HP/Compaq Pavilion A800N AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Is this a good deal?

[MaineDem]

Hi,
I know very little about computers but I know my really slow one needs to be replaced. Is it a good idea to buy a refurbised unit?

Tiger Direct has this for $399. We don't play viduo games so that isn't important. We're on a dial-up now but we're going to a cable modem so I'm looking for something faster than we have now.

Can anyone offer advice?

Thanks so much!

Operating Systems... Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition SP1
Platform ... PC
Form Factor ... Tower
PCI Slots (Total)... 3
AGP Slots (Total)... 1
Expansion Slots ... 4
Processor Brand ... AMD
Processor Class ... Athlon XP
Processor Number ... 3200
Processor Speed ... XP 3200+ / 2.20GHz
Additional Technologies ... QuantiSpeed Architecture
Memory Type ... DDR
Total Memory ... 512MB
Interface ... ATA/133
IDE
Capacity ... 160GB
Optical Drive Type ... DVD-ROM
CD-RW
Audio Description ... Integrated Audio
Graphics Description ... Integrated Graphics
Video Memory ... 64MB Shared Memory
Communications Description ... Integrated LAN Support
Data Transfer Rate ... 10Mbps
... 100Mbps
Power ... 250 Watt
Mouse Type ... Ball-Bearing
Buttons ... 3
Keyboard Type ... Multimedia
Keys ... 115

[RoyGBiv]

1. This is refurbished?

I should note up front that I have a huge bias against Compaqs. I've encountered far too many problems with various Compaq machines, and fixing them can be a nightmare. No other mass produced assembler brand has given me the same level of trouble, not even Gateway.

That out of the way ...

Find out what part of it is refurbished. If it's the hard drive or power supply, be aware you'll probably be replacing it in less than a year, so figure that into the potential cost of maintenance. Also, that power supply is incredibly small for a modern machine. You have basically no upgrade capacity and may experience problems if you're doing something that puts a heavy load on it. Of course, some of that depends on the quality of it regardless of the wattage. If it gives stable voltages, you should be fine with what's there.

You say you don't play games, so the video should be okay, but I am not a fan at all of on-board video with shared memory. If you are absolutely certain you will never be doing anything that requires a decent graphics processor, you'll be okay with that.

Just for the sake of comparison, I recently built a machine with almost those same specs (slightly smaller hard drive and a 2800+ processor, but better graphics) for about $475. This was with all new parts, a low-end but independent graphics card with 128M of memory, a retail license for Windoze XP w/ SP2 (more expensive than a OEM version), and it includes my markup for labor.

Basically, if what you have now does everything you want except for it being really slow, then this should be fine and is a decent price, not great, but decent.

OnEdit: Do you know if the AGP slot is 4x or 8x? It doesn't matter really if you're not worried about the graphics, but if it is 4x only, it'll indicate age.

[MaineDem]

2. A fantastic response

Thank you so much. I would never have considered the power issue, for one thing.

I don't know about the AGP slot.

What is the standard in the industry for porcessors these days? I remember when it's was a big deal to get a Pentium. :)

Also, do you know the Systemax brand? I found a new Systemax with Intel® Pentium® 4, 3.06GHz Processor, 512MB DDR, 80GB HDD, DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo for under $600.

Thanks so much for your information.

Edited because I'm only on my second cup of tea this morning and I made many typos.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Where to begin ...

You really don't want to get me started. I can go on for days. :-)

The industry standard in processors is, to some extent, a matter of opinion based on what you mean by "standard." In my personal view, the latest generation of AMD 64 bit processors are the best consumer processors on the market. I have preferred AMD for a long time, in part for technical reasons but also some philosophical ones. In short, they run more efficiently (one element of which is lower power consumption), and the company itself is more OpenSource friendly than Intel. Having said that, the casual user isn't going to notice a lot of difference in the two.

Regardless of which you choose, don't get bogged down in the Gigahertz Debate. Pentiums tend to run faster, but as mentioned, an AMD is more efficient, so it doesn't have to run as fast. Among other things, this puts less of a strain on your power supply. I have an Athlon Barton XP 2600+ 400MHz FSB overclocked to 2.1 GHz, and it out-performs in every benchmarking test I've tried a friend's system that runs a Pentium 4 550 Prescott 800MHz FSB running at 3.4GHz. Part of it is the motherboard and memory, though. I have a *very* good motherboard and a gig of high-end memory.

Anyway.

I have no personal experience with Systemax, so I can offer no personal advice. I've read relatively good reviews of the systems they build, although I've heard of some problems with a few of their vendors, such as Dartek.com, that boils down to bad customer service. With them it seems to be more about who you are buying from than the system itself. If you're getting a refurbished system, you can't expect a lot in the way of customer service anyway. The meaningful part of any warranty you might get will probably end 30 days after they ship the machine. And on that note, Compaq does, ironically, have good customer service even if their systems have issues. I don't know if that would apply to a refurbished system, though.

Power supplies are an overlooked part of many systems, but they can be one of the most important elements. Get a bad power supply that does not deliver consistent voltages, and you're going to have a range of problems, everything from hard drive malfunctions to video glitches to memory that won't post. They can also create a cooling issue, although I wouldn't expect that from a 250 watt. I suspect the PS in that system is what it came with initially, which means it is enough to make it run the way it was built. You should have no problems unless the PS dies altogether or you upgrade some component, add a drive, etc.

It probably sounds like I'm being nothing but critical. I don't intend to be all negative. I've just witnessed too many people having too many problems from issues like these, and it doesn't have to be like that.

My bottom line would be something like this. If I were going to buy a refurbished system, I wouldn't spend more than $500 total (including shipping and insurance). The reason is that you can build or buy a new system for approximately the same amount that you have a reasonable expectation of knowing it works like you want and that can be more easily upgraded should you desire that in the future. If you're in the shopping mode, look around where you are and see if you can find a local, small builder of systems that can talk to you, find out what you need, and put something together for you. You might be surprised. Tell him or her up front how much you're willing to spend (give something less than maximum and be flexible).

I ran a system for over a year that was initially, the the surface, the cheapest piece of crap you could get, but it was put together buy a guy in a shop who built it the way I wanted. It cost me about $450 new from a local, custom builder. I tweaked it, upgraded it, tweaked it some more, and it never gave me an issue. I ended up spending about $300 in parts for upgrades, but when I built my current system, I used some of those parts in what I have now and got a few lower-end parts for the old machine and gave it to my daughter, giving one excellent machine and another decent one for about $1200 total.

The specs on the Compaq system you mention are actually pretty decent, the more I think about it. You run a risk with any refurbished system, so the brand label may mean less in that respect. If you have problems in the future, it'll likely be the hard drive or power supply, but both can be replaced relatively inexpensively. Also, since it does have an AGP slot, you can upgrade the video as well should you need to do so. (If you do so, you will need a better power supply.)

Hope that rambling helps.