Ultra-affordable but lacking the power and perks of a mid- or high-level unit, the HP Pavilion a210n Desktop PC is built for folks who don't want or don't need to drop a lot of dough on state-of-the-art equipment. Distinct from the entry-level Pavilion a200n by virtue of its larger hard disk and DVD playing capabilities, the Pavilion a210n won't appease those who constantly strain their computer with processor-intensive applications or the latest 3-D games, but is otherwise a solid choice for the budget-conscious user.
At the heart of the Pavilion a210n lies a 2.5 GHz Intel Celeron processor. HP has matched this budget-conscious CPU with 256 MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM, an integrated Intel Extreme graphics chipset with 64 MB of shared (not dedicated) memory, and a surprisingly large 80 GB hard disk. Other data handling tools include a 3.5-inch diskette drive for older or smaller applications and backup needs, a CD-RW drive through which you can play and burn audio CDs and archive information, and a DVD-ROM drive for watching movies.
The Pavilion a210n package does not include a display or speakers, nor does it feature an IEEE 1394 FireWire port (normally used for fast data movement to and from external devices such as digital camcorders). It is equipped with a half dozen high-speed USB 2.0 ports for speedy interaction with plug and play peripherals, a two-button PS/2 scrolling mouse and a convenient HP Multimedia keyboard. Connectivity options include a low-speed 56K modem and a 10/100Base-T networking interface for high-speed e-communications.
The impressive bundled software package features such useful applications as WordPerfect Productivity Pack 2002, WordPerfect 10 and Quattro Pro 10, Intuit Quicken New Users Edition, InterVideo's WinDVD DVD player, and the Windows XP Home Edition operating system.
1 You get what you pay for... though in this case you get less
This is not a budget conscious machine - HP evidently decided to make up on the price by loading this machine with so much annoying proprietary garbage that the computer constantly is lighting up with my network connection trying to send information about me to HP or someone else who paid for space on my desktop. Given the technical characteristics of the machine, I expected it to be a reasonably fast machine for what my child needs it for - basic web surfing, email, etc. We have several much older machines on our home network, including two with less than half the memory and processor speed, but they are strangely much faster than this nice looking but poorly performing piece of... anyway, I would strongly recommend spending an extra one or two hundred to get a real machine, probably from a real manufacturer. Of the big ticket ($500 or more) items I've bought from HP in the past two years, they're 0 for 3. I don't think there will be a number 4.
2 Excellent Performance for the Price.
I got my computer over a year ago and have had no problems with it. The HP handles anything I ask it to do. In 2003, like tons of other computer users, I had difficulties with viruses and trojan horses, but, after switching to Mozilla, this problem became a thing of the past and has nothing to do with the PC I now use. I've found that for photography and word files this model is ideal and offers a high rate of speed. I usually have about 10 windows open, 2 Word files, and MSN messenger and yet I never have any difficulties with crashes. Overall, I can't say anything bad about this model and don't plan on getting a new PC for another few years. I don't care what the new ones look like, this one is functional and saved me some cash (and continues to).
3 Not Bad
This computer is not bad at all. Yes, there is no recovery disks included and there is no firewire port, but where are you going to get the 48x cd burner and the dvd player for this price? Hp did do a mistake when they sold these computers without recovery disks, but its not just this model, its ALL the models they are selling. In this computer, there is part of the hard drive that is for recovery so the only thing ou have to do if u want to make a backup, just click and drag. Another thing, many reviewers said they had a problem connecting to the internet....?? What is that about? I bought this computer FLOOR MODEL and a bought a Nec Multysync1555v al for about 800. Never looked back. Never regretted it. Even though it was 1 month being floor model, it ran fine. To be exact, it was floor model at circuit city. The computer is not bad at all. What did disapoint me was the lack of a video card. Don't get me wrong. it "has" a video card (how would it not have a video card!) but the video card is intergraded., meaning its basically built on to the mother board. First thing I did when I bought this was buy a 128 mb video graphic card. Improved graphics, but if you dont run programs like macromedia flash, adobe photoshop, and such that I use, you will not notice the difference.
Overall this is not a bad computer. If you are shopping, copy the price...the specs...look around... and you know you will come back to order it. A computer this good, at a price this good. It's Grrrrrrrrrreeaaaat
4 This Computer Sucks
This system is very slow mainly because it is loaded with tons of spyware that hogs system resources. You think popups are bad on the internet, just wait until you get them when you're not even connected to the web. That's right, HP has advertisments sliding in from the side of the screen at all times. This system also monitors your web habits and sends info back to HP.
Are you interseted in getting rid of the operating system (a proprietary version of XP made especially for HP that is slow as hell), well forget it. HP support offers zero drivers for this system and does not support you if you install any other OS, that includes your own copy of XP. No other OS is possible, no drivers exist anywhere, no support for anything other than the marketing bs system in place, no reformatting of the hard drive, zilch.
I have my old system in the same office that has a 333mhz proccessor and 96 megs of ram and it's faster than this new HP Pavilion a210n!
We're talking about marketing gone very wrong here folks, the main goal of this PC is to market to you.
This computer sucks hard, stay away from it. That's my advice.
5 What an overlooked Proccesser...
Contrary to what the guy with the first review said,this computer is very good.Maybe he had a lemon computer(I had one which ate my files-twice!),but I have this one,and it runs fast as heck,with no internet problems.Contrary to what the Amazon review said,this runs games perfectly fine-Black and White runs perfectly,and that game sucks up a pretty byte!
Besides,the power button glows neon blue,how can you beat that.^_^
So if you're on a budget,you'll like this computer!
