HP Pavilion Media Center A1520N Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+, 1024 MB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive)

Average customer rating: 3.0

Deceptively attractive specs. Does not live up to potential.
great deal on a very good computer
Worst computer I have ever had!
It's awesome

HP Pavilion Media Center A1520N Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 3800+, 1024 MB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe Dbl Layer DVD+/-R/RW Drive)

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard Office
Product Group: Personal Computer
Binding: Personal Computers
ASIN: B000GAL1IE

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HP Pavilion Desktops

Amazon.com Product Description

The HP Pavilion a1520n comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. It features a wide range of connectivity options for all your peripherals and preloaded HP Photosmart Premier digital image editing and management software. And you can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc and provides a super-fast 16x DVD+R write speed. It also includes LightScribe technology for personalized silkscreen-quality, laser-etched CD/DVD labels created right in the drive. Store more music, videos, and data on the roomy 250 GB hard drive. It comes loaded with 1 GB of RAM (which can be bumped up to 4 GB), a 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ dual-core processor, a 9-in-1 memory card reader that's compatible with today's most popular digital camera formats, Windows Media Center 2005 (with Rollup 2 Update), and a wide assortment of pre-loaded software.

The Basics
<ul>

Hard Drive: The extra large 250 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin to FireWire and USB 2.0.

Processor: The 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor offers a dual-core architecture, which delivers additional computing resources to help expand your PC's capabilities by providing higher throughput and simultaneous computing--increasing your performance by up to 80 percent. You'll be able to perform multiple tasks such as digital rendering and gaming all while running virus scan or other background tasks seamlessly. And it's designed to handle simultaneous 32- and 64-bit computing with no degradation in performance. It also offers such AMD technology as Cool'n'Quiet, for a quieter performance and lower power costs, and HyperTransport, for maximum system efficiency. Each core has a 512 KB L2 cache (for a 1 MB total).

Memory: The 1 GB of installed RAM (PC3200) is a very good start, but you'll want to add more RAM to handle today's demanding multimedia and gaming software. Its 400 MHz speed is a little slower than comparable multimedia desktops, but does add to this package's affordability. This desktop has a 4 GB maximum RAM capacity (2 x 1 GB), which is a bit small in comparison to other multimedia desktops in this HP lineup.

CD/DVD Drive: Offering the latest in DVD writing technology, this multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 16x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.

This LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art.

Keyboard & Mouse: It comes with an HP multimedia keyboard and scroller mouse (both with PS/2 connections). </ul> Graphics and Sound
Video and graphics are powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) and provides up to 128 MB of shared video memory. It also has an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable to 8 speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
For expansion, this desktop has three PCI slots (two available), one PCI Express slot (available), two 5.25-inch external bays (one available), two external 3.5-inch bays (one available), and one internal 3.5-inch bay (occupied). It comes with a built-in floppy drive and the following external connectors: <ul>

7 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (3 in front--including 1 in memory card reader--4 in rear)

2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)

1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners

2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice

1 VGA monitor port

9-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I and II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, and XD Picture Card

2 headphone (1 front, 1 rear)

2 microphone (1 front, 1 rear)

2 line-in (1 front, 1 rear) </ul> It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
The pre-installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (Update Rollup 2) is essentially Windows XP Professional Edition with a variety of tools to help you to create, organize, and enjoy digital media ranging from music to home movies to photo slide shows. The Update Rollup 2 upgrade offers support for the Windows Media Center Extender technology built into XBox 360 game consoles, which lets you access entertainment from your Media Center PC--whether it's live and recorded TV and movies, music, photos or Online Spotlight--on any TV in the house.

It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Works (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents), Symantec Norton Internet Security 2006 (with 60 days of LiveUpdate), PC Recovery, MSN Encarta Plus, Microsoft Money, Sonic DigitalMedia Plus, muvee AutoProducer, RealRhapsody, Vongo, and HP Photosmart Premier for digital image editing and organizing.

Dimensions and Weight
This desktop PC measures 15.2 x 7.2 x 17 inches (HxWxD) and weighs approximately 24 pounds.

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Pavilion a1520n desktop PC, power cable, keyboard, and mouse. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance for one year. Software is also covered for 90 days from date of purchase.

