2016 New computer and other stuff – Part 3

Finally, I have my new computer so welcome to my HP Pavilion 500-407a review!

The setup was pretty painless even avoiding the much forced entering your email address. I seriously can’t stand that requirement these days especially before any security updates are installed. After that the notification to update to Windows 10 came it wasn’t too long (2 days) before everything was ready to install. The upgrade process didn’t take too long and was error free and the result was worth the wait.

After installing Windows 10 all the software I installed including Adobe Elements 10, PhotoImpact , Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft Expression Web and even the niche Arcsoft TV tuner software worked perfectly. Since everything else runs from a browser I wasn’t missing    any functionality. You can also install Apps from Store you can download any other functionality your missing.

All HP computers cone with a variety of bloatware but on this PC I didn’t see anything beyond the usual, Snapfish, Accuweather, Evernote, trip advisor and register with HP etc.. there’s not too much to worry about.  The standard Windows 10 apps are also there and should be optional to download in my opinion.

As for performance the HP runs faster than any computer I’ve used including the latest ALL the Apple Macs. For example, start up time from complete turned off is about 5 seconds and shut down about 10 seconds. Everything works smoothly and even running multiple apps at the same time is flawless (so far). I’ve been taken in by the hype involving SSD rather than spinning hard drives claiming to be faster but honestly even the SSD equipped Surface Pro isn’t any faster.

Interesting characteristics: Noise the DVD drive noise it makes when turning on and variable fan speed when its working hard!

Conclusion: It’s a great computer and found at a great price. I can recommend it to anyone after a new Windows PC.

Specifications:

CPU: Intel Quad Core i7 (Haswell) 4790 3.6 GHz – turbo boost to 4.0 GHz
Memory: 8G DDR3
Graphics: Radeon R7 240 2G onboard and Intel HD Graphics 4600 GT2
Sound: Integrated IDT 92HD65C
Media: 1TB HD and DVD and memory card reader
Network: Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi and LAN sockets
OS: Windows 8.1 free upgrade to Windows 10