- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
-
4.0 stars
"Flawless Machine!"
Pros: Speed, Ease Of Use, 'Professional' Look and Feel, Durability
Cons: No Wireless Keyboard/Mouse included, 'Noisy' CPU Fan
Summary: I've had this unit (HP 'Photosmart' M7170n) since Sept., 2005 - and it's performed flawlessly! It has Intel's Pentim IV D830 'Dual-Core' CPU and orginally came with 1 GB RAM, but I soon increased that to 2 GB for 'future' use. I also added a second HP 640 DVD Writer unit in place of the standard ('secondary') read-only unit - to make the unit more flexible. I also filled my only available PCI slot with a 5-hub (1 internal, 4 extermal) HP USB hub card and the unit now has 10 total external USB ports for use, just in case (and the unused internal one). I also added HP's 'Personal Media Drive' (fits in the internal bay slot - used for 'backups'), 165 GB and an external portable HD case with a 250 GB HD in that one. I'm running two printers (USB); one is a Lexmark X7170 all-in-one unit, the other is a Samsung ML2010 monochrome 'budget' laser printer. I'm on DSL (AT&T) and have an 'Airlink' 802.11g router matched to the Siemens 4100 DSL modem. The monitor came with the unit; it's HP's vs17c TFT unit w/speakers inbuilt, and I added a set of Bose 5.1 speakers to the unit (through the Realtek HD integrated audio card). HP provided a Happhauge TV Tuner card, an ATI Radeon X300SE 128 MB video card, and an Agere 'PCSoft' 56k modem - the board has an Intel 10-100 network card integrated, as well. There are two 1394 ports - one front, one rear on the unit. Even in today's marketplace, it's still a 'screamer' - and more than able to keep up with the newer units (outperforms many) and newer software usable. I'm still running Microsoft XP 'MediaCenter 2005' OS that came with it ('If it ain't "broke", don't "fix" it!') with all the SP upgrades (SP 3, now, I believe). Over the nearly three years I've had this unit, its performed flawlessly - never once a 'breakdown'. I do regularly maintain it with virus scans, defrags, disc cleanups, etc., through Microsoft's 'One Care Live' system - and it seems to 'score' flying colors on all the tests. Only thing I wish HP would've included would have been the wireless keyboard/mouse combo unit - eleminates a few of the maze of wires the unit does have. The CPU fan, from day one, seems to be very noticibly 'noisy' when it runs, as well - and HP's Tech Support has said this is 'normal for this unit. HP's service, the two times I did use it (for minor issues as given above) was excellent, BTW. I've tried to keep the unit updated, both through MS's updates as well as HP's and other software/firmware updates to keep things 'current'. I'm amazed that support still exists for this unit - but I'm told it was (and still is) one of HP's most-popular combinations. I was lucky enough to purchase the 'base system (including the monitor) during a 'holiday sale' in 2005 from Office Depot for $899.99 - an excellent price back then for this unit (remember, though - gasoline was less than $1.50/gallon - lol!)and I feel the unit has been an excelent investment - this coming from a former senior manager with Toshiba's Home Computer Systems Division in Irvine, CA.
