HP Pavilion M9040N Elite Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600, 3 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

I purchased my HP m9080n tower from Fry's in November 2007, & have used it 4 business purposes. Initially, it performed spectacularly. Great speed, handled many programs running simultaneously, little or no noise from the tower. NOTE: That's the ONLY reason I've given this machine 2 stars, rather than 0 or 1 star. When it's functioning correctly, it's very good. But, as you'll see below, I cannot rely on it--so what's the point in having it?

In February 2008, the problems began. The computer had had about 2 months of use by then. I'd do a cold boot (turned it on), & when the welcome screen appeared--if it did--there was no way 4 me 2 log in. The icons 4 each user account appeared but didn't respond, & they didn't open a space 4 me 2 enter my password.

I tried many possible solutions before taking it back 2 Fry's, including reinstalling Vista 4 times, using PC Doctor 2 analyze any hardware problems (it found none). Had 2 start it in Safe Mode 2 do these tests, or used F11 2 get into system restore mode. Bottom line is that nothing fixed the problem, despite my reformatting the hard drive, reinstalling Vista, & not installing anything else on the machine. Even with that configuration, it still had nonresponsive icons & no login window on booting up.

Finally took it 2 Fry's, because it was under warranty. They replaced the motherboard at no charge. When I brought the PC back 2 my office, it was fine 4 a couple of weeks, & then I started seeing the same symptoms as before: no window 2 log in, & nonresponsiveness 2 system restoration.

Took it back 2 Fry's, asked them 2 fix it AGAIN. This time they charged me nearly $200 2 reinstall Vista, which I had already done mutliple times. Brought it back 2 the office, & it functioned well 4 about 2 weeks.

Yesterday, the SAME PROBLEM STARTED AGAIN: when I turned the machine on, I got no login screen, & the user account icons were nonresponsive. But get this--I was so disgusted that I just let the thing sit overnight, with the nonfunctional login screen still there. When I got into the office the next morning, clicked on the icon 4 my administrator's account, lo & behold--the login window was normal. I was able 2 log in as usual, in other words. And I hadn't touched the computer since it booted up with no login window the night before.

If anyone has suggestions as 2 what I can do about this, I'm all ears. I can't tell you how disgusted I am with HP AND Frys'. The computer is still under warranty, but I've read other reviews here that give me no hope that HP will resolve the situation 2 my satisfaction. In the meantime, I've sunk $2,000 into an unreliable machine that no one seems 2 know how 2 fix. Right now, it's more useful as a freaking doorstop.

In all fairness, we have several other HP desktops & notebook computers in my office. In the 3+ years we've had them (running XP or Vista Ultimate), we have had no problems with them. I don't know if this problem is specific 2 the m9080n or not.

Thanks,

Dr Susan E Caldwell
Biotech Ink, LLC
www.biotechink.com

I've read all these responses on M9080N & will it do RAID... the simple answer is yes it will. Here's how.

CAUTION: This will destroy all of your data!!

1. Create system recovery DVDs from Start Menu > Programs > PC Help & Tools > Recovery Disc Creation (you can only do this once per system)
2. Go into the BIOS, find disk settings. HP ship this machine in IDE config, There are 2 more choices there AHCI & RAID. Choose RAID, save & reboot.
3. Hit "Ctrl I" upon boot 2 enter RAID config
4. Create 1 TB RAID 0 (stripe) or 500 GB RAID 1 (mirror) logical volume.
5. Insert DVD & boot
6. Follow prompts 2 rebuild system
7. All done

HP seem 2 not done a perfect job both configuring this system (shipping with BIOS set 2 IDE) as well as supporting this system (telling customers it does not support RAID). They need 2 hire a few more rocket scientists & try harder next time.

I'm confused as 2 what the difference is 2 this HP model, compared 2 the m9150f. They both have practically identical specifications except 4 the hard drive space(m9040n=640gb, m9150f=720gb) & the m9150f carries a HD-DVD player, & somehow the m9040n is priced substantially higher. I might have overlooked something when comparing the specs but I can't find the difference. Does anyone know?

For a computer not being built by yourself this is a great computer. I added a LG Blu-ray/HD Writer 4 $300 & It is now a real TV computer. HP has built a good one here,Rates a 5.6 on Vista scale. And Vista is doing it's job, When It came out there was some issues, SP1 is out & Vista Ultimate is very Good !! I also love Media Center with the Built in HD Tuner, It records Flawlessly in HD & has a great picture. I highly recomend this computer.

