HP Pavilion S3330F Slimline Desktop PC (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5400+, 2 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Reviews

Get all the power and functionality of a fully loaded desktop PC in a space-saving design that's one-third the size of a conventional tower. Enjoy high definition movies in either Blu-Ray or HD formats with the Blu-Ray/HD drive! The built-in ATSC TV tuner and personal video recorder let you watch, pause, rewind and record live television. Also with the huge 500GB hard drive you can record entire series of your favorite TV Shows. You can have Internet access anywhere in your home with the built-in 802.11G wireless. Pocket Media Drive Bay - Optional drive that lets you store and transport music, videos, photos and documents. It docks in its own built-in bay, or connect via USB NVIDIA Geforce 8500 GT with 256MB dedicated Graphics Memory TV tuner card, over-the-air ATSC high-definition television tuner Blu-ray/HD DVD player & LightScribe SuperMulti DVD+-R/RW with Double Layer High Definition Audio, 6 speaker configurable Built-in 802.11B/G Wireless 10/100 Ethernet External USB 56k Modem 15-in-1 card reader Front ports - 2 USB, Headphone Back ports - 1 IEEE 1394, 4 USB, Digital Audio Out, Microphone/Line-in/Line-out, 2 PS2 ports (keyboard, mouse), 1 RJ-45, VGA, DVI, HDMI Expansion slots - 1 PCI (occupied), 1 PCI Express x 16 (occupied) Drive bays - 1 external 5.25 (occupied), 1 internal 3.5 (occupied) Monitor is not included

The HP Pavilion s3330f Slimline desktop PC gives you all the power of a fully loaded home/office desktop in a sleek, silver-and-black chassis that's one-third the size of a traditional PC tower, enabling you to place it unobtrusively anywhere--from your office to entertainment center to kitchen. This desktop is powered by the 2.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ dual-core processor (with a 1 MB L2 cache), which increases the efficiency and speed of the PC while running multiple programs and the latest multi-threaded software.

You won't have to choose one format over another, thanks to the combination Blu-ray/HD DVD optical drive, which provides stunning high-definition clarity from movie discs. You can also watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. The integrated TV tuner (providing both standard NTSC and high-def ATSC transmission) and Vista Home Premium's personal video recording (PVR) capabilities let you watch, pause, rewind, and record live television--up to 300 hours on the 500 GB hard drives. And you can easily burn TV shows and home video to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner (16x for DVD±R), which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. LightScribe technology burns custom, silkscreen-quality labels and artwork directly onto LightScribe-enabled discs, right inside the drive.

It features a large-and-in-charge 500 GB hard drive, and it includes an open drive bay for an optional HP Pocket Media Drive (which can add up to 160 GB of storage). Other features include 2 GB of installed RAM (maximum), Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT graphics with 256 MB of dedicated video memory, multi-format memory card reader, a wide variety of connectivity options (including both USB 2.0 and FireWire), and digital audio output for home theater surround sound.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: AMD's Athlon 64 X2 5400+ dual-core processor is built for tomorrow's 64-bit applications, which will require a processor with significant power. Dual-core technology is like having two processors working together, each one taking care of different applications, so power-users actually experience greater performance when multiple applications are running. Digital media enthusiasts will appreciate the enhancements while simultaneously working in high-definition video and photo editing and audio mixing programs. It includes such AMD features as HyperTransport Technology (which increases the communication between integrated circuits) and Enhanced Virus Protection.

  This 2.8 GHz processor offers a system bus with speeds up to a blazing 2000 MHz and each core offers a 512 KB L2 cache--for a 1 MB total. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

• Hard Drive: The enormous 500 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive has a 3Gb/s interface speed that enables up to 300MB/s data transfer rates (double the speed of the current SATA interface of 1.5Gb/s).

  This Slimline PC also includes a drive bay that fits an optional HP Pocket Media Drive, which enables you to add up to 160 GB of additional storage. The Pocket Media Drive also works with any USB-enabled PC, for easy transferring of multimedia files from other computers in your home.

• Memory: The 2 GB of installed RAM (2 x 1024 MB DDR2) maximizes the capacity for this PC, and it also offers a top-of-class 667 MHz speed. The additional capacity helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with the video card.

• DVD/CD Drive: Get the best of both high definition worlds with the combination Blu-ray/HD DVD disc drive--both of which provide superior image and sound quality of high-definition images and multichannel surround sound. This multiformat DVD/CD drive is also compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 8x DVD-R DL Write Once, 8x DVD+R DL Write Once, 16x DVD+R, 8x DVD+RW, 16x DVD-R, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 40x CD-R, 32x CD-RW write speeds and 40x CD-ROM, and 16x DVD-ROM read speeds.

  This LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This desktop comes with an HP multimedia keyboard and optical mouse (both PS/2) and remote control.

Video & Audio
Video is powered by the integrated NVidia GeForce 8500 GT graphics/video card with 256 MB of dedicated graphics memory. Windows Vista can also allocate up to 1023 MB of total graphics memory from the system memory. With support for Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), it lets you rip through all of today's most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications. Power through games at record speeds with vividly realistic, sun-up to sun-down HDR lighting effects, and crank up 16x full-screen anti-aliasing without missing a beat. The fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs.

The video card includes composite TV out, DVI video out and HDMI audio/video out options. This PC also offers an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable to 8 speakers.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
This desktop has an integrated 54g wireless LAN that's fully compatible with 802.11b/g wireless networks. For expansion, this Slimline desktop has one PCI slot (occupied), one PCI-E x16 slot (available), one 5.25-inch external bay (occupied), and one internal 3.5-inch bay (occupied). It comes with the following external connections:

• 6 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players (2 front, 4 back)
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 15-in-1 multi-format memory card reader, compatible with CompactFlash I/II, IBM Microdrive, Secure Digital (SD), miniSD, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC), MultiMediaCard Plus (MMC plus), MultiMediaCard Mobile (MMC mobile), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, SmartMedia, and xD Picture Card
• 2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
• Video out: VGA, HDMI, DVI, composite AV
• 1 line-in, 1 line-out, 1 microphone, and 1 digital audio output
• Fast Ethernet port for 10/100 networking
• 56K modem

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 (60 days of complimentary live update), HP PhotoSmart Essential, Muvee autoProducer, Cyberlink DVD Suite, Microsoft Works 9, Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition (60-day trial)

Dimensions & Weight
This Slimline desktop measures 13.9 x 4.2 x 10.9 inches (LxWxH/D) and weighs approximately 19.7 pounds.

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Slimline s3330f desktop PC, keyboard, mouse, remote control, and power cord. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance for one year. Software is also covered for 90 days from date of purchase. MPN: GX754AA - UPC: 883585560967