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Boasting a sleek and shiny black-and-silver chassis, the HP Pavilion a6745f desktop PC comes loaded with the all tools you need to easily create, manage, share, and enjoy your digital photos, home videos, movies, and music. You can easily burn your home video productions to DVD for friends and family with the dual-layer, multi-format DVD/CD burner, which enables you to store up to 8.5 GB of data on a DL disc and provides a super-fast 16x DVD±RW write speed. It also includes LightScribe technology for personalized silkscreen-quality, laser-etched CD/DVD labels created right in the drive.

The sleekly black HP Pavilion a6745f (monitor not included). Store more music, videos, and data on the generous 320 GB hard drive capacity. Other features include a 2.5 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800 dual-core processor,4 GB of RAM (which can be bumped up to 16 GB), ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics (with 256 MB of dedicated graphics memory), 54g Wi-Fi networking, Gigabit Ethernet wired networking, a wide variety of connection ports on both the front and rear of the box, and a 15-in-1 memory card reader that’s compatible with today’s most popular digital camera formats.

It comes preinstalled with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1), which 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.

• 2.6 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e dual-core processor
• 320 GB hard drive
• 4 GB RAM (16 GB maximum)
• Dual-layer Lightscribe DVD±R drive
• ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics (256 MB dedicated)
• Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit, SP1)

The Basics

• Processor: AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 5050e 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 2.6 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 generous 320 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).
• Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM (PC6400) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that’s shared with this notebook’s video card. It also offers a fast 800 MHz speed. This desktop has an amazing 16 GB maximum RAM capacity (4 x 4 GB) when used with a 64-bit operating system (4 GB when used with a 32-bit OS). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.
• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is 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 12x DVD±R DL Write Once, 16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 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: It comes with an HP multimedia keyboard and scroller mouse (both with PS/2 connections).

Video & Audio
Video is powered by the ATI Radeon HD 3200 with RS780M chipset, which provides 256 MB of dedicated video memory. The AMD 780 Chipset series lets you connect to a wide range of the latest HD panels by supporting numerous display technologies. Take advantage of ATI SurroundView to support up to four monitors. It also offers support for Microsoft DirectX 10, providing compatibility with today’s most advanced and graphic-intensive games and applications. It also has 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, it has three PCI Express x1 slot (available), one PCI Express x16 slot (available), two 5.25-inch bays (one available), and three 3.5-inch bays (two available). It comes with the following external connectors:

• 6 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players (2 in front, 4 in rear)
• 2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals (1 in front, 1 in rear)
• 2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
• Video output: 1 VGA, 1 DVI
• 2 headphone and 2 microphone (front and rear)
• Digital coaxial audio input/output as well as surround sound speaker outputs (rear/side/center)
• 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.
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
• 56K modem

Operating System
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) 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

• HP MediaSmart Software Suite: Your one-stop multimedia and entertainment center to create photo slideshows, share personal videos, listen to your favorite music playlists and watch DVD movies.
• muvee autoProducer Basic: Automatically create professional looking home videos and burn to DVD.
• Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe: Automatically fix and edit videos and create CDs and DVDs. Edit, burn and archive data to discs.
• Microsoft Works 9: Includes a word processor, spreadsheet, database and calendar.
• Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 (60-day trial version).
• Adobe Reader 8: Read and print PDF files.
• Norton Internet Security 2009 protects your PC and your identity when you email, bank and shop online; 60 days of protection updates included.

Dimensions & Weight
It measures 16.3 x 6.9 x 15.25 inches (LxWxD) and weighs approximately 22 pounds.

What’s in the Box
The HP Pavilion a6745f desktop PC comes with a power cord, keyboard, and scroller mouse. It is backed by a one-year warranty for parts and labor from date of purchase, one-year technical phone service, and 90 days of software application support.

Note: Monitor not included.

Initial impressions were that it seemed slower that I expected a quad core processor to run but it is still plenty fast (downloads and loading software from CD where not much faster at all than my old Pentium 4 1.2G)

Where the quad core really shines is when running multiple apps (antivirus scan while surfing, etc.)

The wireless card requires an external antenna (included, but weird) which is invaluable if you happen to be located any appreciable distance away from your wireless router. I have mine on the other side of the house and still register 100% signal.

I really have only a couple of gripes, with just one of them major. 1, the HP suite is an enormous, cumbersome waste of space that does absolutely nothing. Hard to believe that when I ran antivirus on a brand new machine and the Task Manager showed 61 processes ( Yea Vista ) running and over 700,000 files already on the hard drive. Which leads me to 2. Windows Vista 64.

If you are looking for a single reason to run for the hills away from this computer – this is it. First and foremost, you can toss anything at all you expect to use peripheraly right out the window. I guarantee if it’s over a year old, there are no drivers for it.

Found this out the hard way after spending most of the evening trying to locate drivers for my printer only to find out that the manufacturer no long supports the model and does not and will not write drivers for it. So my 3 year old perfectly good laser printer is now a boat anchor.
Additionally, I planned to do sound editing (actually one of the reasons for the purchase) and guess what? No Vista 64 drivers for the Alesis Multimix. and so on.

Thinking about wiping Vista off and replacing with a copy of XP service pack 2? Forget it – unless you’re gonna replace the motherboard and buy new sound, video, PCI cards…HP doesn’t support XP drivers for the sound and video cards. Talk about a catch 22.

The sound and video are integrated on the motherboard and the sound card is a Realtek which seems more than adequate. Scaleable to HD, 5.1 and 7.1, I’m pleasantly impressed. The video card is average at best and definitely the weakest piece of the package. Gamers will not be impressed.

Overall, it is fine for the money, but be aware of what you are getting. If this is a first purchase, I’m sure the OS will become more and more prevelant and any gear you purchase to go along with it should be Vista 64 compliant. If it’s a replacement, get ready to buy all new stuff.

This PC is noisy. When I press the power button, there is a Grrrr noise reminding me of the old days when my PC checked the floppy dsik drive. The hard drive never stopping churning, even when I am doing nothing. The click-click noise from the hard drive is really annoying. What is more, it is not really fast, not perceptibly faster than my 5-year old single core PC. Blame Vista? Blame bloatware? I don’t care any more. Will RMA it tomorrow.

It is totally disappointing.