Rating: 
Summary: Cheap, cut-corner design
Review: My employer (a small software company) just bought these for all the developers (including myself). They're barely faster than the Athlon XP 2000+ workstations they replaced. HP cut several corners with this model:- There are no available internal or external drive bays
- The power supply is only 250W
- They skimp on the RAM, using DDR333 instead of DDR400 despite the 800FSB processor
- The hard drive is mounted in a bizarre plastic vertical bracket which isn't very secure and tends to vibrate
- There are no CDs included with the system (except one Microsoft Works disc). There are no restore CDs, let alone Windows install discs (but my Pavilion ze4240 notebook I bought a year ago came with both--shame on HP for backing down on that). Since the systems shipped with XP Home and we need Pro, we reformatted the hard drives. And now we have no way of installing the DVD burning software that came with the systems. HP wants $9 for an HP RecordNow install disc.
Rating:
Summary: Cheap, cut-corner design
Review: My employer (a small software company) just bought these for all the developers (including myself). They're barely faster than the Athlon XP 2000+ workstations they replaced. HP cut several corners with this model: - There are no available internal or external drive bays
- The power supply is only 250W
- They skimp on the RAM, using DDR333 instead of DDR400 despite the 800FSB processor
- The hard drive is mounted in a bizarre plastic vertical bracket which isn't very secure and tends to vibrate
- There are no CDs included with the system (except one Microsoft Works disc). There are no restore CDs, let alone Windows install discs (but my Pavilion ze4240 notebook I bought a year ago came with both--shame on HP for backing down on that). Since the systems shipped with XP Home and we need Pro, we reformatted the hard drives. And now we have no way of installing the DVD burning software that came with the systems. HP wants $9 for an HP RecordNow install disc.
Rating:
Summary: Manufacturing, Shipping, and Handling Problems
Review: My Hp a350n arrived with its packing material crushed. There is a 1 inch scratch, white on gray, on the top front of the tower and the cd-rom door appears to have not been installed properly. It is hanging open at an angle. I am attempting to bring the computer up now but the flopping cd-rom door, which makes loading software from cds tricky, and the ugly scratch are a distraction.
Rating:
Summary: Manufacturing, Shipping, and Handling Problems
Review: My parents own a Gateway, a Sony and a Dell - all three purchased in the last three years. It is my opinion that all three systems were a waste of our money - with graphics and shared memory. Great service from Dell and Gateway but they often times told my brother, sister, and I as college students we did something wrong. I guess when one of use turned the PC on, it was wrong thing to do. My dad's firm uses HP Servers and he was referred to look at the HP Pavilions. He is an IT Manager and knows how to get answers to his questions. The HP service recommended he take a look at the Pavilion line that were introduced in the 2nd half 2003 and my dad did so. My mom and dad ended up buying me an HP a350n for Christmas. I had it setup and burning DVDs in under one hour. It is so very quiet and very powerful. The CPU is a P-IV with HyperThreading - meaning the CPU can run tasks in parallel. I mean the unit is very fast. And the graphics card, although not the best on the market, is very adaquate for gaming, burning and viewing DVDs, digital photography, and my college work. My dad loaded software he purchased from Microsoft - including Office and Visio. The HP a350n is fabulous. Now, I can do my homework and research work from my apartment at college and do my digital photography too. A friend received a Sony DS420 for Christmas. Both the HP a350n and Sony DS420 are comparably equipped - with the Sony coming with more software titles but a slightly smaller hard drive. My friend and I were going to run benchmark tests side-by-side. But, two weeks after Christmas, my friend is still waiting to setup his Sony. At first, he could not get support to give him a straight answer to why Windows XP would not load. His recovery files were not there. He finally got some help from Sony service and an RMA for the HD. I helped him extract the HD from the case and package it up to be returned. There is no assurance the HD is the problem. I suspect the problem is the HD controllers on the mother board. My friend paid for expidited S&H or else it would be longer time without his "new" PC. He is waiting for the HD to be returned. He will go to college without it - and wait until he comes home for a holiday. I had a few problems with my A350n but nothing serious. The XP operating system (XP Home) needed some tweaking that my dad helped me with. And HP Service helpdesk was excellent too! I spoke with a "David" who was very helpful and curteous. I am no "hot-shot guru" but he stepped me through some evaluations / testing, explaining what the test results meant and what to do to resolve the problem. The HP a350n is a fabulous computer. I am a happy and satisfied HP customer. Now, we are packaging the unit up so I can take it to college with me when I leave on Saturday for the San Francisco Bay area. I am excited about my HP Pavilion a350n. Thank you HP!
