A Product Review of the HP Pavilion M9040N Elite Desktop PC

In this review I have my hands on another one of HP's "elite" series; the M9040N desktop PC. It is a member of a popular group of multimedia PC's that HP has started really selling a lot of. People have started using these as the backbones of their entertainment center. With the economy currently in the situation that it is the consumer wants to get the most for their money. Since this is the case I'm going to take a look at this particular "elite" desktop computer and let you know how well it performs for me and what kind of consumer it is best suited for. Let me get started with some of the basics.

Hardware:

Processor: 4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Core Processor Q6600

Tuner (Both NTSC and ATSC)

Optical Drive: CD R RW with integrated DVD dual layer + / - R RW burner

Storage Space: two 320 GB hard drives (totaling 640GB)

RAM: 3GB (expandable to a maximum of 8 GB)

Graphics accelerator: Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics

Operating system: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

In the Box: 1 wired mouse and keyboard, and 2.1 speakers

Right out of the box this HP is very quick. I love the large hard drive(s) with over a half a terabite. I would like to see 4 GB of RAM but 3 runs fine. I love how it has a television tuner; it really makes it a great option for becoming part of an entertainment center or sitting in a dorm room with the monitor as a television replacement.

This really can do about everything. It worked great as a digital video editor and plays new games effortlessly at the highest graphical setting. I like that it has some expandability options as well. The only thing I wish it had is a next generation optical drive, however this can be added in the aftermarket for about $150.

Connectivity:

Integrated WiFi

1 Ethernet port

6 2.0 USB ports (use these to connect to any number of devices like mp3 players, digital cameras, and printers)

2 FireWire (use this for high speed data transfer with things like other PC's and digital camcorders)

1 Composite video input

1 S-Video input

1 S-Video out (typically used to connect to a projector)

1 DVI out (to connect to some televisions or some monitors)

1 HDMI out (to connect to high definition televisions)

1 VGA out (a typical monitor connection)

1 Mic in / 1 audio out

1 Digital audio input and output

2 PS/2 ports (old school keyboard and mouse inputs)

15 in 1 memory card reader

1 modem input

The connectivity is great and I love that it has an HDMI port for connecting to large high definition TV's. Who needs a monitor when you can use that 40" LCD that is already in your living room? The only problem is the $1500 price tag. It is a little high when you price comparison even with HP's own multimedia series of desktops. Although I guess you can expect to pay top dollar when you're getting the top of the line components. I would expect to see this drop in price with this Pavilion by the end of the year. This is great for students (like I mentioned the earlier you could consolidate the TV and monitor to save space), gamers, and general family PC users.