HP Pavilion Slimline s5560f Desktop PC Reviews
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Original Review 9/20/2010:br /br /I recently purchased the HP Pavilion Slimline s5560f Desktop PC for use as my HTPC (Home Theater PC). I have been in the market for a HTPC for about a year but wanted to ensure I purchased one that met a number of specific criteria. Some of the criteria included that it have the ability to:br /br /- Run Boxee (boxee.tv) and/or XBMC (xbmc.org)br /- Record live TV (DVR)br /- Function as an 10ft UI ([...])br /- Transcode videobr /- Ample storage for digital TV and movie recordingsbr /- Play back 1080p recordingsbr /- Operate quietlybr /br /In my quest to meet these requirements I looked at many different HTPC's such as the new Dell Zino HD 410, Popcorn's offerings , Tivo Premier, and Acer's offerings; just to name a few. While some of these are really nice machines, none of them met all my requirements. I finally came upon the S5560F and it seemed to not only meet my requirements but in a lot of ways it exceeded them. After doing a little more research I decided to take the plunge.br /br /I've had the S5560F for about 3 days now and so far I am very impressed. The build quality seems high and to date the only problem I've run into is trying to figure out where to plug in the RF cable (for the remote). The instructions are actually pretty lacking so I would recommend PC novices get help from someone with IT experience (I'm an IT geek so it didn't effect me too much but I could definitely see others having to call HP support). Some of my initial thoughts are:br /br /- Very quiet. The PC has 4 fans (one over the CPU, one over the GPU, one on the side of the case and one with the power supply). I have yet to hear any of them even when the PC is under load.br /- It appears designed to either stay standing upright (like in all the pictures) or lie on its side; which is very nice if, like me, you are planning on adding it to your current A/V cabinet.br /- The included remote is nice but it's no Logitech Harmony One Universal Remote (not really a knock as the nicer Harmonys run well over 0 themselves)br /- The computer is very fast thanks to its quad core AMD CPU and ATI GPU. Make no mistake, this is not a high end gaming system but it's not intended to be. Unless you build one yourself, this HTPC is about as brawny as they come. Really that's beside the point because the S5560F is already overkill for "vanilla" HTPC duties.br /- I had to tweak Windows quite a bit to make it work for the 10ft UI. Out of the box neither my wife nor I were able to read anything on the screen from the couch. (For reference we have a nice 1080p, 120Hz 52" LCD tv about 9 to 10 ft from the couch.) Please note I am speaking about Windows 7 itself and not Windows Media Center which is easily readable out of the box. To fix the Windows 7 legibility issue, I increased the font size to 200% and the display to 150%. It eats up the screen real estate but is much better than constantly squinting at the screen.br /- I removed most of HP's bloatware including their dock utility and updater utility. Some people may like them but they are pretty useless to me and just got in the way.br /br /After three days I am still playing around with the PC and have yet to really run it through its paces. So far though, there is nothing to indicate that this was anything other than a great purchase. I will update my review as I get more actually use out of the unit and have more time to really play with all its features.
HP Pavilion Slimline s5560f Desktop PC Feature
- AMD Phenom II 830 Quad-Core Processor (2.8 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache + 6MB Shared L3 Cache, 4000 MHz System Bus); 6GB DDR3 System Memory (3 DIMM) (expandable to 16GB); 1TB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA); Genuine Windows 7 Premium 64-bit
- ATI Radeon HD 5450 Series Graphics with 512MB DDR3 dedicated graphics memory, DVI/HDMI capabilities support for Blu-ray; High Definition Audio with up to 7.1 surround sound capabilities; SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology
- HP wireless keyboard and optical mouse; 6-in-1 memory card reader supports xD, MMC, Secure Digital (SD, SDHC), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, MMC+
- 10/100Base-T network interface; Built-in wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n
- 4 USB 2.0 ports (Back); 2 USB 2.0 ports (Front); Headphone(Front); Digital Audio Out; LAN; Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; Rear speaker-out; Side speaker out; Center (subwoofer)(Back); DVI and HDMI available on the graphics card
The HP Slimline offers a powerful PC where space is at a premium. Perfect for a small space or dorm room, it can handle all your computing needs, like e-mail, word processing and more. And the Slimline is flexible, so you can easily add or upgrade features and functions. The HP Slimline's sleek, modern styling, with chrome and accent lighting, looks great in any room. ATI Radeon HD 5450 series graphics card with 512MB dedicated graphics memory Combination Blu-ray player SuperMulti DVD Burner with Lightscribe technology (DVD+-R/RW with DL) High Definition Audio with up to 7.1 surround sound capabilities 10/100 Base-T Network interface Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n Built-in TV tuner - watch, pause, rewind, and record live TV Front panel 6-in-1 memory card reader xD, MMC ,SD SDHC, MS, MS Pro, MMC+ Front ports - 2 x USB 2.0, Headphone Back ports - 4 x USB 2.0, Digital Audio Out, LAN, Microphone/Line-in/Line-out, Rear speaker out, Side speaker out, Center, DVI, HDMI Expansion slots - 1 PCI Express x1 (available); 1 PCI Express x16 (occupied), 1 MiniCard slot (occupied) Drive bays - 1 external 5.25 (occupied); 1 internal 3.5 (occupied) Dimensions - 16.87(L) x 6.54(W) x 15.11(H/D) approx. Weight - 11.00 lbs. approx. Monitor is not included
Go tO Store Now !!
Love it! - Erin L. Riepe - corpus christi, tx
I haven't had the computer for very long, yet, but I love it so far. I bought it to be an all inclusive entertainment and media center and it performs better than I expected. It has the HP Media Center which puts together all your music, videos, Live TV, Internet TV, Blu-Ray player, etc. It's so much fun and I'm still discovering the bells and whistles of the program! When it plays your music, it samples through your album art in the background which is fun. I just plugged the coax cable into the back of the computer and hooked it up to a Panasonic HD TV and I get a bunch of local channels, some in HD. You can even keep the tv playing in the background while you work on some other part of the computer. The computer is fast, large, and powerful as well so it can hold many of my files for years to come...br /br /Definitely a great buy, also because everything was already built the way I wanted it in the computer, which I think ended up being maybe a bit cheaper than if you build it on HP's website. Also this computer doesn't seem to be available on HP's website anymore? Couldn't figure out why not.
Nov 03, 2010 09:16:05
