HP Pavilion Media Center m380n-b Photosmart PC (3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive)

HP Pavilion Media Center m380n-b Photosmart PC (3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive)
Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
Product Type: Personal Computer

Editorial Review:
Product Description
HP Media Center PCs deliver the best of both worlds, giving you productive PC capabilities, plus a full range of easy-to-use digital entertainment features.HP Media Center m380n-b PC is perfect for the digital enthusiast seeking a combined pc & entertainment center.
Amazon.com Product Description
The HP Media Center PC m380b is a full-fledged desktop PC--but it's also a television, a DVD player, an FM and Internet radio, and a personal video recorder. It's powered by the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 operating system (compatible with cable, digital cable, satellite TV, and antenna), and it features a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor (with Hyper Threading technology), 160 GB hard drive, and 512 MB of installed memory.

The Basics

Hard Drive: Though it's not the largest on the market (or even within HP's Media Center lineup), the large 160 GB Ultra IDE hard drive (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage for all your media storage--from digital audio to TV programs. This hard drive will store approximately 90 hours of archived video.
Processor: The 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor with Hyper-Threading technology (which allows a single CPU system to behave in some aspects like a dual-CPU system--see more in Tech Talk section below) is one of the fastest processors currently available on the market.
Memory: The m380b comes with a 512 MB built-in memory (2 x 256 MB DDR SDRAM)--a decent amount for starters, but you'll want to add more to take full advantage of the capabilities of Windows Media Center. The motherboard has four memory sockets for a maximum memory expansion of 4 GB.
CD/DVD Drive: It is equipped with a DVD-ROM with 16x speed for movie playback and a 4x DVD+R/W writer (the DVD+RW format is one of two formats for rewriteable DVDs).
Keyboard & Mouse: The m380b comes with HP's premium wireless optical scrolling mouse and wireless keyboard, as well as a remote control.

Sound and Graphics
The m380b's video is powered by a 128 MB, 8x AGP GeForce FX 5600 Ultra video/graphics card, which has strong 3-D performance, dual-display capability--supporting one analog (VGA) and one digital (DVI) connection--and TV-out capability (enabling to display the PC on your Television via S-Video).

Sound is delivered via a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 audio card, which delivers high-quality 6.1 channels of digital surround sound (or 5.1 channels of analog-out surround sound). It also supports DVD-Audio, a super-high-fidelity audio format compatible with DVDs.

The m380b comes with a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker system (200 watt, THX) with one subwoofer and two satellite speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The m380b has three PCI expansion slots (two available), one AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot and the following external ports:

6 USB 2.0 ports (2 in front, 4 in rear) for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link; 1 in front and 1 in back) ports for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners
2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
7-in-1 memory card reader (divided into two slots) that is compatible with CompactFlash, MicroDrive, Memory Stick (and Memory Stick Pro), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) and Smaredia cards.

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.92) and an on-board RealTek 8101L 10/100 Ethernet port (for connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
The pre-installed Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 is essentially Windows XP Professional Edition with a variety of tools to help you to create, organize, and enjoy digital media ranging from music to home movies to photo slide shows. Additionally, it enables you to control your television with the included remote and record and pause programs (much like a DVR--or digital video recorder--such as Tivo or ReplayTV). You can even pause or rewind (up to 7 seconds) FM radio broadcasts.

Other software includes Microsoft Works 7.0 (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents), Microsoft Money 2003, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia Deluxe (with one-year trial subscription), Intuit Quicken Financial Center, Norton Antivirus 2003 (with 60 days of complimentary live updates), Adobe Acrobat Reader, RecordNow (for creating your own music or data CDs), MusicMatch Jukebox, Arcsoft ShowBiz DVD (for editing digital video), RealOne Player, and InterVideo WinDVD SE (for playing DVD movies). It also includes three months of AOL dial-up service.

What's in the Box
This package includes the HP Media Center PC m380b, remote control, wireless keyboard and mouse, and speakers.

Tech Talk
Hyper-Threading: A Hyper-Threading processor helps a PC to run multiple demanding applications at the same time. This technology enables the processor to execute two threads (a part of a program) in parallel, boosting performance during key high-drain procedures. This results in more efficient software performance (such as faster reaction times in gaming applications) and enhanced multitasking.