This PC is excellent 4 my needs. I'm using it 2 run a small home business. It's also great 4 my multimedia projects.

The HP Pavilion Elite delivers an amazing high-end home entertainment experience with DirectX10 3D Mainstream gaming, & power 4 the most demanding PC tasks. This premium PC features technology that puts everything you need where you want it. Press the HP Easy Backup button & instantly back-up your files. The built-in TV tuner & personal video recorder (PVR) let you watch, pause, rewind, & record live television. The SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe technology lets you create custom, silkscreen-quality labels & artwork directly onto LightScribe-enabled CD & DVD discs. The Intel Core 2 Quad processor is the latest in cutting edge processor technology 4 the desktop PC. Windows Vista Home Premium operating system is the preferred edition 4 home desktop PCs with extensive digital entertainment features, expanded search capabilities & the fluid, three-dimensional Windows Aero user interface. NTSC TV tuner & over-the-air ATSC high-definition television tuner with Remote control & infrared receiver Built-in drive bays 4 an optional HP Personal Media Drive or HP Pocket Media Drive Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader - Smart Media, xD, MultiMedia Card (MMC), Reduced Size-MMC (RS-MMC), MMCplus, MMCmobile, Secure Digital (SD), miniSD, Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, Microdrive, Memory Stick (MS), MS Pro, MS Duo & MS PRO Duo SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe Technology - 16x DVD+-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 32x CDRW & 40x CD-ROM nVidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics card with 256MB dedicated video memory, TV-out, DVI, & HDMI capabilities & support 4 Microsoft DirectX 10 Operating System - Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Dimensions - Length 16.61 x Width 7.00x Height 15.51 Weight - 24.25 pounds Monitor is not included

The updated chassis with sleek piano black paneling & components is far from the most significant improvements in the multimedia powerhouse HP Pavilion Elite m9040n desktop PC. It's powered by Intel's newest processor--the Viiv-enabled 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600--which delivers four complete execution cores within a single processor 4 unprecedented performance & responsiveness in multi-threaded & multi-tasking business/home environments. You can also go wireless & clutter-free with wireless keyboard, mouse, & remote control, & it includes a built-in wireless antenna 4 54g Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g).

You can watch, record, & pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC 2 record upcoming episodes or entire series. The built-in TV tuner (providing both standard NTSC & high-def ATSC transmission) & personal video recorder (PVR) let you watch, pause, rewind, & record live television--up 2 395 hours on the dual 320 GB hard drives (for 640 GB of total built-in storage). An online Electronic Program Guide (EPG) lets you review the TV schedule & select individual episodes or entire series, so you can watch your favorite shows on your own time, at your own convenience. And you can easily burn TV shows & home video 2 DVD 4 friends & family with the dual-layer, multi-format LightScribe DVD/CD burner (16x 4 DVD±R), which enables you 2 store up 2 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc. LightScribe technology burns custom, silkscreen-quality labels & artwork directly onto LightScribe-enabled discs, right inside the drive.

Built-in drive bays fit optional HP Personal Media Drives & Pocket Media Drives, 4 up 2 660 GB of additional storage that you can carry away with you when you go (media drives not included). Other features include 3 GB of installed RAM (8 GB maximum), NVidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics (with 256 MB of dedicated video memory), Gigabit Ethernet, 15-in-1 memory card reader, up 2 8 channels of surround sound output, FM tuner, & a remote control with up 2 16 feet of range.

This PC also comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities 4 turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition 2 easily playing your DVD movies & managing your digital audio library, you'll be able 2 record & watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, & offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: With four execution cores, the 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 blows through processor-intensive tasks in demanding multitasking environments & makes the most of highly threaded applications. Whether you're creating multimedia, annihilating your gaming enemies, or running compute-intensive applications at one time, new quad-core processing will change the way you do everything. The Q6600 has a top-of-the-class 1066 MHz front-side bus (FSB) & dual 4 MB L2 caches (for a whopping huge 8 MB shared L2 cache). (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; & a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU & RAM, & a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

  With four complete execution cores in a single processor, you get four dedicated, physical threads help operating systems & applications deliver additional performance that enhance multi-tasking & multi-threaded performance across many types of applications & work loads. The Smart Memory Access feature improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth 2 provide data 2 the processor when & where it is needed. The Advanced Digital Media Boost feature effectively doubles the execution speed 4 instructions used widely in multimedia & graphics applications. And with the Intel 64 Architecture, the processor can access larger amounts of memory. With appropriate 64-bit hardware & software, platforms based on an Intel processor supporting Intel 64 Architecture can allow the use of extended virtual & physical memory.

