Joined on 02/12/07
Pros: Works great, good price & not too bad looking either. Keeps temps well below stock heat sink on my 3ghz core duo. Around 10 degrees Celsius in a HTPC environment helps a lot!
Cons: Covers 1 of my ram slots in my MSI PM8PM motherboard. I'm sure this isn't an issue with many other boards, but in this case it causes issues for me.
Don't waste your money
Pros: Nice screen, love the fingerprint reader. Fairly fast computer overall
Cons: I purchased this computer a little less than 3 1/2 months ago. Everything seemed fine until it started having problems with the video processor. Now, it randomly shows artifacts and locks up. HP says it sounds like a motherboard, they refuse to help any further.
Overall Review: I've owned 4 other HP's and haven't had any problems. I'm really disappointed in this one though. I guess I won't buy any more HP's. Apparently, the days of helping loyal customers are over.
Good PRoduct, Good Price
Pros: Very nice looking case, silent fans, place for IR receivers, flash memory readers
Cons: Must remove power supply to remove hard drive, had a lot of problems trying to mount an ir keyboard receiver in with the MCE remote receiver, clips on bottom of faceplate broke very easily.
Overall Review: This is a very nice case to use as a HTPC! Aside from the depth of it, it seems to fit in very well with my other components. Unfortunately, there are two main drawbacks. The fact of having to remove the power supply to remove the HDD irritates me. I learned the hard way that it's 100% necessary to do this unless you want to cut out the brackets. (Thanks to Seagate for the replacement) Also, when mounting my IR devices, I had to customize a lot to get them to fit in the narrow space they provide for you. Even then I didn't get anywhere near the range that I had with the oem casing. MCE remote works 'OK' inside the case, but my IR keyboard receiver only gets a range of about 3 feet (compared to ~3 meters in the oem housing.) Also, I had to fiddle around a little to get my DVD drive to open through the face. I drilled the mounting holes a little bigger and lowered the drive in the bracket. I think you might have to modify any case though.
Pros: Definately not bad for the price. Drivers and software have worked well for me. Reception is decent with TV and FM channels.
Cons: Not compatible with Windows MCE, lines in picture (even with s-video)
Overall Review: I bought this card as a starter, and that's about what it has been for me. Using it for PIP on my pc so I don't have to drag another tv in the room. Not bad to watch, don't try to record with it though! Unless you don't mind VHS quality..