Deal of the Day – $400 Off HP Pavilion Elite HPE-580t Quad Core i7-950 3.0GHz Desktop

[BILL WARD]

via the gageteerDeal of the Day – $400 Off HP Pavilion Elite HPE-580t Quad Core i7-950 3.0GHz Desktop PC with Free 9GB RAM & free shipping

Today’s LogicBUY deal is a $400 web-use coupon on HP Pavilion Elite HPE-580t Core i7 customizable desktop PCs for as low as $899.99. This is the best deal found by LogicBUY. Free upgrades: 1.5TB 7200rpm hard drive, 9GB RAM, 15 month Norton Internet Security subscription, and free shipping. Also save 35% on a 21.5” widescreen monitor ($70 savings).

Configure over $1299: $1299.99 – $400 coupon code = $899.99 plus free shipping.

This deal expires May 11, 2011 or sooner. Check the above link for more details on this deal, and check the LogicBUY home page for other deals.


Deal of the Day – $400 Off HP Pavilion Elite HPE-580t Quad Core i7-950 3.0GHz Desktop PC with Free 9GB RAM originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 9, 2011 at 9:55 am.


the only drawback with HP...? all the crudware it loads!!!!! just take 1 hr & load ccleaner & remove it all! other than that it's a really good box!

 

[Jeff Rodier]

the only drawback with HP...? all the crudware it loads!!!!! just take 1 hr & load ccleaner & remove it all! other than that it's a really good box!

Be sure to leave the HP Advisor running and you will never have any problems. Every person I talk to that is unhappy with an HP has turned off the HP Advisor.

 

[echavez123]

I dont buy HP anything anymore since their support went to h____.

 

[echavez123]

Come to think about it, I wouldnt accept an HP Pav even if it was free ... well, on 2nd thought, I would accept it and turn around and sell it for peanuts.

 

[Jeff Rodier]

I've had nothing but great experience with HP for nearly a decade. I stopped using Dell when I was setting up offices utilizing dozens of computers and nothing but problems.

HP customer service has been the best I've ever used and I just tell them to take over the computer and fix it. Only needed service a few times and it went as smooth as silk. I run 9 HP's with zero problems.

 

[Steve Collins]

For what it's worth, my most recent experience with HP was terrible. About 3 years ago, I bought a high end multimedia/gaming system whose model name I don't remember & it was DOA. Wouldn't even begin to boot.

I spent over an hour on the phone with their "support," somebody on the other side of the planet who barely knew enough English to tell me he didn't know what I was talking about. He had me go through a bunch of #### that didn't make any difference.

So I took it back to the store (Circuit City I think) and swapped it for another of the same model. I brought that home & it booted fine. I used it for about 30 minutes and shut it down. Next day, I booted it up and immediately ran into serious performance issues. Everything crawled; the disk light was solid and it basically ground to a halt.

So back on the phone to support, I spent another hour or so wasting time & finally just hung up, took it back to the store and got a refund. An hour later, I ordered a Dell XPS 630i, which I've had since. The Dell has been great.

My guess is that all the heavy hitters (Dell, HP, Lenovo) are more or less the same. A PC is a collection of stock parts, more or less, packaged in a number of ways, and supported by the same poor saps on the other side of the planet who don't know what you're talking about & just run from a script.

So the fact that the Dell has been fine doesn't mean anything about Dell. It just means I was lucky this time.

I might be wrong, but it looks like that from here.

 

[BILL WARD]

another one---on Techbargins

HP Pavilion Elite 510T Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core Sandy Bridge Desktop w/ Blu-Ray $759
HP has the HP Pavilion Elite HPE510T Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core [Sandy Bridge] Desktop Computer for $759.99 Free Shipping after Coupon Code: DT7569 (Exp Soon). Tax in most.
Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4GHz [Sandy Bridge]; 6GB RAM; 1TB HDD; dual drives - Blu-Ray & DVD burner; gigabit; Windows 7 Home Premium; NVIDIA Geforce 405 1GB HDMI/DVI/VGA; 1yr warranty

was $1009.99
now $759.99
Free Shipping

 

[Mike Labbe]

I have had terrible problems with HP, too. I stick with Dell for clients(and our shop, and laptops), and home made clones for our house.

