- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4.5 stars
"I <3 this computer so much."
Pros: *****Media Card Reader******* (I'm a real fan of this...)___2 Optical Drives (DVD Burner and 40x CD) (copy and burn, and watch movies)___TV Tuner Card w/ radio (Always wanted one of these...)(also could hook up to TV via S-video) Decently Fast.
Cons: The inside of the case is a mess...truly... Thre is no room to add anything and cooling needs to watched. (CLEAN ALOT) Video Card is not very good and case doesn't allow for a good upgrade (room). Upgrading a power supply is RARE.
Summary: I don't remember how much I paid, but it was worth it. It's has lasted me almost 6 years and I will continue to use it though I currently have a custom built quad-core.
The tv-tuner card went out on me at some point never found out what was wrong. This also in turn killed the radio (as it was part of that card) It saddened me. I really liked that feature. For a time I also managed to use the tuner card to download old videos from my VCR I hooked up :).
The computer makes you want to do a million things at once and the factory amount of RAM just did not cut it. I upgraded to 2GB and it's ok now,but 4GB would likely FLY!!!! (It's a shame that the RAM can only be 333HMZ though)
The Radeon 9200 video card is fail. It needs to be upgraded. You will have issues here, however. The Case is already full. and if you remove the video card from the AGP slot you will only have that one slot. (So no dual slot video cards). I had ended up removing the tv tuner card because it wasn't working and that allowed me to put in my HIS Radeon 1650XT Pro(Retail-$69.99), (you can really tell a difference when you upgrade the video card.) This card had more than 4 times the memory. And again, I'm sure there are a few good single slot AGP cards. (remember this motherboard allows 8x AGP) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-Don't forget about RAM at this point too, because the more RAM the video card the needs the more the more RAM that can't be used to other processes. RAM is dirt cheap at this point...
-Also I feared that the 200Watt power supply was ineffecient for upgrading. (and it was) Here is the problem. The motherboard type is microATX and only a SELECT few power supplies fit!!! To my knowledge there are 4 currently availble. I got a 400WATT for $39.99.and there is also a 550WATT on the market. (however I don't think you will need this.
I absolutely LOVE the media card reader. I don't need to say much here. I take a lot of pics. And I like to collect pics from my friends cameras. Instead of installing the driver to connect each camera via USB I can use the 5 different memory cards they have. (REAL PLUS HERE)
The case is just too small... It was built to cram as much stuff HP could into as small a case as they could and not get recalls...They succeded. Just be sure you clean the dust out or it will get too hot...Other than that... they did a FANTASTIC job and making everything work.
After 6 years my case fan went out finally..$1.99 aftermarket replacement and now she is pumping hard again.
I highly recommend this computer, however with new models out there is likely a better substitute... but I won't be gettign rid of mine...
HOPE EVERYONE FOUND THIS USEFUL.
***PLEASE EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE AN QUESTIONS!****
THANK YOU
Updated on Aug 28, 2008whallgm6@hotmail.com
Oh and my model was the M370N.
