Customer Reviews
Disappointed 
2008-06-29
The computer arrived in good condition. The box was partially open, but nothing was missing. I think HP could have done a better job with the box. The computer is very fast. I think the fact that it has 4 GB of ram helps. It has room for a second dvd player and the media drive works great. I bought 500GB drive and now I have 1.5 TB of storage space. Sweet! I was replacing a 4 year-old laptop and I wanted a much faster computer and I also wanted to be able to play blu-ray disks. Windows vista on the other hand is very disappointing. I am unable to play most blu-ray and old dvd disks. I looked in the internet for an answer and I found that many users have the same complaint. Apparently the controversial Digital Rights Management is to blame. Vista will stop playing DRM content if an unverified component is detected or suspected. It also decreases the quality of video under certain circumstances. I do not understand much about this, I only want to play high definition videos in my 24" monitor. No luck. I tried to install Linux, but I do not have enough experience. So, I find myself using the windows XP old laptop again more often than I would like to.
Exellent Computer! 
2008-06-20
I bought this computer primarily for photo and video editing and so far, my results have been excellent. Processing and DVD creation that used to take 1 - 2 hours on my 1.7 Ghz machine, takes between 4 and 13 MINUTES!
I did have some minor problems changing over to the Vista operating system, mainly configuring my video inputs using the Vista 'Media Center'. I "fooled" the Media Center so that I could record using the 'composite' connections in the end, but I made things a LOT easier by going to the webpage of the TV Tuner card (Haupauge) and downloading the control programs that normally ship with the card - they did NOT come already installed on the computer! Once I did this, it was VERY easy to record TV from ANY of the inputs - including the 'composites'. The program even made it easy to automatically find and configure the TV channels that came "over the air", so that you could easily use the computer as a DVR to automatically record TV OR Radio shows.
This computer was BY FAR the best for the money - and I compared ALL the worthwhile web sites AND local stores (like Best Buy, Circuit City). I have used HP computers for the last 13 years, and they have always been very solid, dependable machines. Also, NO ONE even came close to the deal Amazon had (in early May, 2008)! I also ordered the computer with the 'free shipping' option and it arrived 3 DAYS LATER!! Also, since I bought from Amazon, I did not have to pay taxes, so keep that in mind..!
Performs as advertised! 
2008-06-18
I am a first-time HP computer customer. I have used many Dell and PowerSpec (from MicroCenter) computers in the past but was wary of HP, since I expected a ton of crapware, low quality parts, and shaky support.
I was pleasantly surprised. The computer performs as advertised! The machine is well built. It is very, very quiet, and very fast. I bought a DoubleSight 26" monitor and hooked it up to the DVI port and the combination is perfect for my digital photography needs. HP only adds a small amount of crapware (starter-type programs and previews) which can be easily removed.
Pros: Love the Media Center (can watch over-the-air HD TV), powerful CPU, very quiet fan, the Blu-Ray player is superb.
Cons: Documentation is somewhat skimpy. What they do provide is generic info for many computer models. When you call their 24X7 telephone supportline, you speak to someone in India who just repeats what you ask them, then responds with a scripted answer. It is very frustrating to get concise, accurate, and straight answers to questions which invariably arise. Email support is similar-just canned answers. In fairness, most major computer manufacturers are doing this. Anyway, I gave up with HP telephone support and went to MicroCenter (where I bought the computer) and they answered all my questions. Lastly, I wish HP had dropped the extra external HD drive bays and included a more useful second optical drive.
Great Value- 2008-06-13
I needed to replace an older P4 computer because it ran too slow. Looked for a great CPU and plenty of power and storage at a low price and I kept coming back to the HP elite M9260. This unit does everything from recording video from television, radio tuner, DVD writer with litescribe, plenty of memory, 2-500gig HD's plus I did purchase a 750gig HP Personal Media Drive for portability to work for all my files. It also has a 10/100/1000 NIC card which helps with broadband high speed connections. About the only distraction is Vista Home Premium, I have paid for an upgrade to Microsoft for Vista ULTIMATE Upgrade and I am over two weeks waiting for the DVD to arrive. There are some issues with networking that HOME PREMIUM is not as flexible as VISTA ULTIMATE. That should not take away from the real value of this system. Highly recomended to anyone who anticipates using the PERSONAL MEDIA DRIVE from HP.
You should try! 2008-06-02
Excelent product. Fast, reliable and with all resources you may need.
I am very satisfied with this computer.
HO Pavillion Elite M9280F 2008-07-16
When I recieved my first M9280F I was very disappointed that it was DOA. Despite calls to HP which lead me on several adventures trying to revive it the poor thing was dead as a doornail. "No problem" HP said, "we'll send you a box and you can ship it back to us for no charge, we'll fix it and ship it right back to you." All well and good except then I would essentially have a refurbished computer, which I wasn't happy about. Then I contacted Amazon. They arranged to send me a new machine even before I shipped the old one back to them. They paid for the return shipping and charged nothing to ship the replacement unit to me, within a couple of days I was up and running. I can't say enough about the exceptional service provided by Amazon, they were great!