However, all of these brands are built about the same. They considerably cheaper than building it yourself, and appropriate for office use. Figure theyre good for 3-4 years max, then you just replace with the current deal. You can get decent deals regularly for about $399-$499, including OS and monitor. (good enough for POS or CMC, but not for a hardcore gamer)

Mike

 

[echavez123]

HP made some awesome products, but they also make some questionable PC's. I have a LaserJet 5Si, a real workhorse, which I have used for 19 years and it works great!!! The toner cartridge lasts forever. Then I also owned HP Pavilions, and they werent too bad, but when I had a support issue, the real problems started.

So, now I use Dell. I think they have superior engineering. So flash a special on a Dell on this thread and you will get my interest. HP just brings back bad memories. So the moral of the story is: if you have to outsource your support, better provide good training and monitor the support; else you lose control and ultimately customers.

 

[DanGray]

Well I have had problems with support from both HP and Dell. Both companies have sent their support over seas and the people I had to deal with were not very good and could not communicate well.

My best experience so far was with a local shop that custom built a couple of machines for me. And the price was not too far off of Dell and HP and I could speak to someone that understood english

 

[Pat Murphey]

Well I have had problems with support from both HP and Dell. Both companies have sent their support over seas and the people I had to deal with were not very good and could not communicate well.

My best experience so far was with a local shop that custom built a couple of machines for me. And the price was not too far off of Dell and HP and I could speak to someone that understood english

Dell Small Business next business day warranty support is with English speaking American techs. Usually one year free but inexpensive to extend to 3 or 4 years at time of purchase.
:kaffeetrinker_2:

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yes. That is why I always pick small business. They're from TN, so they're hard to understand (for me) - but easier than India or Mexico or China They're also very NICE.

You'll still get overseas after normal business hours, though.

Honestly, the outsourced folks have greatly improved. They even call back now for follow-up calls. 3-5 years ago, it was a painful experience!!!

Mike

 

[DanGray]

Dell Small Business next business day warranty support is with English speaking American techs. Usually one year free but inexpensive to extend to 3 or 4 years at time of purchase.
:kaffeetrinker_2:

I found out after the purchase about the small business. I still like the local small business, it kind of reminds me of my own business. As long as the price is in line, I will stay with the little local guys.

 

[Jim Miller]

Opinions welcome...

I'm near the point of buying a new 'main office' PC, to run Quick Books Pro, Corel Draw, Corel Paint Shop Pro, a Microsoft Office suite, and other programs. Because I store lots of photos, digital drawings, and PowerPoint slideshows in it, the 80 GB hard drive in this PC is nearly full (I've been off-loading data from it for months, but keep filling it up again). Since I'm getting more into photographs and digital drawings these days, I have begun to experience occasional crashes when manipulating photos or working with big PowerPoint files, and with drawings in Corel Draw.

In the past I would have walked this box down the street to TCR, the neighborhood company that has built, maintained, and upgraded all of my PCs since about 1994. In this case I would have them reformat and install a 250 GB hard drive I already have on hand (out of an external enclosure, which I have been using for backups), kick it up to 4 GB RAM, and install Windows 7. Some of the software I use still has trouble with 64-bit Win 7, so I would probably go with the 32-bit version. The existing Intel Core 2-E7400, 2.8 GHz processor seems OK, and I would also want to leave the existing (reformatted) 80 GB hard drive in the computer as a secondary storage for daily backups. Of course I'll still take home SD cards with daily critical data backups, and still clone the drives every month.

A friendly tech at TCR thinks I'm choking the old PCs with excessive RAM demand, and says the older processor and other elderly parts would limit this PC's usefulness for today's computer usage.

