HP Pavilion 514n Desktop PC (2.2 GHz Celeron, 256MB RAM, 60GB hard drive) Personal Computer

Average Rating:

A quick review of the components:
CPU: 2.2 GHZ Celeron - all the Celerons sold in new systems today are based on the same 'core' as the P4. The only difference is that the Celeron has about half the on-die cache as the P4. This is one of the things that will impact 3D gaming, however it won't have a major affect most other applications used by normal users.

Video: Built "Intel Extreme" graphics (can not be upgraded) - This is fine for most users, and will play all the games out today. However you will not be able to play newer 3D games at there highest settings, and this will only get worse as the years go by. On the other hand 2-D games will run fine on this system for many years to come. So I would not buy this system if you want to play the latest 3D games. If you want to play 2D games (such as card games or strategy games), or pre-rendered 3D games (such as Myst style games), you will find that this system won't even blink.

The other components (hard disk, ram, CD-RW drive, DVD drive) are all perfect for the typical user. They should be more than enough for the life of the system. It has built in networking for those building a home network, or who want to connect to a high-speed Internet provider via Cable or DSL. It also has USB 2.0, which is great for MP3 players, scanners, and other external add-ons. With USB 2.0 you can also add high-speed upgrades such as extra hard drives or a DVD burner without opening up the computer. A nice feature for those not technically inclined.

The speakers are small and the sound won't be great. Try them out, and if they don't work for you replace them.

The software bundle is good: DVD player, MP3 software, Photo editing software and the Word Perfect productivity suite cover 90% of your software needs.

HP reliability is very high, so for most, but not all users (those 3D gamers I mentioned), this is a good low cost computer system you can expect to last for a long time.

If you are looking for a good low cost monitor to go with it, look at the Samsung monitors.