My new HP and Vista

[Adam]

After four years, I got myself a new computer for home. I bought an HP Pavilion Elite d5000t, and so far I'm very happy with it. It's my first experience with Vista (yeah, I gave up on being an early adopter a while ago ), and after dreading it based on some reviews, it's really quite nice. The Aero visual interface is a nice upgrade from XP, IMO. Translucent windows are certainly nothing new, but I like how it's set up. I still need to look more into possibly disabling some of the security checks, but I'm not annoyed at the OS one bit.

This is my second HP, and they haven't let me down. I bought my first HP back in 2003 and really liked it, but I gave it to my parents a year later when I decided to try my hand at building a computer. My home built unit worked well, but I just could never get the air flow that I wanted. So, it would either be a lot louder than I wanted due to cranking up the fans, or it would overheat, or both. Four years after building it, I decided to try another HP - and this thing is nice! The d5000t models are not small boxes, but it is fast and quiet. The stock cooler on my quad-core processor is fantastic - whisper quiet so far, and it hasn't gotten any louder when I task all cores at 100% for hours (I like to run SETI@home, but my home built computer made it a pain because of the heat). The d5000t has a good power supply and plenty of expansion capability, and I really like how HP has stopped shipping computers with a bunch of bloatware on their stock image. I do wish that they would include official install discs of the OS and licensed software, though.

If you're in the market for a new PC, then I recommend looking at HPs. They have coupons on a pretty regular basis. I used a $400 off coupon (it's what inspired me to bite), which basically got the price of my configuration down to what you'd expect to pay these days for it. I check dealnews.com for coupons, but they are posted other places. I can't say if they are better than Dell, but I can say that I like mine.

Just wanted to share my impressions of the hardware and OS. Thanks.

 

[Alex2507]

Congrats. So how much?, if you don't mind.

Edit: What is up with them not providing the disc for the OS? I'm on my first computer and just yesterday ran into something in a computer mag that said to do whatever and pop the OS disc in when prompted to do so. Not only do I not have one, I didn't even know I could have one. I feel like I done been jipped.

 

[Adam]

Congrats. So how much?, if you don't mind.

Thanks, Alex!

The total came to $750, then another $42 for tax - ahhh, I remember the good old days when HP and Dell didn't charge tax in Arizona. To give the price more perspective, here's what I got:

- HP Pavilion Elite d5000t ATX PC
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q9300 (2.5GHz)
- 3GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (2x1024,2x512)
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9300, DVI-I, VGA adapter,HDMI
- 802.11 b/g USB Wireless LAN card
- 500GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
- LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
- 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, TV video
- ATSC-NTSC TV tuner with PVR, FM tuner, remote
- Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
- HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse​

I do wish that the keyboard would incline more, but I like some of the extra "multimedia" buttons that are on it.

 

[Adam]

Edit: What is up with them not providing the disc for the OS? I'm on my first computer and just yesterday ran into something in a computer mag that said to do whatever and pop the OS disc in when prompted to do so. Not only do I not have one, I didn't even know I could have one. I feel like I done been jipped.

Yeah, that's one thing that I liked about building my own system - I had all of the original install discs. I gotta look into saving a back-up of the original HP factory image. The HP that I bought in 2003 had me do that as one of the first steps, but this one never prompted me to do it.

BTW, sometimes putting the OS disc in just accomplishes the goal of finding one or more files that are on the disc and presumably not on your computer. However, if you know which files it's looking for (and it'll tell you most of the time if you try to install something without the OS disc), then you might be able to find the files on your hard drive or the internet. I've done that a few times in the past.

 

[Alex2507]

I do wish that the keyboard would incline more, but I like some of the extra "multimedia" buttons that are on it.

Ever since I got this computer I've had a mild fetish for one of those split keyboards. I got me some big hands but it's not like new keyboard would come with built in typing skills. When I was in high school, typing class was for girls and the one transgendered kid. Look at me now, I can't even claim to be a proficient two finger banger.

 

[Adam]

Ever since I got this computer I've had a mild fetish for one of those split keyboards. I got me some big hands but it's not like new keyboard would come with built in typing skills. When I was in high school, typing class was for girls and the one transgendered kid. Look at me now, I can't even claim to be a proficient two finger banger.

I got one of those split ergonomic keyboards when I got my Dell back in 1999. Pretty nice. You might be referring to one that I saw at work, though - this one guy has a keyboard that splits in half, and he has the two sides at something like a 45° angle. It's a big upside down "V" on his desk. His "mouse" is some really funky design, too. On a side note, getting any ergonomic stuff where I work is either about who you know or how good you are at working the system. I had severe wrist pain for years, and they just told me to get up and take more breaks. Good enough - ergonomic justification for slacking off!

I took keyboarding in high school back in the late 80's. We did it on typewriters, if you youngins here can believe that! One of the most useful classes that I ever took - I like being able to type without looking at the keyboard. Sure came in handy back in the days of Starcraft when my friends and I had dial-up, couldn't talk to one another, and had to type out messages. Yeah, I still sucked at the game, though.

 

[Rickster71]

I got me some big hands but it's not like new keyboard would come with built in typing skills. When I was in high school, typing class was for girls and the one transgendered kid.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

 

[Adam]

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

I was thinking the same thing, Rick. Seinfeld had some good ones!

BTW, taking a class in high school that let me be surrounded by girls - not such a bad thing.