Mike Labbe, he agrees with your suggestion that I should get a new PC instead of upgrading the old one (You might recall advising me on this topic several weeks ago here.) Specifically, he suggested 32-bit Windows 7, an i5-290(?) processor, an upgraded video card, 4 GB of RAM, and 1 TB hard drive. With the usual array of ports and a good DVD burner, that tower of goodies would set me back about $800 to $900, depending exactly what I buy, and when. I don't need a new monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

Is this likely to be a computer that would serve my purposes for 3-5 years? Also, considering that this small company has always been competitive in the past, and I am willing to pay a 5% to 10% premium to buy locally, would this be a fair price?

 

[Mike Labbe]

Yes that computer would be great for 3-5 years.

Although I believe in supporting local, the price difference for local is about 100% more, not 5-10%. You can probably find a comparably equipped Dell for $400-500, including larger hard drive, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. However, maybe that $900 price included 3-4 hours of labor to back up and restore your data and programs?

The old pc is probably worth keeping in service, too. You could also add a second hard drive and store your documents to it, keeping the existing one as it is. This is a painless process that wont require reinstalling all programs.

I also don't recommend backing up to the same computer (even if its a different drive or external drive). In the event of a power surge/electrical storm, theft, fire, flood, virus, vandalism by disgruntled employee, etc.... It would likely take out all devices connected to the PC. Multiple flash drives or multiple external drives are ok, as long as they're disconnected from the pc right after used. We do a rotation of 6 flash drives, to make sure we unplug it each day. One for each day of the week that our shop is open. This is what I usually recommend, when asked for an opinion from LifeSaver shops.

Mike

 

[Jay H]

Is this likely to be a computer that would serve my purposes for 3-5 years?

Unless you intend on demanding more and more out of your pc, it should last forever or at least as long as the pc works. I have an older office pc that I use for digital graphics/printing with added ram. On that PC I only installed software that I need to use and store all data on an external harddrive. It's also not connected to the internet. All this is to keep the pc clean and running strong. If the PC lasts another 100 years, it should do what I'm doing now. Now if I start doing video.........????

For data storage/backup I have started using 2 external hardrives and a program called goodsync. One HD stays hooked up to a PC that I dump files from. The other used to stay at my shop but now upstairs in the safe. About once a month I "sync" the hardrives so they are exact matches. If ever one craps out, I have an exact copy. The two hd's are filling up and I'm unsure about my next move. I think I may burn all the data onto dvd's and stash them all away and hopefully either the dvds or hds will be accessible for years to come.

As for HP I know their laptops are useful as boat anchors. The sound went out on mine a few months ago. After some research it was learned that many (most) hp laptops have horrible ventilation. I know this to be fact for mine anyway. After overheating for the 20th time, it fried my on-board sound. I lived with it until a week ago it overheated again and now it won't boot at all. If this were a $399 special it wouldn't have bothered me but I paid over $1000 for it thinking I would be buying a powerhouse laptop that would last a while. I've never paid that much for a computer and doubt I ever will again. Not that my experience transcends to all HP products but I know I will never buy another one again. According to many forums people have been complaining about the ventilation on the laptops for years and years. HP's unwillingness or inability to fix this tells me that they are not value conscious.

 

[BILL WARD]

their support went to h____

naw mate...it went to india(which, for us, is much much worse!

 

[Jim Miller]

Suggested specifications:

32-bit Windows 7, an i5-290(?) processor, an upgraded video card, 4 GB of RAM, and 1 TB hard drive. With the usual array of ports and a good DVD burner, that tower of goodies would set me back about $800 to $900, depending exactly what I buy, and when. I don't need a new monitor, keyboard, or mouse.

...Although I believe in supporting local, the price difference for local is about 100% more, not 5-10%. You can probably find a comparably equipped Dell for $400-500, including larger hard drive, monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Mike, I really appreciate your advice, and I am quite pleased with the entry-level Dell computer that came with my CMC.

If I could buy a Dell computer similar to the specifications above for $400-$500, I would surely do it. However, after swimming around in the Dell website for a while - admittedly, waters unfamiliar to me - I can't fiind anything like that under $800. That's basically a standard Vostro model with an upgraded video card and no frills.

Could you give me a hint about how to find such a Dell computer for a better price? Am I looking at the wrong series, or do I need to wait and check daily for a special sale?