  This processor also includes Intel's Viiv technology, which allows you 2 quickly turn the PC on & off (after initial boot) with a touch of the included remote thanks 2 Intel's Quick Resume function. It also offers specially-designed software that makes network configuration easy, 4 connecting 2 portable media players, DVD players, TV sets & stereos.

• Hard Drive: The incredibly huge 640 GB capacity from the dual 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space--enough 4 storing up 2 395 hours of television programming, a vast multimedia collection, or 4 editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data--akin 2 FireWire & USB 2.0.

• Memory: The 3 GB of installed RAM (PC5300, 2 x 1 GB, 2 x 512 MB) is a good start, but you'll want 2 add more RAM 2 handle today's demanding multimedia & gaming software. It also offers a top-of-class 667 MHz speed. This desktop has an enormous 8 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity & clockspeed.

• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ & DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up 2 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 & 40x CD-ROM, & 16x DVD-ROM read speeds.

  This LightScribe DVD+/-RW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text & images on 2 CDs & DVDs . Your software, PC & discs work together 4 a no-hassle way 2 burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert & burn your label--anything from a simple title 2 a full-disc work of art.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This desktop comes with a wireless HP keyboard with extended range (up 2 30 feet) & a wireless optical mouse.

Video & Audio
Video is powered by the integrated NVidia GeForce 8400 GS graphics/video card with 256 MB of dedicated graphics memory. Windows Vista can also allocate up 2 1535 MB of total graphics memory from the system memory. With support 4 Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 & High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), it lets you rip through all of today's most advanced & cutting-edge games & applications. Power through games at record speeds with vividly realistic, sun-up 2 sun-down HDR lighting effects, & crank up 16x full-screen anti-aliasing without missing a beat. The fully unified shader core dynamically allocates processing power 2 geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up 2 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs.

The video card includes composite TV out, DVI video out & HDMI audio/video out options. This PC also offers an integrated audio card that can produce high definition surround sound configurable 2 8 speakers.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
This desktop can be wirelessly networked with the integrated 54g Wi-Fi LAN (802.11b/g). You also get super-fast wired connectivity via the Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000). For expansion, it includes drive bays that fit an optional HP Personal Media Drive (for adding 500 GB of storage) or an optional HP Pocket Media Drive (for adding 160 GB of storage)--for a total of up 2 660 GB of extra storage. For expansion slots, it has one PCI (occupied), two PCI Express x1 (one available), one PCI x16 Express slot (occupied), two 5.25-inch bays (one available), three 3.5-inch bays (one available), & the following external ports:

• 6 USB 2.0 ports 4 connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras 2 MP3 players (2 in front, 4 in rear)
• 2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port 4 connecting digital video camcorders & other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)
• Composite video, S-Video, & analog audio inputs
• Video out: S-Video, DVI, HDMI, & VGA
• Headphone & microphone jacks
• Digital SPDIF audio input/output
• Surround sound speakers--rear, side, center (subwoofer)
• 2 PS/2 ports 4 connecting keyboards & mice
• 15-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I & II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Pro/Duo/Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, XD Picture Card, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+
• 56K modem

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system 4 users with advanced computer needs, & it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities 4 turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center 4 watching DVD movies & accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center 2 record & watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) & 2 access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium & an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you 2 access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever 2 share files between other PCs in your household & 2 manage your laptop computer settings 2 more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools & technologies 2 help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting 2 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 2 manage & monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, & other activities.

Preloaded Software
Includes Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Student & Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Muvee Autoproducer Basic Edition, Roxio Creator 9 & MyDVD Basic, HP PhotoSmart Essential, & Symantec Norton Internet Security 2007 (with 60 days of Live Update).

Dimensions & Weight
This desktop measures 16.61 x 7.0 x 15.51 inches (LxWxD) & weighs approximately 24.25 pounds.

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Media Center m9040n desktop PC, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, remote control, & power cord. It is backed by a limited warranty 4 parts & labor 4 one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance 4 one year. Software is also covered 4 90 days from date of purchase.