Evaluate this HP Deal for me please!

[jjbagoose]

Hi There,

I am a new member to this forum. I have been reading these boards for ages but never joined.

So I found this deal on an HP Media Center Config. To me it seems like one of the best deals of this type I have found. Could you please let me know if you think this is a good deal? At least a good deal for a Pre-Build (i.e. HP, Dell, Gateway...) Also, does anyone have any experience with the HPs? I have only owned dells, gateways, and my own builds.

HP Media Pavillion ( m7790y )

Intel Core 2 E6400
2 Gig DDR2-667MHz SDRAM
320 Gig 7200 SATA
LightScribe 16x DVD
256MB GeForce 7500LE (plan to replace)
15 in 1 memory card reader
modem
TV/FM Tuners w/ remote
HP 19inch widescreen LCD (w/ attached speakers)
HP Deskjet f380 all-in-one
keyboard/mouse
Vista Premium/Works

Mobo has 3 pci/ 1pci e/ethernet/audio
380 Watt Power Supply

The total price after rebates is $1,101.89

What are your thoughts?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[bamacre]

Much better off with a Dell XPS 410 if you plan on upgrading the video card.

 

[Harvey]

I'm leary of all department store branded machines because most of them include power supplies in the range of 300 - 350 watts. That may be enough to light up a Windows screen, but once you start trying to do some serious crunching or to add in some peripherals, it may choke on you.

For $1,100, you can build a better machine with components of your choice, instead of the default parts they choose to give you. You're already planning to replace the video card. Go for a good make of DVD burner, a SATA 2 hard drive and your choice of monitors, and you'll still probably come out ahead.

Hope that helps.

 

[RebateMonger]

Ask if you'll get a DVD to restore your system in case you need to re-install Vista. A built-in Restore Partition on the hard drive won't help if/when the hard drive fails.

 

[jjbagoose]

Thanks for the info everyone. I kinda figured this crowd would try to steer me towards building my own.

I did some pricing and I keep seeing my system come to way above 1100. Especially when you add in the cost of the Operating System.

Say I didn't upgrade the video card. Are you saying that I could burn out the power supply just running applications with that config?

That would really stink.

 

[bamacre]

No, but a better video card may require a better power supply. Depends on what kind of video card you want to upgrade to.