 

[Jim Miller]

I also don't recommend backing up to the same computer (even if its a different drive or external drive)...

Yes, that makes sense. I already have a spare hard drive in one computer, and I use it to back up data from two other computers. My plan is to expand that strategy, using spare hard drives in at least two computers to backup data from others, but not for backups within the same box. That would be very fast and easy to do, and provide us a third method of backing up critical data.

Every day we back up Quick Books Pro to two SD cards, and at least once a week we backup FrameReady similarly, and we take those portable storage devices home. I also back up the hard drives in our three critical computers about once a month to external hard drives. Every 3 or 4 months I clone them. I try to have at least three backups on separate media, in separate places; critical data daily, and everything else at least monthly.

I guess we agree, there's no such thing as too many backups. But I have not embraced online backups, because I simply don't trust the concept.

 

[Mike Labbe]

We do the POS flash drive rotation thing daily, and store them in a safe at the shop. (it makes you do it as part of the daily closing report) We also do the online backups daily, as a free feature built into our POS system. (LifeSaver stores the POS file and the visualization images every night at 11pm)

Every month or so, I bring an external 2TB hard drive in from home. I copy the POS folder, the Quicken folder, the CMC program folder, document folders, mp3 folder, and all other important folders to it. (from several pc's). This goes back home and lives in the fire safe there. (it has backups of the home pc's on it, too)

We have some sister businesses in the same plaza, and we share a common phone system and network. They have their own backup procedures as well, but I copy crucial files weekly between businesses. (in case one of them gets hit by a fire or theft, the data will be safely stored in another unit) This is automated.

Maybe I do too many backups, too! I have had maybe 20 framers come to me who had lost their hard drives (as recently as a day ago), and didn't have proper backups. Because of this, I'm extra careful. I have seen it happen too many times.

Mike

 

[Mike Labbe]

www.techbargains.com has the deals announced. You'll find a summary on the left column. The deals change daily. I usually recommend the small business division, over the home division. Support is better, imo.

Mike

 

[Jim Miller]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for that link, Mike. I have signed up for alerts and will watch for a PC deal that would make you proud.

I'd still like to buy local, so maybe if I show TCR the "deal du jour", they will attempt to come up with a comparable deal - or at least one that won't make me feel guilty about spending the extra money locally.

 

[BILL WARD]

Hey Jim(et al) -- here's from today's 'tech bargin 'quick list"

Dell Inspiron 17R Intel Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz Sandy Bridge 17.3in Laptop $674.99 at Dell Home Dell Home Coupon (this activate via TB--you will also find a seperate YB section for 'coupons' and has dell in it-ww)
Dell Inspiron 17R Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Sandy Bridge 17n Laptop $549.99 at Dell Home
Dell Inspiron 14R Intel Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz Sandy Bridge 14in Laptop $624.99 at Dell Home
Dell Inspiron 14R Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Sandy Bridge 14n Laptop $549.99 at Dell Home
Dell Inspiron 15R Intel Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz Sandy Bridge 15.6in Laptop $624.99 at Dell Home
Dell Inspiron 15R Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Sandy Bridge 15.6in Laptop $499.99 at Dell Home

 

[Jim Miller]

Those are some good deals, Bill. I'm looking for a desktop this time around, but anyone looking for a laptop will want to investigate further.

 

[GUMBY GCF]

mike I did the flash drive rotation too.
Then it dawned on me that I could buy a passport drive 750 Gb for only $70.00.
Now I just carry the passport drive back & forth instead of all those 4gb flash drives.

 

[echavez123]

Jim,

I would check Costco for Dell deals. If you are not a Costco member, find someone who is, and ask to check the monthly sale coupons. $600-$700 will get you a fast desktop with a wide LCD monitor. I bought my last Dell at Costco and use it heavily with Photoshop applications. I use it in 64-bit mode, and it runs all my programs, some of which are 32-bit. I store huge photo files as well as thousands of customer files. I also use a couple of extra external hard drives as backups, storing them offsite. This PC is critical to my business, and rarely connect it to the internet -- mainly to keep it free from potential virus.