More About Microsoft Windows XP Media Center

What sets this PC apart is that it is powered by Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, which offers the features, reliability, and power of Windows XP Professional, plus advanced digital entertainment capabilities. The Media Center interface offers you more types of entertainment to enjoy: TV, Personal Video Recording (PVR), Movies, Music, Photos, Videos, Radio, and DVD. Use the remote control to enjoy from anywhere in your room.

TV & Movies
Watch TV when and how you want, and never miss a moment of your favorite programs. Pause and rewind live TV. Record a TV episode, series, or category. Automatically record a personalized selection of TV programs using Keyword Record. Media Center downloads the latest program listings for you and even wakes up from power-saving standby mode to record programs, so you can watch shows on your schedule.

	Photos & Video
	Easily edit your digital pictures and digital videos, and then launch a dynamic slideshow complete with animated transitions and your favorite soundtrack. While viewing a picture, zoom in to see more detail. You can rotate, correct red-eye, and print your pictures using the remote. Play slide-shows straight from digital storage devices.

Music & Radio
All your music is stored in one digital jukebox and using the remote, shuffle your entire music collection according to artist or genre or listen to your tunes through playlists that learn what you like. Tune in FM stations and pause live radio. Full-screen visualizations pulse to the beat of the music. Cool on-screen effects show music information, such as track title, track time, and artist.

HP Pavilion Media Center m380n-b Photosmart PC (3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive)

Average customer rating:

Good value for the money
Not living room ready
Great Entertainment Center!

HP Pavilion Media Center m380n-b Photosmart PC (3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+RW/CD-RW Drive)

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
ProductGroup: Personal Computer
Binding: Personal Computers

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ASIN: B0000EI9BY

Product Description

HP Media Center PCs deliver the best of both worlds, giving you productive PC capabilities, plus a full range of easy-to-use digital entertainment features.HP Media Center m380n-b PC is perfect for the digital enthusiast seeking a combined pc & entertainment center.

Amazon.com Product Description

The HP Media Center PC m380b is a full-fledged desktop PC--but it's also a television, a DVD player, an FM and Internet radio, and a personal video recorder. It's powered by the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 operating system (compatible with cable, digital cable, satellite TV, and antenna), and it features a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor (with Hyper Threading technology), 160 GB hard drive, and 512 MB of installed memory.

The Basics

Hard Drive: Though it's not the largest on the market (or even within HP's Media Center lineup), the large 160 GB Ultra IDE hard drive (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage for all your media storage--from digital audio to TV programs. This hard drive will store approximately 90 hours of archived video.
Processor: The 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 processor with Hyper-Threading technology (which allows a single CPU system to behave in some aspects like a dual-CPU system--see more in Tech Talk section below) is one of the fastest processors currently available on the market.
Memory: The m380b comes with a 512 MB built-in memory (2 x 256 MB DDR SDRAM)--a decent amount for starters, but you'll want to add more to take full advantage of the capabilities of Windows Media Center. The motherboard has four memory sockets for a maximum memory expansion of 4 GB.
CD/DVD Drive: It is equipped with a DVD-ROM with 16x speed for movie playback and a 4x DVD+R/W writer (the DVD+RW format is one of two formats for rewriteable DVDs).
Keyboard & Mouse: The m380b comes with HP's premium wireless optical scrolling mouse and wireless keyboard, as well as a remote control.

The m380b comes with a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speaker system (200 watt, THX) with one subwoofer and two satellite speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The m380b has three PCI expansion slots (two available), one AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot and the following external ports:

6 USB 2.0 ports (2 in front, 4 in rear) for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
2 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link; 1 in front and 1 in back) ports for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners
2 PS/2 ports for connecting keyboards and mice
7-in-1 memory card reader (divided into two slots) that is compatible with CompactFlash, MicroDrive, Memory Stick (and Memory Stick Pro), MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) and Smaredia cards.

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.92) and an on-board RealTek 8101L 10/100 Ethernet port (for connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

What's in the Box
This package includes the HP Media Center PC m380b, remote control, wireless keyboard and mouse, and speakers.

