Customer Reviews
Working pritty good. 
2007-12-24
Good PC for the price. I did have some problems with my HP All-In-One but that is more likely Vista.
HP is now closely comparable to Dell 
2007-11-27
Having usually purchased our PC's thru Dell, this time their exorbitant cost drove us to look at others. As we buy most everything else thru Amazon, I checked out the HP's and found everything we were looking for, checked the reviews and gambled we'd get one of the "quieter" ones, which we did (noise seemed to be the chief complaint). Easy to set up, the only things we do not like or are frustrated by, is the lack of any USB ports on the front of the case..or outlet for a headset. But, after adding a hub, the USB port problem is dealt with and so far so good...
Great But I Want To 'Upgrade' to XP--Looking for Drivers 2007-11-12
Great But I Want To 'Upgrade' to XP--Looking for Drivers.
I ordered this in Sept from Office Depot with a [...]. Delivered & set up with no glitches.
I work from home & so far have kept using my previous PC with XP most of the time. This week I got the Soyo 24" LCD Monitor for [...] (Black Friday I hear) @ [...] (see e.g. or Google it).
http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/779680
Now I'll be less tempted to use my old PC for pleasure & I can get better used to Vista (if I must).
But I stll would like the option of 'upgrading' back to XP. I have the disk. I just need the right drivers & HP (along with other PC makers) doesn't make it easy (Vista Business & Ultimate owners now often have that right--along with the disks [Microsoft relented making it the PC makers' choice]--but not either version of Vista Home owners.
Reviewers here have posted that they went back to model before it was included with Vista. Can someone post a link to that model so I canb get the drivers and proceed?
HP's page for the version w Vista
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=3440614&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&cc=us
Meanwhile here's sites that have helped me live with Vista:
Vista 4 Beginners
http://www.vista4beginners.com/tutorials
Tweak Viista
http://www.tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/index.htm
Computing.net's Vista Forum
http://www.computing.net/windowsvista/wwwboard/2.html
How to Disable the annoying User Account Security Popups in Vista
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/disable-user-account-control-uac-the-easy-way-on-windows-vista/
More Vista How To's
http://www.howtogeek.com/tag/windows-vista/
Fix My Vista
http://www.fixmyvista.com/
1 of many sites w how to Upgrade Vista to XP threads
http://www.community.probz.com/index.php?s=cd3cd3eec27e16c478aa63c554d78f5d&showtopic=553
see main forum page for more
http://www.community.probz.com/index.php?showforum=4
I got a laugh when reading the HP forums last month when an HP rep seemingly naively asked why so many wanted XP
I have Googled some..gone thru forums etc, but not found the drivers.
Again: Reviewers here have posted that they went back to model before it was included with Vista. Can someone post a link to that model so I canb get the drivers and proceed?
Chaz
Too many problems 
2007-10-28
I've had 3 failures, all different. First was bad Wi-Fi, next a hard drive, next a "Windows has detected a problem" and computer would no longer start. Only good experience has been the fantastic customer service provide by Amazon in dealing with this series of problems.
HP M8120N 
2007-10-19
After spending an hour following HP startup instructions, was unable to get the TV media card to function properly. I called HP support and was on for over 2 hours with a tech which ended in having to do a system recovery. The problem is not fully solved, but I didn't want to waist anymore time on it.
The software package is not that great, but you do get to put up with preloaded advertising garbage that wants you to pay for the software that should have been on there in the first place. After removing most of the HP software, the machine is much faster. Is there anything special about this machine, NOT REALLY!
Next, we will see if the rebates come through.
hp multimedia tower 2008-06-29
so far so good. i haven't had a chance to use it too much, i have been on vacation for two weeks, but i have had no problems. it works fast and is easy to understand. it really is not that different than my last computer.
Great for most people 2008-06-18
First of all, I read the specs before buying this PC, so will not leave a bad review based on my own lack of research. I was bummed to find out that it does not have a DVI port, the one thing I forgot to check out before buying.
