sata II or sata III? Anyone know?
Hi! I’m gonna make this purchase, but wonder if y’all highly recommend the squaretrade protection offered thru this site. Advice, please?
6x SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA III) http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c03757575&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en#N612
best Buy has new ones for $489.
Square Trade warranties are great. They are appropriately priced and have great coverage. I have purchased them for cell phones and a laptop. Having said that- I would not recommend a warranty in this situation. Towers are easy to work on, and a 90 day warranty is plenty. You are best off by having a family member/friend set the computer up for you (do all the updates, take off the crapware…), run some programs, check the integrity of the HD. If this checks out, it’s rare that extending the warranty by 9 months is going to catch anything that would not break within the first 3 months under normal use.
Does this copy of Windows 8 have the “downgrade rights” to change to Windows 7? I know I’d have to provide the install and drivers, but I’d much prefer Windows 7 than 8.
Although I prefer Windows 7 (especially on non touch PC) this program is the one I prefer to making the the desktop like windows 7. It’s free, pretty configurable. IObit Start Menu 8 for Windows 8 Free download, Bring Windows 8 Start Menu back - IObit
Just the opposite. I purchased this at the last woot. It is my 3rd refurb, all purchased on WOOT. The first was my mothers, it was running perfectly, but is in storage since she moved 3 years ago. The other runs to this day. I purchased this one because of support for windows XP ending. I was going to load windows 7, but since the computer was 9 years old, it was time to replace. I will be loading Linux on the old and using it as a spare in the basement when family visits.
So I have purchased 2 refurbished computers from woot in 9 years and they all still work. RELIABLE! I have purchased 2 computers in the past direct, one from Dell, lasted 4 years and the motherboard fired, maybe power surge in Florida. And my company purchased me a home computer form HP in 1999 that broke in 2003, just under 4 years.
So in summary, my 2 refurbished computers, one is 8 years old and the other 6 years old, lasted longer than my 2 new computers, both around 4 years… My 4th was this one last month and it works GREAT. My mom is getting used to windows 8 SLOWLY, but she say it is super fast and loads within 20 seconds after start up, which she LOVES!
This seems to be a great desktop in the few weeks we have owned it. Do upgrade to 8.1.
I like your logic! Thanks for your time and input.
I purchased this same system a few weeks ago when it was $10 more expensive.
It’s the new family computer at my mom’s house and has been running fine. Between my two little brothers it’s running some Steam games and Sony Vegas Pro with no issue that they’ve reported.
Windows 8 clearly isn’t ideal, but after spending about an hour to configure it to be closer to windows 7 they hardly notice a difference.
I would encourage the purchase for anyone who is looking for a decent home PC.
I got this a week or two ago on here for 10 bucks more. Don’t forget they charge tax now and your 5 buck shipping. At the time It ended up being less expensive at newegg with no tax and no shipping.
Just bought one of these to replace a 10-yr-old Gateway running XP. Hadn’t thought about a new monitor or what it would take to use existing monitor (Gateway FTD1760 17") and multi-function Epson printer/scanner/fax. Nor planned to add RAM or other upgrades.
Also I assume it is 64-bit so won’t be able to run my DOS program(s), DOS utilities, or BAT files natively.
Bernie
There is a learning curve. Get windows 8.1 and set the boot up to start in Desktop mode. While still different, it resembles windows XP or 7 very closely. Windows 8 is better on laptops and tablets with touch control screens. But once you get the basics over time, it isn’t that bad. It is just new and takes some time to learn what it can do on a desktop. But it is best suited for touch screens. But I have an ipad. My mother hates the iPad so I had to get her a desktop to use at home.
I have one of these I got off woot about a year ago. LOVE IT. It’s my “do everything” computer. I paid about $110 more back then. For those of you who are leaving XP, don’t worry about the Luddites here that are afraid of windows 8. I went straight from a 10 year affair w/ xp and straight to 8. Cold turkey. I have no idea why some are so sentimental about windows 7, I simply never experienced it, so I may not know what I’m missing. If I can do it–anyone can.
I bought this from woot a month ago, just took it out of the box today and have had nothing but problems with it all day. The pc won’t run for more than a few minutes without completely crashing. The specs seemed great but it is a boat anchor to me now because it is completely incompatible. Fail.
I’m sorry for the problems. You have a 90-day warranty with HP so you should contact them (or whomever is noted in papers that came with the computer) before your warranty runs out.