As for the M9280F, it's a great machine. Lightning fast, stable as a rock, runs everything I've thrown at it and worked with all of my existing equiptment and a new Canon ImageClass printer (also purchased at Amazon) although I did have to download a 64 bit driver for the ImageClass printer from Canon's web site.
Don't hesitate to buy big ticket items from Amazon. I've purchased plasma TV's, home entertainment systems, computers and monitors. They've all been great deals and they've all worked out or Amazon has made them work out.
Wish Win XP was an option over Vista64 
2008-07-13
I think this computer could be much better than it is if it had Windows XP on it. I went from XP Media Center Edn to Vista-64bit. Vista64 is basically incompatible with everything. Had to buy new scanner, print server, Quicken, Adobe Premeire, Adobe Photoshop and MSOffice because the move from XP to Vista rendered everything useless (or painfull to use at best....meaning errors). Even more tragic, the pc comes pre-loaded with IE 64-bit, but you can't go to 80% of websites without getting an Active-X error because Active-X doesn't support 64 bit (yet?). Yes, there's a 32-bit IE included, but you need to know what you're looking for. If I knew I was going to spend another $600 on peripherals and software, I would have gone with a Dell Vostro and downgraded to XP to avoid the hassles and expense. I was very happy with my 3 previous HP's over the last 10 years, so I went with them again.....oops. I hate change.
HP has really poor customer service 2008-07-11
I purchased a HP Pavillion Desktop computer back in March 2007. The warranty has expired. I tried to create a set of recovery discs but the HP recovery software refuses to recognize my blank DVDs regardless of whether they are DVD-R or DVD+R. The software will recognize CDR's but it takes 11 CD's as opposed to only 2 DVD's to make the disks. I contacted the online chat agents and was told that my recovery software was out of date and I could not update it because of an expired warranty; therefore my only option would be to buy a set of DVD recovery discs. I called the customer support line and was told that because the warranty had expired the only options I would have would be to (1) pay $49 for a one issue technical service call or pay $99 for an extended warranty plan. This is outrageous and an obvious attempt to collect revenue at the expense of good customer service. The recovery software that I currently have stated that it would burn 2 DVDs but it actually will not do this. I sincerely believe the failure of HP's software to operate properly on its' machines is not an issue that should be "outside" a warranty period. I have also been reading the HP user forums and others have had the same unresolved issue as well.
Extremely fast...but.. 2008-07-04
This computer is extremely fast, has a huge 1 terrabyte harddrive and gigs of ram. The BIGGEST problem I have had is with the new Vista 64 bit operating system...finding other hardware that will work with it. At first the modem for my DSL didn't work, spent a coule hours on the phone with tech support. My expensive ZYXEL prestige 300 router would not work with the 64bit operating system...I spent hours on the phone with tech support for the modem and router and my ISP. I finally checked the microsoft website they recommended 4 routers for use with the 64 bit Vista, so I bought oneof them, a brand new D-LINK EBRR-2310 from amazon, with cable, it got here and I installed it, and zippo! Spent another four hours on the phone with the D-LINK guy in India and he advised me to take the router back where I got it cause it wasn't gonna work! In exasperation I talked to a techie guy at work who suggested I should try the combo modem/router by AT&T which is my ISP (ATT-Yahoo dsl) and I ordered one of these combo modem/routers, 2WIRE gateway 2701HG-B gateway....it is supposed to configure itself once it is plugged in, and it didn't!! I went to the "backup" method of using their CDROM installation which worked like a charm to get wired ethernet connection to my second computer! So after spending an extra $200 on new routers and modems,I finally got the router to work, and the modem to work. On top of all this the CPU is a little noisey, more than I would like..but it is a white noise and seems to get quieter after it runs a while. Great machine, the operating system is fine if you can get hardware that works with it. I suggest the combo modem/router from AT&T, IT WORKS!!
by the way this computer turns on in about 10 seconds, and turns off in about 10 seconds. extremely fast on and off, compared to my old Dell computer which could take five minutes to turn on or off.
Somewhat Disappointed 
2008-07-01
Provisions for peripherals is great. Blu-ray works like a champ. However, somethings that one would take for granted were not easy or even possible. First, I never could establish a network with my old XP computer, nor did the Windows Easy Transfer work. I had to do all file transfer from the old computer by DVD-RW. Also, I am still unable to get my HP Photosmart C5180 All-in-One Printer.Scanner. Copier to work with the Vista on this machine. Finally, I am disappointed with the speed of multi-tasking processing. I didn't expect any delay. Overall, however, I would still buy this machine again!
