. Frankly, I haven't found Windows Vista to be bad - it is just something new to learn. I understand Windows 7 may use slightly less system resources and offer more eye candy for the trendy computer addicted amongst us. It has gotten good reviews in the NYT and major computer magazines. Maybe I'll put off buying a Mac.
UPDATE AFTER 8 MONTHS OF USE:
The machine went down about a month ago. No posting beep. So I upgraded my Core Two Duo HP laptop to Windows 7, installed a 320GB hard drive, increased core memory to 4GB and got a machine powerful enough to do what I had been doing on this Gateway desktop.
Not the end of the story though. Searching online forums on this model of Gateway and on the "no posting beep" symptom, I found that the problem was most likely that the core memory on the Gateway had failed. I remembered a cryptic message before it failed saying it was dropping to a slower memory speed.
So I ordered 8GB of 800Mhz DDR2 desktop memory, removed the old, installed the new core memory (relatively easy - just open the left side of the Gateway by removing two screws and pulling back and you'll find the core memory on the center right side of the motherboard and all you need to do is flip back the holding cams and pull) and, guess what! Success!!
So, my next project on this repaired desktop is to install a bigger power supply (as I said I would), a new AMD powered 4830 graphics card, and also upgrade to Windows 7, which I have found to be a much improved operating system. It gets your drivers, doesn't take long to install, and is easy, quick, in my view the best Windows operating system ever.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

Is it time to upgrade your PC? Games now require additional graphic power. The Internet is loaded with many new entertainment features that redefine the purpose of the PC. For example, many websites offer movies for direct download or streaming. Video conference is moving fast forward with free services like Google-Chat. These need better video support. The Gateway DX4200-09 Desktop PC has 4GB memory, a large hard drive for storage, and ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics support with 256MB totally dedicated video graphic memory. Unleash your creative side with the Gateway DX4200-09 Desktop featuring AMD quad-core performance, 4 GB memory and ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics - maximum capabilities to power through intensive multimedia applications, create content, edit files and create the incredible. Let Gateway DX4200-09 Desktop PC be your gateway to new opportunities. It really pays to upgrade. If this is your first PC, you'll be amazed to find what you've been missing. Add an optional widescreen monitor and open up new windows of opportunities and infinite horizons. ATI Radeon HD 3200 with up to 256 MB Shared Video Memory 18x DVD+-R/RW Labelflash Drive with Double Layer; 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio; 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN; 15-in-1 card Digital Media reader; Front ports - 2 x USB, IEEE-1394, Headphone, Microphone; Back ports - 4 x USB, IEEE-1394, 2 x PS2 ports (keyboard, mouse), Center/Sub, Rear , Side, Line-in, Microphone, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45, VGA, HDMI; Expansion slots - 2 x PCI (One available), PCI Express x1 (available), PCI Express x16 (available); Drive bays - 2 x 5.25 (one available), 5 x 3.5 (four available); Monitor is not included

Click here for more information about Gateway DX4200-09 - Tower - 1 x Phenom X4 9100e / 1.8 GHz - RAM 4 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - Radeon HD 3200 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