Tech Talk
Hyper-Threading: A Hyper-Threading processor helps a PC to run multiple demanding applications at the same time. This technology enables the processor to execute two threads (a part of a program) in parallel, boosting performance during key high-drain procedures. This results in more efficient software performance (such as faster reaction times in gaming applications) and enhanced multitasking.

More About Microsoft Windows XP Media Center

TV & Movies
Watch TV when and how you want, and never miss a moment of your favorite programs. Pause and rewind live TV. Record a TV episode, series, or category. Automatically record a personalized selection of TV programs using Keyword Record. Media Center downloads the latest program listings for you and even wakes up from power-saving standby mode to record programs, so you can watch shows on your schedule.

	Photos & Video
	Easily edit your digital pictures and digital videos, and then launch a dynamic slideshow complete with animated transitions and your favorite soundtrack. While viewing a picture, zoom in to see more detail. You can rotate, correct red-eye, and print your pictures using the remote. Play slide-shows straight from digital storage devices.

Music & Radio
All your music is stored in one digital jukebox and using the remote, shuffle your entire music collection according to artist or genre or listen to your tunes through playlists that learn what you like. Tune in FM stations and pause live radio. Full-screen visualizations pulse to the beat of the music. Cool on-screen effects show music information, such as track title, track time, and artist.

Customer Reviews:

Good value for the money.......2004-07-28

I purchased one of these two weeks ago, refurbished from eCost at $859. It looks like a new machine and came with a clean install setup. I've put it in my home office and ran a cable connection to allow for TV reception. It performs well since it has the 3.0 P4 w/hyperthreading. I'm happy with the speed. The Windows Media Edition is still a little rough around the edges. Switching from TV to PC mode has a slight pause due to control transfer of the video from the TV feed and you need to turn off the screen saver to prevent the system from turning off the monitor in the middle of your TV viewing. I love the TV record function. It's just like having a Tivo without the subscription charge. I also prefer the TV guide this uses, which comes from an internet source. It's always available and looks just like one of the Satellite type guides. I can scroll, page and look ahead to preplan my schedule. My one reservation is the quality of the TV tuner. I plan to replace it with a better quality signal in the future. Currently the quality does not match a Tivo or your TV set tuner. The only replacement that will is from Hauppage, but I expect that to change over the next few months as Nvidia and ATI get up to speed. DVD quality is excellent since that does not use the TV tuner. I also can use the DVD for backup with much greater capacity than CD's. My final consideration is the fact that this is a prebuilt system with compatible components. I could have built one from scratch like I normally would, but in this case I prefer to spend my time enjoying TV, DVD's and FM radio listening instead of trouble shooting compatibility problems.

Not living room ready.......2004-01-25

The sound on this machine is a problem (and since it is a Media Center PC, that's a big deal). The first problem with the sound is that they repeatedly advertise this machine as supporting Dolby 5.1 surround sound; however, after hours of scouring the manuals and online help, followed by multiple phone calls to HP tech support, it appears that the machine hardware is not actually capable of emitting 5.1 surround sound. (It does a fine 2.1, but that's not what they're advertising, and that's not what I paid for!) The second problem is that, because the sound is on the motherboard, every time there is a motherboard interrupt, the sound is interrupted. This can get extremely annoying during DVD playback - or any other time you're trying to use it as an actual Media Center. My advice: if you want a Media Center PC, buy one with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card - not this one.

Great Entertainment Center!.......2003-11-22

I just bought this computer one week and two days ago and I'm loving it! The possibilities seem endless. You can hook your TV, VCR, Camcorder, Cable Box, Digital Camera or whatever else you might want to connect. You can view your TV and record. The picture quality is good, not great on the TV. It supports the current region lock so watch out with those PAL DVDs. It can be difficult to set the TV Signal but I finally got it right. Support is good for 12 months toll free. There's quick buttons to launch the software of your choice on the front of the PC.
So far, so good!

April 4, 2006
I'm still enjoying this wonderful system. Still no major problems that wasn't my own fault! HP is a good way to go.

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