Rating: 
Summary: The HP a350n - FABULOUS!
Review: My parents own a Gateway, a Sony and a Dell - all three purchased in the last three years. It is my opinion that all three systems were a waste of our money - with graphics and shared memory. Great service from Dell and Gateway but they often times told my brother, sister, and I as college students we did something wrong. I guess when one of use turned the PC on, it was wrong thing to do. My dad's firm uses HP Servers and he was referred to look at the HP Pavilions. He is an IT Manager and knows how to get answers to his questions. The HP service recommended he take a look at the Pavilion line that were introduced in the 2nd half 2003 and my dad did so. My mom and dad ended up buying me an HP a350n for Christmas. I had it setup and burning DVDs in under one hour. It is so very quiet and very powerful. The CPU is a P-IV with HyperThreading - meaning the CPU can run tasks in parallel. I mean the unit is very fast. And the graphics card, although not the best on the market, is very adaquate for gaming, burning and viewing DVDs, digital photography, and my college work. My dad loaded software he purchased from Microsoft - including Office and Visio. The HP a350n is fabulous. Now, I can do my homework and research work from my apartment at college and do my digital photography too. A friend received a Sony DS420 for Christmas. Both the HP a350n and Sony DS420 are comparably equipped - with the Sony coming with more software titles but a slightly smaller hard drive. My friend and I were going to run benchmark tests side-by-side. But, two weeks after Christmas, my friend is still waiting to setup his Sony. At first, he could not get support to give him a straight answer to why Windows XP would not load. His recovery files were not there. He finally got some help from Sony service and an RMA for the HD. I helped him extract the HD from the case and package it up to be returned. There is no assurance the HD is the problem. I suspect the problem is the HD controllers on the mother board. My friend paid for expidited S&H or else it would be longer time without his "new" PC. He is waiting for the HD to be returned. He will go to college without it - and wait until he comes home for a holiday. I had a few problems with my A350n but nothing serious. The XP operating system (XP Home) needed some tweaking that my dad helped me with. And HP Service helpdesk was excellent too! I spoke with a "David" who was very helpful and curteous. I am no "hot-shot guru" but he stepped me through some evaluations / testing, explaining what the test results meant and what to do to resolve the problem. The HP a350n is a fabulous computer. I am a happy and satisfied HP customer. Now, we are packaging the unit up so I can take it to college with me when I leave on Saturday for the San Francisco Bay area. I am excited about my HP Pavilion a350n. Thank you HP!
Rating:
Summary: Caveat Emptor! beware all HP computers!
Review: Several years ago, HP decided to deprive their customers of Windows recovery CDs. Instead, HP puts recovery information in a hidden partition on YOUR hard drive, thus decreasing its capacity. If you have to use this information to recover from a serious system problem, the process will restore the computer to its original condition. This means that all of the software and data files that you have added will be removed and all of the space-hogging software that HP provides (and which you probably removed to attempt to recover some hard disk space) will be restored.
HP claims to have stopped providing recovery CDs because of its contract with Microsoft. Translation: they saved money at your expense. Avoid all HP computers!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: HT Screamer
Review: This computer is awesome! This computer is unbelievably fast. Because of Hyper Threading technology, XP thinks this computer has 2 processors. When you go to Windows Task Manager and look at the performance screen you see two processor boxes, very cool. It also has everything most people would need or want... 160GB, 7200rpm hard drive, DVD+R/RW drive that burns DVDs and CDs. It has a second CD-ROM drive to use for copying directly to the burner. It has a front panel 7 in 1 memory card reader, high speed video card with TV out, 2 firewire (1394) ports, 6 USB 2.0 ports, HP Image Zone, Director and Memories Disk creator software. It supports 5.1 audio. It also includes software to burn CDs and DVDs. Other than a better keyboard and mouse, there is not much you would need to add to this computer. Take a high grade look at the 350n, I don't think you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Best computer of all time (READ THIS REVIEW)
Review: This computer is worth every penny. I am a big fan of gaming (Counter-Strike) and tis computer preforms like the game was ment to be played on it. My friend just bought a top of the line computer with the best grphic card and i cant tell the difference between mine ans his.
My computer
$1,000(1 Gig memory upgrade) His
$3,000 This computer fits all my needs. It is very fast, I havent had 1 single problem with it, it runs great, and it is perfect for gaming! I used to have a sony vaio and i hated it. Teh memory went out in a second and it lagged like there was no tomorrow! Any Questions at all about this computer email me at seany012012@yahoo.com! Buy it! You wont regret it ! i promise!!!
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