HP Desktops & AOC Monitors

None of these are very good machines.

Woot needs to get some deals on some decent machines, like ones with Intel Core i7-3770 CPU’s and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640, GTX 590, GTX 650 or GTX 650Ti graphics cards.

I don’t see the warranty information on these. Am I just looking in the wrong place?

Warranty: 90 Day HP
It was at the bottom on the ‘features’ tab :slight_smile:

I think the one with 6 cores should be pretty decent. That CPU has great reviews on Newegg.

Also the graphics card is not screaming on fire but you could replace it, the motherboard supports PCIe 2.1.

The main concern would be the power supply and if you ever wanted to do multi-gpu setups.

This is the one I was looking at getting. It seems pretty nice for the price and like you said the graphics card can be upgraded. Buttt do I reaaally need a computer when I already have a laptop? I just don’t know. Decisions, decisions.

the “3rd gen i core” is actually only a second gen according to the specs.

Can you help me out here? Which sale?

I bought one of these deals, from Woot, about a month ago.
Specifically, I bought the “Dual-Core i3 Desktop with 1.5TB HD” a.k.a “HP p6-2355 i3-3220 8GB DDR3 1.5TB”.

It’s okay, I guess.

Here’s some unsolicited advice:

  1. Think long and hard before getting any HP computer these days.
    Why does Woot have so many “refurbished” machines to unload on us?
    I fear that it’s because so many people buy them, have trouble with them, and return them.
    For example: my computer, and (per other websites) lots of other HP desktops have USB ports in the front-panel that don’t work, because the wires from the front panel weren’t plugged in to the motherboard. It took me only a few minutes of Googling to find a picture that showed me how to plug in the loose connector. But I was left with this nasty suspicion that HP has outsourced their quality control to the Lighthouse for the Blind.

  2. Don’t buy any of these HP computers if you plan to upgrade anything right away.
    The power supply is, apparently, only barely adequate to run the stuff already inside.
    I bought a video graphics board because the on-board graphics didn’t support my two monitors which both had VGA interfaces (the on-board graphics does support DVI-D and one DVI-I which supports VGA through an adaptor) but couldn’t get the new board to send any signal to any monitors.
    If you go the support forum on the HP website, you can read lots of cries for help from people attempting, and failing, to do something similar.
    Not only might you need to replace the power supply, you will need to learn how to work around the “Secure Boot” stuff in the BIOS that, in the name of security, tries to prevent changes to either hardware or software.

  3. If you can live with the capabilities of one of these systems as-is, without upgrading anything, you’ll probably be happy with it. My system was well-packed, had no cosmetic or other defects - except for the unplugged USB ports mentioned before - and is working fine at the moment.

  4. If you can live with Windows 7, or even Vista or XP, you can live with Windows 8. I installed the “Classic Shell” - www.classicshell.net - which restored the Start Menu and un-did some of the other silly things in Windows 8. So I bypass all the weird stuff in the “modern interface”. And I really appreciate the much faster start-up time in Windows 8.

  5. The CPU really is a Core i3-3220. The “specs” tab, listing it as “Core i3-2220”, is wrong.

Hope this helps.

The HP Envy desktop support page is here for more information: HP ENVY h8-1534 Desktop PC support

If I’m looking for a standard gaming computer (nothing too fancy - WoW on high settings), would the Envy’s graphics suffice?

How is the quality of usb portable monitor??

Looking to get a monitor for my dad… he still has a 50 lb monster, so any will be an improvement. Which is the best deal? TY in advance!

I purchased a refurbished HP computer similar to these on a different Woot sale about a month ago. I’ve been buying HP computers since they were a calculator company. I agree with an earlier comment that HP has problems with quality control and customer support. I too have had the experience of getting a HP computer that just had the wires plugged into the motherboard incorrectly, nothing else wrong with it. I think that’s why they have so many of these refurbs for sale. They have some minor problem right out of the box and back they go. The computer that I got last month had obviously been sent back immediately, because it looks brand new inside and out.
Anyway these desktops are just metal boxes with a collection of parts inside. It’s the quality of the pieces inside the box that actually matters. HP uses completely generic pieces, whatever is cheap and available from the manufacturers at the moment. They’re no better or worse than a computer you could build at home using the same pieces. The difference is that they get the parts cheaper than you could, and they have already put it together for you. So if the computer is reasonably close to something you would have built for yourself, just buy it and change the parts that you don’t like. It’s still cheaper and easier than starting with a metal box and a motherboard.

I’m also interested in the monitors; any thoughts on those? And any hope they’d be compatible with a Mac?

I Wooted a dual-core HP desktop for my parents in 2010, and a quad-core for myself in early 2011. Both are refurbished machines, but looked brand new down to the protective peel-off facings. Both systems get daily use, though mostly for word processing, Internet browsing, and light gaming. My system gets used for website development, with a lot of Photoshop, audio, and video work as well. No high-end gaming. Bottom line is that both machines have performed flawlessly, and handle everything we need. If you are a high-end gamer, you may need to up the graphics, but for the average user, these systems are as good a buy as you are likely to find. My only experience with HP support was for a large-format color printer that was defective. They overnighted new print cartridges twice, and then overnighted a new printer when the carts did not help. Can’t hope for better than that!

whats the total price after tax? i live in AZ, the one im looking at costs 459.99… so i have to type in my credit card first? or can i find out how much its going to be?? thanks!!

I’m presuming that you’re asking about this offer: http://www.woot.com/offers/hp-envy-six-core-desktop-w-10gb-ram-7?

You can enter in all of your shipping and purchasing information before you actually check out and find what taxes will apply to your order. Shipping will remain $5.

I think this website will also be able to help you determine the sales tax on your order.

If you get one of these computers and it works, you get a decent deal. I purchased the quad core HP last month and it cost me about 20 hours of my time troubleshooting, trying to get help from Woot and HP, and replacing HD and memory chips (from HP). Neither Woot nor HP wanted to stand by the computer after the sale… if pressed, I couldn’t tell you which customer service was worse. Woot tells you they won’t do anything but refund the computer (apparently, it’s tough for them to do an exchange). HP will not send you a replacement and will have you in knots troubleshooting and replacing components. After this fiasco, I’m spending a little more money to build my own computer or get it from a vendor that stands by their sale.

Im curious if any of you have done a Buy vs. Build analysis on any of these guys listed…

i.e. about much would it cost to collect comparable parts from scratch, gotten at competitively discounted prices?