March 25 - April 1 2001
 
 
 
 
 
 

The easy-to-use HP
by Alessandro Cancian

 How easy do you think it should be to set up a new computer? If you ask my wife, the entire process should take no more than 10 minutes. Just the time to unpack the computer, position it on the desk, plug the power cord into the socket and turn the computer on ready to write the first article or browse the Internet.
Well, installing the Pavilion 6830, which I had the opportunity to try courtesy of HP, took a little longer.
Connecting the different pieces was a breeze thanks to the easy set-up instructions present on the boxes and to the colour coding of the different device jackets that can be connected to the Pavilion minitower. Then came the turn of the Windows ME set-up assistant which took 40 minutes and three or four restarts before the system was ready to operate.
I get excited when I have the opportunity to play with a new toy. So the first thing to do was to configure the machines Internet access and prepare the system to take full advantage of its multimedia capabilities. But when I tried to connect the Pavilion to my Bell Sympatico DSL modem I discovered that the computer was lacking a network card. The 6830, in fact, comes with a 56k modem, great for performing dial-up connections with your ISP (Internet Service Provider); unfortunately this means that DSL or Cable users will have to buy an additional card if they want to surf the Net faster. In my case I had the opportunity to add a Belkin USB-Ethernet adapter to correct the situation, a process that took less than two minutes.
The Pavilion 6830 comes with a 700 MHz Intel Celeron processor, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB hard disk, an Integrated Intel® Direct 3D AGP graphics card, 48x CD-ROM, 3.5" floppy, and 2 USB, 2 serial, 1 parallel, and 1 game port. The bundle is completed by a couple of Polk Audio Stereo Speakers and a 17" mx70 multimedia display. At first scrutiny, all the ingredients for a good computer seem available, and yet the PC wasnt really screamingly fast. A slow screen redraw was probably the most annoying thing due to the fact that the video card is not top of the line. Also the 66 MHz bus passing information from the CPU to the main memory limits the machine somehow.
The Pavilion 6830 is designed with an easy-to-use concept in mind. The keyboard, for example, is equipped with several easy-access buttons allowing various functions and applications to be accessed with a simple keystroke. A pleasing addition, especially for those among us who still consider a computer a rather mysterious object. This way they can gain an easy and fast access to the Internet for browsing, chatting, using e-mail, etc. The mx70 display performs decently; providing an easy access to the function buttons in the front. At higher resolutions the text was a little fuzzy, especially if compared to the other monitors on my desk. On the speakers side, the Polk system provided a mediocre sound but lacked volume, bass, and treble controls. Most of the time I was unable to set the volume at the desired level.
As mentioned, the Pavilion comes with Windows ME preinstalled on the machine, and this OS performs very quick start-ups. But the machine also comes with plenty of software like QuickLink III by SmithMicro (fax), Microsoft® Money 2001, and Standard ArcSoft", My Photo Center (including: Media Browser 2000, Photo Studio 2000, Photo Fantasy 2000, Photo Printer 2000), Microsoft® Works 6.0, Trellix Web" 2.7, and Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0. On the multimedia side, the HP machine is loaded with MusicMatch Jukebox 6.0, a nice MP3, radio station and music CD player. Everything I needed was there& or almost.
Thanks to the USB ports, installing devices is really a breeze, especially if those devices are HP-branded (like digital cameras, printers, scanners, and more). Only in one case, with the installation of a Compaq Pocket PC iPaq, I ran into some problems, but I suppose I should blame Microsoft for that.
So here I am, with a machine loaded with good software, but lacking some horsepower. The $949 CND machine is an entry-level system targeting first-time buyers, (the 17" monitor, $624, is sold separately) providing them with mediocre performance and easy access to the Internet or computer applications. If money is not your first problem and you want something more, certainly HP has better solutions to offer you.

For further information please visit www.hp.com
 

 

 
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