HP M8120N Media Center Computer
I took a long time deciding which computer to live trying to balance price, value, and features, and here's why I came up with. HP Pavilion Media Center M8120N Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600, 3 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium).
The easy-to-use HP m8120n Media Center PC is the complete home PC system that delivers more than just your computer needs. As an entertainment center this PC System lets you watch, record, and pause live TV programming as well as schedule the PC to record upcoming episodes or entire series. The built-in TV tuner (providing both standard NTSC and high-def ATSC transmission) and personal video recorder (PVR) let you watch, pause, rewind, and record live television--up to 390 hours on the dual 320 GB hard drives (for a 640 GB total). The on line program guide lets you select individual shows or entire series so you can record and watch programs at your convenience, and you can recorder shows onto a dual-layer DVD/CD burner that allow you to record over 8GB of data over dual-layer disk.

The HP m8120n Media Center is one of the first consumer PCs to be outfitted with the 2.4 G Hz Intel Core 2 Quad E6600. This is a computer that will not need to be upgraded for a while. But as powerful enough to run Microsoft Windows Vista smoothly. To eliminate some of the wires for setup it has a radio frequency keyboard and mouse.

The HP m8120n Media Center has so many features you could write a book about it but I'm not gonna do that here. I will tell you that this is one screening machine that goes so fast you will think it reach your mind. This is what computing is supposed to be about. Oh by the way Vista comes with speech recognition and the quad-core processor has enough power to make this work almost all this text was spoken to the computer. This is cool stuff!

There is a more technical description of the HP m8120n Media Center.

  • Powerful multimedia desktop with TV tuner (NTSC/ATSC), personal video recording (PVR) functionality, and programming guide
  • 2.4 G Hz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 quad-core processor
  • Two 320 GB hard drives (640 GB total), 3 GB RAM
  • 16x LightScribe DVD drive
  • Connectivity: 6 USB, 2 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, 1 composite A/V digital audio output
  • Surround sound speaker output
  • 15-in-1 memory card reader
  • 54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
  • 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Nvidia GeForce 7350 LE video card (with 128 MB of video memory) configurable for up to 8 speakers.
  • 15-in-1 media card reader on the front, compatible with CompactFlash (Type I and II), MicroDrive, SmartMedia, Memory Stick/Pro/Duo/Pro Duo, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital, XD Picture Card, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+
  • Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (with Media Center capabilities).

 The HP m8120n Media Center is just one fine machine for all your needs. Computing, entertainment, and family fun.

"If you can't beat your computer at chess, do what I did — try kick-boxing."   Matt Larson