BTW, I have four other Dells, including a laptop as well. The one from Costco was the BEST purchase and is my fastest machine. Good luck.

 

[David Waldmann]

mike I did the flash drive rotation too.
Then it dawned on me that I could buy a passport drive 750 Gb for only $70.00.
Now I just carry the passport drive back & forth instead of all those 4gb flash drives.

This works, but there are two situations that come quickly to mind where you could find yourself in trouble; and there could well be more.

• While connected to the backup drive something happens to the computer or external drive that wipes the data off both.
• There is a catastrophic event that results in both computer and external drive being destroyed (since they are both in the same physical location).

True, these are unlikely scenarios. But what do you do backups for if not unlikely scenarios? There is a reason the standard for backups is "offsite", not "usually offsite".

 

[Jim Miller]

You can probably find a comparably equipped Dell for $400-500, including larger hard drive, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. However, maybe that $900 price included 3-4 hours of labor to back up and restore your data and programs?

I've been watching the internet sites, including Techbargains.com for days, and the best deal on a comparable PC has been a Dell $699.00. The 1 TB hard drive and upgraded video card seem to be the game-breakers.

Anyway, I bought one today from my local computer-builder friends for $849, and it is bumped up a bit from the Dell machines I found at special prices online. To have Dell build this would have cost $1,000 to $1,200, according to their web site:

i5-650 processor
4 GB RAM
1 TB hard drive
250 GB hard drive (secondary)
GT4030 video card
DVD burner
8 USB ports (2 front)
stereo speakers
Microsoft wireless keyboard & mouse
Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit with disks
Windows XP Mode and Virtual PC pre-installed

It will be ready Friday. The only thing missing is a monitor, which I really don't need at the moment, and they're often available under $125 online for a refurbished 21" to 23".

Aside from the pleasure of buying locally, these guys stand ready to help on-the-spot with Q&A and upgrades, or repairs. Honestly, I can't recall the last time a computer failed in the shop, but if one of theirs ever does, I'm confident that they will fix it right.

 

[Jim Miller]

Refurbishing a PC

The PC I'm replacing is a four-year-old Windows XP machine with a Core 2 E7400 processor, 3 GB RAM, 80 GB hard drive, and all the usual trimmings.

I plan to change the hard drive to 250 GB, clean-load Windows 7, 64-bit, and then set up this machine in the gallery to run the POS and other programs. The one out there now is similar to this one, but has a lesser Core 2 processor, a 250 GB hard drive, and 2 GB RAM. I'll probably leave that one with XP and use it for the CMC in the back room. Since there will be no data at stake, I can do these tasks myself. It ought to be a good learning experience for me.

It will be pleasant to finally have a spare computer that isn't worn-out junk or too outdated to be useful.

 

[GUMBY GCF]

Dave the Passport is a portable drive usb3 it is just a little bit larger than a blackberry fits in my shirt pocket. I bought the red one so I could find easy (LOL).
I plug it in the front usb port back up and take it home with me. Same as you would do with the flash drives only it has 750 Gb's
.

This works, but there are two situations that come quickly to mind where you could find yourself in trouble; and there could well be more.

• While connected to the backup drive something happens to the computer or external drive that wipes the data off both.
• There is a catastrophic event that results in both computer and external drive being destroyed (since they are both in the same physical location).

True, these are unlikely scenarios. But what do you do backups for if not unlikely scenarios? There is a reason the standard for backups is "offsite", not "usually offsite".

worst case senarios :
You back up end of day. Take your drive home...fire proof safe.
Lighting strikes and fries your computer at work looses all your data. Rush out buy new computer. Next day you put your back up drive in the car to take to work to load the data back on. As you are driving it is pouring down rain. Your car hydroplanes slides off the road into a river that has been flooded. You & the car & your back up drive end up in the river. Car gets washed down stream backup drive gets washed out of the car and lost in the river. You make it to shore only to be struck by lightening.Thank G0D, that only all your hair is burnt off. You end up with short term memory loss and the two days later the world ends...worst case senario

worst case senario ll :
Mankind looses the ability to produce electricity...

That was fun...