Description:
At the midpoint of HP's Pavilion a200n series of personal computers, the Pavilion a230n Desktop PC delivers reasonable performance and upscale perks such as DVD recording at a solid price point. If you're a serious gamer or a demanding business user, you may want to look at either upgrading the unit or opting for HP's new Media Center series, but all others should find the Pavilion a230n a perfect fit. At the heart of the Pavilion a230n lies an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ processor running at 2.08 GHz. HP has matched this efficient yet cost effective CPU with 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, an nVidia GeForce4 MX video card with 64 MB dedicated memory, and a massive 120 GB hard disk. In its stock configuration, the unit will breeze through most 2-D tasks but will have trouble efficiently rendering some high-end 3-D applications and may not be powerful enough for demanding professional environments. The Pavilion a230n is distinct from the model just below it, the a220n, by virtue of its DVD recording capabilities. Unlike the a220n, which offers just a CD player, this unit features a DVD-RW/CD-RW drive through which users may burn audio CDs, backup data, watch their favorite movies, and burn homegrown videos to DVD. Other data handling tools include a massive 120 GB hard disk and a separate CD drive for playing compact discs and installing applications. To upload and download information from external devices such as digital camcorders and cameras, the system also features six fast USB 2.0 ports (two on the front), two FireWire interfaces (one front, one rear), and a 6-in-1 media card reader. Connectivity options include a 56K modem for low-speed surfing and a 10/100Base-T networking interface for high-speed e-communications. HP has added a two-button PS/2 scrolling mouse and convenient HP Multimedia keyboard but has not enclosed a display or speakers. The impressive bundled software package features such useful applications as WordPerfect Productivity Pack 2002, WordPerfect 10 and Quattro Pro 10, Intuit Quicken New Users Edition, InterVideo's WinDVD DVD player, and several photo and music uti
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