 

[gus6464]

Retail PCs have a hidden partition with the restore info in case your system crashes. You can also create you own restore DVDs with the software it comes with. There will be an icon in your desktop which you can run to create your restore discs. You will need 2 blank DVDs and 3 hours since it generates the images and then burns them.

 

[Adam]

Retail PCs have a hidden partition with the restore info in case your system crashes. You can also create you own restore DVDs with the software it comes with. There will be an icon in your desktop which you can run to create your restore discs. You will need 2 blank DVDs and 3 hours since it generates the images and then burns them.

Thanks, Gus. Good info. My PC didn't come with any icons on the desktop, and the partition isn't hidden. I just need to find where the program is at to make the restore discs, but I'm sure that it has that capability. The directions are probably written in large font on one of the slips of paper that came with it...

 

[gus6464]

Thanks, Gus. Good info. My PC didn't come with any icons on the desktop, and the partition isn't hidden. I just need to find where the program is at to make the restore discs, but I'm sure that it has that capability. The directions are probably written in large font on one of the slips of paper that came with it...

Did you get it at Best Buy?

 

[Adam]

Did you get it at Best Buy?

Nope. Direct from hp.com.

 

[Adam]

For those of you who are on the edges of your seat about this...I found the recovery disc creator program using the help search. You can all now go about the rest of your day in peace.

 

[Adam]

Now that I have the new HP, I disconnected my home built system and took a good look at it. I noticed two things right away. First, the Lian Li case really is remarkably well built and finished - if you're looking to build a PC, I'd recommend them as a brand. Second, it clearly had been a lot longer than I had thought since I blew the dust out of it! The processor heat sink (an after market Zalman) was heavily coated and had likely lost over 50% of its effectiveness. No wonder it was overheating even more than usual as of late. Regardless, I'm happy that I got the new system. Heat aside, the processor was showing its age. This quad-core really surprises me at how it handles multiple applications will so much ease.

 

[gus6464]

If you want that system to really fly get a hold of a Vista 32bit OEM disc and do a custom install with just the drivers required for your hardware. That way you get rid of all the bloatware that comes with which is very substantial.

 

[Adam]

If you want that system to really fly get a hold of a Vista 32bit OEM disc and do a custom install with just the drivers required for your hardware. That way you get rid of all the bloatware that comes with which is very substantial.

Thanks, Gus. I have the 64-bit version. I got it because the description said that the 64-bit version can use RAM over 3GB more effectively. It hasn't caused any problems so far. The 64-bit version of IE doesn't always work with some sites, so I'm just using the 32-bit version.

I mentioned this in the first post - one of the things that I really like about this HP is that they didn't load it up with bloatware. I don't know if that's true for all of their models, but it was stated as part of the description, and it sure seems to be true. This seems like a very clean install. Nothing like the HP that I got in 2003 that had all sorts of junk software on it.

 

[gus6464]

Thanks, Gus. I have the 64-bit version. I got it because the description said that the 64-bit version can use RAM over 3GB more effectively. It hasn't caused any problems so far. The 64-bit version of IE doesn't always work with some sites, so I'm just using the 32-bit version.

I mentioned this in the first post - one of the things that I really like about this HP is that they didn't load it up with bloatware. I don't know if that's true for all of their models, but it was stated as part of the description, and it sure seems to be true. This seems like a very clean install. Nothing like the HP that I got in 2003 that had all sorts of junk software on it.

Ohh I guess since you got from HP direct they cleaned it out beforehand. It's not that 64bit can use more than 3gb of ram more effectively, it's that 32bit windows can only see up to 3gb of ram period. 64bit versions can allocate up to 64gb of ram. I think Firefox 3 64bit is out so you could always use that instead of IE and IMO it is a lot faster than v2.0.

 

[fox]

My HP laptop did not have an install disc either, I was prompted and did burn to a DVD a copy. I guess I am surprised that you haven't been asked to do this. But anyway, that is what I did.

 

[Adam]

Ohh I guess since you got from HP direct they cleaned it out beforehand. It's not that 64bit can use more than 3gb of ram more effectively, it's that 32bit windows can only see up to 3gb of ram period. 64bit versions can allocate up to 64gb of ram. I think Firefox 3 64bit is out so you could always use that instead of IE and IMO it is a lot faster than v2.0.

Cool, thanks for the info. Makes me even more glad that I got the 64-bit version. I didn't get more than 3GB to start with, but I certainly might get some more in the future.

My HP laptop did not have an install disc either, I was prompted and did burn to a DVD a copy. I guess I am surprised that you haven't been asked to do this. But anyway, that is what I did.

Thanks, fox. Maybe I missed it, but I sure don't remember any mention of the recovery discs when I went through the initial set-up. When I got my HP back in 2003, I think that creating the recovery discs was one of the first things that popped up on the screen when I first got it. However, I did find the program that creates them on this new one, and I have them done and sitting on my desk right now.

 

[Alex2507]

I thought that recovery discs and in my case an XP OS disc would be two different things. I have recovery discs from eMachines. I bullied them into sending them to me as the blanks they sent were defective. Good thing too cause I needed them. Something about the registry being wiped out, whatever that means. There's a choir for beginners. I think I might have the oldest working eMachines.

The dust thing is what I think made the whole thing flake out on me. I vacuum mine out once or twice a year now. The last time I did it I think I went too far and pulled a finned aluminum looking thing off of a 1" X 1" thing. It had been glued on and I just sput it back together but I have an idea that the glue was suppose to cunduct heat between the two to be dissipated. Should I be re-applying that glue and what would it be exactly?