Thinking about getting this PC- HP Pavilion Media Center TV PC (M8120N)

L6steel

L6steel

Joined
Sep 23, 1999
Messages
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Anyone have one of these? It sounds like the perfect pc for me! I know it has Vista for it's os but we're all gonna have to bite the bullet and go with it eventually. Have they worked out the bugs yet? I'm fixin to go to Microsoft's web site and read up on it. Here's a link to Circuit City's page on the pc. It tells all about it. maybe some of you tech folks can help me decide. Thanks for lookin and any help you can give me!!!

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-P...psm/oid/185193/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs
 
If you need a new machine, it looks ok. I'm not a fan of TV tuners, I messed with several of them in college and I was never happy with them, but if they've unbugged them and you have a dual monitor set up (or don't have the TV active while doing anything else) it should work well enough.

I would avoid the "personal media drive"- afaik, those are an HP proprietary widget, always a bad thing. I'd replace the Norton with something better, Norton is a plague.

As for biting the bullet on Vista... NEVER! VIVA LA LINUX! VIVA LA REVOLUTION! :D
 
It looks like a pretty good machine to me. It has more than enough RAM and good size hard drive. I would rather see 256MB of dedicated video card.

The price is very good from what I have seen. A Dell would cost you more for the same configuration.

You would probably pay more if you built the same thing yourself, but then you can decide which parts you would like to put into it and make it easier to update later.

I personally have not had very good luck with HP computers, though. But that doesn't mean that it will not be a great machine for you.
 
I bought HP's highest end PC from a local store several years ago. I installed all my software, set everything up, did several projects (photo exhibits) and then decided to back those projects up onto CDs. It would not burn a CD. So, I called HP tech support. After spending several hours (literally) on the phone with a heavily-accented Indian man, he told me I had to restore my PC with the restore disk. That would mean loosing my work since there was no way to get it backed up and the restore would errase it. I recluctantly did the restore, a multi-hour opperation. It didn't fix the problem. So, I was told that I would be sent a label and could return the unit for service. "No. I'll take it back to the store."

"Oh, please don't do that. We'll send the label to you right away."

"And how long with the service take?"

"We guarantee two weeks turn-around."

"I'm taking it back to the store. Good bye."

I exchanged it for a new one. I got the new one all set up, a several-hour project. It would send e-mail but not receive it. I called HP Tech Support and talked for several hours (literally) with another Indian. He finally determined that it was missing part of its operating system and I would have to restore it from the restore disks. "That takes hours."

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Then you're going to stay on the phone here with me while I do it."

"I'm sorry, but our policy doesn't allow that."

"I've had a particularly interesting life and I know you'll enjoy hearing the whole story...."

"Sir, you'll have to call back after"

"Then I'm going to take it back to the store and return it."

"Oh, please don't do that. We'll send the label to you right away."

"And just what gift will you give me to applogize for my time and trouble?"

"I can send you an ink cartridge for your printer."

"It's an Epson printer."

"Oh, then it won't fit."

"Good bye." Click.

And I took it back and traded it for a store-brand PC (Fry's Electronics) which is going strong to this day. It's had troubles a few times and I just put it in the trunk and take it to Frys and they fix it right there in the store. If I have questions, I call Frys and they have amazingly qualified people who talk me through it.

HP? Never again.
 
Gollnick said:
I bought HP's highest end PC from a local store several years ago. I installed all my software, set everything up, did several projects (photo exhibits) and then decided to back those projects up onto CDs. It would not burn a CD. So, I called HP tech support. After spending several hours (literally) on the phone with a heavily-accented Indian man, he told me I had to restore my PC with the restore disk. That would mean loosing my work since there was no way to get it backed up and the restore would errase it. I recluctantly did the restore, a multi-hour opperation. It didn't fix the problem. So, I was told that I would be sent a label and could return the unit for service. "No. I'll take it back to the store."

"Oh, please don't do that. We'll send the label to you right away."

"And how long with the service take?"

"We guarantee two weeks turn-around."

"I'm taking it back to the store. Good bye."

I exchanged it for a new one. I got the new one all set up, a several-hour project. It would send e-mail but not receive it. I called HP Tech Support and talked for several hours (literally) with another Indian. He finally determined that it was missing part of its operating system and I would have to restore it from the restore disks. "That takes hours."

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Then you're going to stay on the phone here with me while I do it."

"I'm sorry, but our policy doesn't allow that."

"I've had a particularly interesting life and I know you'll enjoy hearing the whole story...."

"Sir, you'll have to call back after"

"Then I'm going to take it back to the store and return it."

"Oh, please don't do that. We'll send the label to you right away."

"And just what gift will you give me to applogize for my time and trouble?"

"I can send you an ink cartridge for your printer."

"It's an Epson printer."

"Oh, then it won't fit."

"Good bye." Click.

And I took it back and traded it for a store-brand PC (Fry's Electronics) which is going strong to this day. It's had troubles a few times and I just put it in the trunk and take it to Frys and they fix it right there in the store. If I have questions, I call Frys and they have amazingly qualified people who talk me through it.

HP? Never again.
Click to expand...


My company is an HP Partner and our technical staff has to deal with external support from time to time too. Fortunately for us they're in Ireland.

IIRC, the Indian Call Center opened in 2004/2005, so your Operating System had to be XP or Windows 2000, for you to receive any warranty.

If anybody told you to restore Windows 2000 / XP because of a faulty CD / Email program, they were either new or stupid or both. Either way, the problem seems to be customer service and not hardware related.
 
L6steel said:
Anyone have one of these? It sounds like the perfect pc for me! I know it has Vista for it's os but we're all gonna have to bite the bullet and go with it eventually. Have they worked out the bugs yet? I'm fixin to go to Microsoft's web site and read up on it. Here's a link to Circuit City's page on the pc. It tells all about it. maybe some of you tech folks can help me decide. Thanks for lookin and any help you can give me!!!

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-P...psm/oid/185193/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with the machine, but you should note:

1. As per Gollnick's post; be sure to buy from a place that can help you to your satisfaction.
2. These machines can't be used in the Living Room as a replacement for a television etc. they make too much noise.
3. Vista is still somewhat buggy, but HP has an on-line system that identifies your computer automatically and allows to you to download customised software upgrades, as soon as they become available.
 
Our first computer was an HP, and we got excellent service the few times we needed it. I see that as far as "business" news goes, they have come back strong after a few bad years, and Dell is really getting dinged on their poor customer service.
I just bought a new "box" (tower only, no peripherals) from NewEgg to upgrade my present Gateway rig. (getting a bit creaky to run the newer games)

I'll let you guys know how she runs.
 
H-P...iece of s**t. I've had nothing but bad luck with thier products, especially printers. But then again, of the many printers i've owned, none have been trouble-free.
 
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