This computer will work wonderfully for most users. It has plenty of speed, RAM and hard drive space for the average video and photo buff. If you intend to download a ton of movies, use it as you entertainment system and want the best video output options, I would look elsewhere.
I do watch TV on mine and it was VERY easy to setup with my cable. The picture quality is OK while watching TV and much better when watching an actual DVD movie. Remember that your monitor and cable will make a huge difference as well. Windows Media Center works great too. It comes with built-in movies to teach you step by step how to get the best sound and picture quality.
I bought mine for the price and the amount of ports on the front. Vista works great in my opinion. Some people may have issues, but it usually a driver issue and is typically the fault of the manufacturer of the device you are having an issue with and not Vista itself.
It runs very quiet, looks nice, has two PCI expansion slots to add whatever (maybe more USB ports) and all the front AV ports I needed for a very low price. It has one extra bay in the front to add a second CD or DVD drive, which I have already done on mine for faster CD and DVD copying. This computer was exactly what I expected.
I think this PC should have a few more USB ports and a DVI output for sure. I am reviewing the m8100n. I am seeing some people posting reviews under the wrong area.
My advice is to think on your own and pick what specs you need first and then read the reviews. Not everyone wants the same thing and many people have unreasonable expectations. If this computer meets your needs as far as specs go, then buy it. You will love it!
Happy Camper 
2008-06-04
Great service. Best CPU buy ever! Killer machine. Great bargain. Software needed several upgrades though.
Don't buy it. This media center can't even run media smoothly 2008-02-22
The fast processor and huge RAM didn't help with the performance when running Windows Vista. If you go to control panel, click system, and look at the system rating, this machine scores 3.0 out of base scores ranging from 1 to 5.9. The cheaper machine scores higher in desktop performance for having a better graphic card.
Here is a breakdown of scores for each component of this machine.
Processor (5.3), RAM (5.9), Graphics: Desktop performance for Windows Aero (3.0), Gaming graphics (3.0), Primary hard disk (5.8). The machine froze often and the computer runs super slow. It's slower than my old machine that has lower processor and less memory. I called HP and was informed that the machine came with onboard graphics chipset. If I need my computer to perform faster, they recommend to install a new graphic card. The machine can't even run youtube video or movie smoothly even I use wired cable internet. Even I reinstall the machine back to the factory setting, it didn't help at all. Worse investment that I've ever made. I now decided to buy a new graphic card to get out of this frustration. If you don't plan to upgrade your new machine, don't waste the time. Vista needs decent graphic card to for Windows Aero. Without it, this machine performance goes down the hill.
Decent Specs, but Crashes all the Time 2008-01-27
The Good:
This machine can do great things, like fast video editing, decent play on games not requiring more graphics power than it has (i.e. few year old games), uses less electricity than my old computer, and in general is an attractive machine on most levels.
The Bad:
It's either Vista or the machine itself or a combination, but I crash out repeatedly trying to do resource intensive tasks like right-clicking (crashed explorer.exe 4 times this morning trying to move a file). Vista is also slow, bloated, and darned near unusable at times...How much of this is the machine and how much an abysmal OS, I can't say. My wife & some friends have Vista w/out nearly the problems, though.
The machine also runs pretty hot and the interior design is not great. It's got built in room for those HP media drives, but the bay seems to restrict air flow. Also, the only version of Linux I could find that would support the sound card was Knoppix, but it runs the volume really low, so Linux is out for the time being.
The Ugly:
I got the thing because it looked like an unbelievably great deal, far and away above the competition at the price range. A few weeks later, dropped in price and came with a monitor at a local store, confound it! Oh well, still good for the price.
**Update**
After Service Pack 1 for Vista the crashing has gone away, though Vista is still abysmal as an operating system. If you can, wait until the next version of Windows comes out, maybe it'll be slightly better.
