Customer Reviews
A well-rounded machine 
2008-01-21
I purchased a refurbished model. It is likely that HP will be discontinuing this one as faster chips come out (AMD Phenom, for example), but I trust it as HP stands behind their products. Give it some patience, call tech support as you need them, and you should enjoy your machine quite a lot.
This machine is built to be part-productive, part-home entertainment like its big brother the M8200n. The productivity comes from its raw power (Running 2GB spreadsheets in Excel 2007 posed no problem for this bad boy), the entertainment from its five-speaker audio output and the 6150 video card. Yes, a 6150 is technically obsolete, but it will play DVDs fairly well. Unfortunately, to get really crisp picture you need to replace the video card with one that has DVI output (GeForce 7300 and up) - there's a PCI express slot available for this expansion, although there's no way to utilize SLI (two video cards) for high-end gaming. That's fine for me, it's an excessively pricey hobby, but it does show some limitations.
Vista is not as much of a hamstring as I had thought, it just takes some time to get used to where everything is now. Note that I have Vista Premium pre-loaded. The additional memory utilization is a plus.
There are only two complaints. The phone modem is bottom-of-the-line and slow as can be. It was also not entirely inserted into its PCI slot. It will likely be replaced in the next year anyway. Although there are two PCI slots on the motherboard, there's very little room to put anything else in there.
The video card (Nvidia GeForce 6150) is much maligned by high-end gamers who shouldn't be looking for a power-gaming PC for less than $1,000, anyway. Still, it runs what it runs very rapidly.
One last little note: the pre-installed HP Games only have limited use. Much to my wife's chagrin, she can only play Mah Jhong five times before we have to go online and purchase more "tokens". I'll just be picking up some bargain jewel case software instead, thank you much.
Lot of bang for the buck 
2008-01-12
Nice Tower, decent room inside for a minitower. Vista can be a pain sometimes but thats not HP's fault. Gets the job done for a good price.
Not perfect, but a good computer. 2008-01-06
I bought this computer from a store in November of 2007 and have been very happy with it. It is fast and at a good price (though it was discounted more in November).
Although I might have preferred xp, vista is not that bad. I have had very little compatibility issues, and it seems reasonably fast. (vista)
I added another optical drive to this computer and the power supply handles it fine.
This has an integrated Nvidia GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 graphics chip.
Pros:
-Good front ports and memory card reader
-Quiet, especially the dvd burner which is excellent
-Good looking case, with a well designed inside. (only inside)
-Runs games well. However, if you are looking to run a game like Battlefield 2 and a medium to high setting, a graphics card and a better power supply is recommended.
Cons: Nothing big but there are a few things that hp could have fixed easily, mostly with the case.
-The power button is on top and easy to hit, so if you have it set to turn off it is easy to bump while plugging something in and helplessly watch your computer shut down.
-If you don't use the keyboard they give you, then there is no way to close the dvd drive after opening it because the flap that covers the drive is pushed open, which has the button on it. Since I don't like to push it shut, I downloaded a program called CD eject tool which creates and icon in the taskbar that opens and shuts the drive.
-Underpowered. I added a dvd drive with no trouble, but the power supply is not weak enough for real expansion.
Bottom line:
This is a great computer, but it could have been made better. It really deserves a four and a half.
Do you use your PC for anything more than Email? 
2007-12-30
If so, skip this; the graphics card is so old, its not even listed on the nVidia site anymore! Nor is it an option if you go to the HP website.
Upgrade it you say? Then you'll need to upgrade this PC's horrible power supply too!
All together it'll come to around $200-$300 extra.
powerful and fast 2007-12-26
This HP is fast and dependable-- so far. I wish it had come with the programing discs, but I guess one can't have everything. Vista OS is a little odd and takes a bit more getting used to than XP did, but it just needs its own service pack, which I'm certain is already being written. I will say it's more intuitive with some applications-- almost Mac-like. I'm glad I went with the "home premium" version because judging by my version the regular home version must be pretty buggy.
Disappointed 
2008-05-29
I expected the memory and power specs would make this product fast, but it has been a huge disappointment with breakdowns and slow when it does occasionally work. Save yourself the expense.
Review of refurbished A6230N desktop 2008-05-20
Received on time and in perfect condition out of the box. Worked perfectly.
Thanks Guys!
hp pavilion 2008-03-22
Nice computer and working well so far.
It came fully loaded, but would have been better if it was in a packaged deal with a monitor and printer. It really becomes more expensive when you have to buy these components separately.
Almost perfect 2008-02-13
I would highly recommend this product. Performance is very good for everyday tasks as e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, etc. However, if you are planning to use it for games, I recommend you buy a better video card.
Finally, everything you have heard about Windows Vista does not begin to accurately describe the experience. I guess the pressure to put the product in the market after such a long wait was overwhelming, and it shows. If you can, I suggest you "downgrade" to Windows XP. Less learning curve, much better performance and you will be happier.
Dont buy refurbished 2008-01-31
This HP 6230N PC was listed on Amazon as a brand new unit. Even though the price seemed too good to be true (it was). I checked and rechecked the description and it indeed was supposed to be new. When it arrived, it was clearly a refurbished unit. I contacted the seller, J&R audio and computer and they said I could refuse the shipment or accept a free 2 year warrantee. Even though I was disturbed by the "mistake" on Amazon I accepted the offer.
What a mistake.
Here is the short list of what is wrong with it.
1. Power cable to optical drive was not connected to drive.
2. Data cable to HP Pocket Drive reader was not connected to mobo
3. PCI-e x16 slot does not work, does not recognize any cards inserted into it.
4."Up" arrow key on keyboard stuck.
5. Small ding in face of pocket drive reader.
In addition there are various screws loose in the case.
I went through the proper channels, even contacted HP for help (they were fine) and they wanted me to send it to HP for warrantee repair. I have only had this unit for one week. If the technicians that repair these products are the same ones that refurbish them, I decline.
Other than these major issues, everything else seemed to work fine. Vista worked without a hitch and computer seemed to really speed through just about anything. Of course, I couldn't play any games because the PCI-e slot was bad...
So, after a week, this is going back. Prior to this I have never purchased anything "refurbed" and am not likely to ever again.
