HP Pavilion p7-1110

If you're looking to buy an affordable entry-level desktop PC, the HP Pavilion p7-1110 ($529.99 list at Staples) packs a decent dual-core Intel Core i3 processor and large 1TB hard drive into an attractive (though rather generic) tower. The p7-1110 is a decent find, offering day-to-day computing power that rivals top budget systems?like the Editors' ChoiceLenovo IdeaCentre K330-11691AU ($599.99 list, 4 stars)?but does so for a more affordable price.

Design & Features
On the outside, the p7-1110 looks like the HP Pavilion p7-1154's ($519.99 list, 2.5 stars) twin: a standard mid-tower PC with a black boxy tower and a glossy black front panel highlighted with silver-grey plastic trim, and a white-blue LED power-indicator light at the top. There's a plastic sliding door that hides headphone and microphone jacks, and two USB 2.0 ports. There's a DVD burner that sits right underneath a handful of card reader slots at the top of the panel that will accommodate up to 15 different formats (including popular formats such as SD, xD, MS/Pro and Compact Flash).

On the back of the tower you'll find four USB 2.0 ports, DVI and VGA video connections, audio and microphone connections, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Two of those USB ports will be occupied, however, by the wired keyboard and optical mouse included with the desktop.

Inside the tower, you'll find a 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive, offering plenty of space for all of your family photos, digital media collections, and plenty of programs. Additionally, you'll find a PCIe mini card offering 802.11n Wi-Fi, and 6GB of DDR3 RAM. If you're looking to make upgrades, there's a bit of room, with one empty drive bay, and several open PCIe slots (one PCIe x16, three PCIe x1, and one PCIe Mini Card slot). The two DIMM slots are full (6GB of RAM), but the memory can be bumped up to 8GB, and while there's room for a video card, you'll be limited by the 250 Watt power supply.

The HP Pavilion p7-1110 comes with a selection of software pre-installed on the system, (aka, bloatware), like Microsoft Office Starter 2010, a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security, a 30-day trial of Norton Online Backup, and a collection of sample games from Wild Tangent. The p7-1110 also comes with HP LinkUp, a program that lets you access other Windows 7 computers on the same local network. Even computers from other manufacturers can download the LinkUp software to share files.

Customers who buy this system from Staples can avail themselves of several services the retailer offers. This includes setting the new system up, data transfer from your old PC to your new one, software installation, and tech support and protection plans that range in price from $14.99 to $169.99.

Performance
The p7-1110 is equipped with a 3.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i3-2120 processor, paired with 6GB of RAM. Thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, this dual-core CPU can run two logic threads per core, allowing performance that rivals other manufacturers' quad-core chips. In PCMark 7, our day-to-day performance test, the p7-1110 scored 2,621 points, putting it ahead of the Asus Essentio CM1730-05 ($569.99, 3 stars) (1,911) and AMD-equipped HP p7-1154 (1,986), and within striking distance of the Dell Inspiron i620-3708NBK ($649.99 list, 3.5 stars) (2,709). In Cinebench R11.5 speed tests, it scored 3.16 points, beating out the Editors' Choice Lenovo IdeaCentre K330-11691AU ($599.99 list, 4 stars) (2.98) and HP p7-1154 (2.61), but falling behind the Dell i620-3708NBK (4.78) and Asus CM1730-05 (5.19).

The p7-1110 is also fairly well equipped for multimedia tasks, cranking through Handbrake in 1 minute 36 seconds and completing Photoshop CS5 in a category-leading 3:34. That's good enough for the user who wants to clean up family photos or make minor edits to a YouTube video. The system with the closest scores was the Dell i620-3708NBK, which finished Handbrake in 1:22 and Photoshop in 3:35. Contrast this with the AMD-powered HP p7-1154 (Handbrake 2:49, Photoshop 7:13), and you can see the wide difference that can be found between similarly-priced systems.

The p7-1110 utilizes the Core i3's integrated graphics, which offers plenty of graphics processing for day-to-day use, but 3D gaming might be out of reach. Without DirectX 11 compatibility, the p7-1110 was unable to run either our 3DMark 11 graphics benchmark test or our Lost Planet 2 gaming test. However, in our DirectX 10 Crysis test (at Medium quality), the p7-1110 produced 13 frames per second. Though not quite playable?it looked like a fast flickering slideshow?it was still on a par with both the Editors' Choice Lenovo K330-11691AU (12 fps) and Dell i620-3708NBK (13 fps).

As entry-level systems go, the HP Pavilion p7-1110 is a compelling choice for anyone on a budget. The included Intel Core i3 processor and 1TB hard drive will easily keep you working and browsing the Web for the next five or six years, and does so for a little bit less than other comparable systems, including the Editors' Choice Lenovo K330-11691AU. It would take top honors, except that the Core i5-equipped HP Pavilion p7-1187c packs superior performance into the same chassis.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Pavilion p7-1110 with several other desktops side by side.

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