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Gateway LX 6810-01 - Tower - 1 x Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz - RAM 8 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVD?RW / DVD-RAM - GF GT 120 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I picked this Gateway up as an addition to our HP gaming laptop, but didn't want do dish out another 2 grand for something top of the line.
This is a "bare-bones" gateway model. What this means is you're going to get the best performance for the buck, with little else in terms of frills. Consider this a computer you would buy if you want the power of a quad-core, a lot of RAM, and a dedicated video card without having to pay an arm and a leg for it. I walked out of the store paying just under 1100 for the tower, 22-inch HDMI monitor, and an all-in-one printer. You can't beat a deal like this in any retail store (unless you're thrifty at newegg).
Pros
-Quad Core at 2.33, 4MB L2 Cache; decent processing speed for the price
- Dedicated Nvidia GT 120 video card with HDMI output, 1G memory and dual screen capable. The GT120 benchmarked about 30 fps on Crysis with normal settings. When running on high modes on Spore, WoW, and Crysis, the frame rates dropped considerably. Expect to be able to play any retail game out now, just don't expect incredibly detailed video settings to play with.
- 64-bit Vista. As a computer junkie I've regularly hated Vista; and still do. For a casual computer user you'll like the speed and ease-of-use 64-bit vista brings. It loads a lot faster too.
- 8GB DDR2 memory; not the newest technology but we're talking about a 18% slower response time than DDR3. If you don't know what that means then I wouldn't worry about it. Multiple programs were loaded with no load times after it's initial startup. Cons:
- The tower is huge and ugly. Weighed in at just under 40 lbs. Have fun finding space for this hog!
- No wireless ethernet card
- No second DVD drive
- Realtek HD software sound was faulty right out of the box. Required a reinstall. The same problem happened with the hard drive when it tried to install RAID. There is only one hard drive on the computer, so why is RAID trying to install itself? Logitech software wouldn't install, had to use previous versions. Some old computer perpetuals don't work on the 64-bit version, and created unknown errors with trying to rollback the drivers for 32-bit.
- 640GB seemed a bit small for a multimedia labeled computer. Uncompressed video reaches 100GB in a matter of minutes. I would have expected something at or near a terrabyte. We're living in a recession, so good deals are more important now than ever. With the LX 6810, you get what you pay for and in this case its a good thing. Don't expect overpriced accessories to accompany this massive beast, just expect a good quality engine under the hood.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gateway LX 6810-01 - Tower - 1 x Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz - RAM 8 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - GF GT 120 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

The Gateway LX6810-01 Desktop is packed full of features for the media minded enthusiast. With Quad-Core performance, NVIDIA GT120 Graphics, and plenty of storage you can dominate the latest games and render, manage and create with reckless abandon! Watch and record live television with the combo TV Tuner and easily connect to a LCD Television with the HDMI interface. A remote controller is included for added convenience. 8 GB memory delivers incredible system speed to effortlessly handle multitasking, watch streaming video and bypass loading screens. Beyond the built-in analog and digital TV tuner, the Internet is filled with websites that offer video streaming of television from around the world. With the integrated NVIDIA GeForce GT120 video processor and 1 GB dedicated video memory, you can enjoy viewing streamed TV and video without a hitch. This is no ordinary desktop PC. It truly is a gateway beyond computing, as you've known it. NVIDIA GeForce GT120 with 1024MB Dedicated Video Memory for smooth, flawless play of TV and Video; 18x DVD+-R/RW Labelflash Drive; Analog/Digital TV Tuner with 3-D Comb Filter; 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio; 10/100/1000; Gigabit Ethernet LAN 15-in-1 card Digital Media reader with Smart copy button - Supports CompactFlash I/II, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, MultiMediaCard Plus, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, xD-Picture Card, SmartMedia and Microdrive. Also supports miniSD, Reduced-Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC) and MultiMediaCard Mobile with optional adapters (not included) Front ports - 2 x USB, IEEE-1394 Firewire, Headphone, Microphone; Back ports - 4 x USB, eSATA, IEEE-1394, 2 x PS2 ports (keyboard, mouse), Center/Sub, Rear , Side, Line-in, Microphone, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45, VGA, HDMI, DVI, 3 RCA Ports Expansion slots - 2 x PCI (One available), PCI Express x1 (occupied), PCI Express x16 (occupied); Drive bays

Click here for more information about Gateway LX 6810-01 - Tower - 1 x Core 2 Quad Q8200 / 2.33 GHz - RAM 8 GB - HDD 1 x 640 GB - DVDRW / DVD-RAM - GF GT 120 - Mdm - Gigabit Ethernet - Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Monitor : none

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Cirago Bluetooth BTA6210 v.2.1 EDR Class 1 Micro Bluetooth Adaper Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This product works excellently with my lenovo x60t. I use it to pair with a microsoft mouse, and it works excellently. It has an excellent range, and usually sees many other bluetooth devices in its ample range. I read the other reviews before buying, and they seemed to rate this device down due to their own computer's faults, and not faults of the product. I personally have had no problems with the device, and it has preformed admirably.

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Cirago Bluetooth BTA6210 v.2.1 EDR Class 1 Micro Bluetooth Adaper

Get 17% OFF

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