Product Description

HP computers are built to perform and built to last with protection right out of the box. You get the enhanced protection you need from agressive on-line threats with pre-installed Norton Internet Security 2005 Anti-SpyWare Edition and an included 60 day subscription of live updates. Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition makes it easy to manage your digital photos, music, videos and movies in one convenient location while Sonic's DigitalMedia Plus makes it easy and intuitive to back up onto DVD media for safekeeping. LightScribe technology burns custom, silkscreen-quality labels. Integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Video Graphics 256MB shared memory 10/100 BaseT Network Interface, 56k Fax/Modem High Definition Audio, 8 Speaker Configurable Sound 3 PCI slots with 2 available expansion slots, 1 Available 16x PCI Express Slot Expansion Bays - 2 external 5.25 inch, 1 external 3.5 inch, 1 internal 3.5 inch (occupied) Front panel 9-in-1 memory card reader supports Smart Media, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, Micro Drive, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro External Ports - 7 USB 2.0 ports (3 Front, 4 back), 2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports (1 Front & back), 2 PS/2 (back), Digital Audio (back, out only), Microphone, Headphone, line-in (Front & back) Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, Windows Vista Upgradable Lifestyle Software - Sonic DigitalMedia Plus featuring LightScribe Technology, DVD Play to watch DVD movies, Sonic MyDVD Plus, RealPlayer Productivity Software - Microsoft Works 8, Microsoft Office Student & Teacher Edition 2003 (60-day trial version), MSN Encarta Standard Online (1 year trial subscription included), Adobe Reader 7.0, Norton Internet Security 2006 (60 days of live updates), Quicken New User Edition 2006, Microsoft Money 2006 Unit Dimension - Height 15 x Width 7.17 x Depth 17 inches Weight - 24 pounds Monitor is not included

Customer Reviews:

Deceptively attractive specs. Does not live up to potential........2007-05-27

I've had similar experiences described by the other reviewer "DK Lang" posted above. This system repeatedly hung up, lagged excessively and had many frustrating errors. I suspect the problem is largely related to Windows XP and not necessarily the machine itself. The hardware specs are not bad at all, but I think whatever potential this machine has is stunted by an inferior operating system (namely Windows) and think for me personally that Linux might be better suited to take full advantage of the dual-core 64 bit proccesor offered by this machine.

This machine obviously was built and marketed in a manner to "roll up" to Windows Vista when it became available. Perhaps upgrading to Windows Vista 64 bit might help utilize the computer's potential. But it means paying more $$$ towards this machine to make it work like it should. I'm not sure that even doing that or switching to Linux would help improve this system.

One minor hardware related issue I've noticed is a rubbing or groaning sound coming from a hardware compontent such as a cooling fan which sounds as if there is friction somewhere in the fan assembly, but it goes away moments after the computer boots up. It's not a big deal but can be momentarily annoying.

great deal on a very good computer.......2007-02-15

Have had this computer for about 6 months now and have no complaints about the computer. Got a great deal from Staples. Just pays to check out the local boys now and again.....
HOWEVER, would have given this 5 stars except for the one time I had to contact customer service, you guessed it, to the far off land of India I was sent to have a wonderful time trying to explain to a non-english speaking person the problem I was having. Needless to say, I got nothing accomplished and thank god I have a brother who is great with this stuff. HP!!!Do us all a favor and quit outsourcing!! Horrible experience.

Worst computer I have ever had!.......2007-01-05

This one gave me trouble after having it for a little over a month. It kept getting hung up and just sitting there.....kept giving me errors and you name it. It had numerous problems. Since it was over 30 days I couldn't return it but it was still under warranty. However, I finally just gave up and did a restore on it. It also has a very loud annoying buzz sound coming from it. AFTER ONLY A MONTH! This was a lemon and when I contacted HP about it they were rude and uncooperative. I felt that they should allow me to return this one for the same model since it was just 33 days old.....they refused and told me to just take it to where I bought it and have it worked on. When you have a brand new computer and it fails from the beginning, it's very frustrating! So, I just did a system restore and now it works okay but still has glitches in it. Does not perform as good as my EMachine did prior to this.Total Garbage..stay away from this one!

It's awesome.......2006-08-29

I'm not a computer geek, however, this computer appears to have it all. I'm working on my dissertation and needed a computer that could "multi-task", because I'm downloading all sorts of information, studies, statistics for my paper. I had a Compaq, but it just couldn't keep up and it was very frustrating. I'm sure there's always something better out there with technology improving daily, but this computer satisfies my need for speed and space.

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