Legit Reviews

I am looking at getting a HP TouchSmart 300z with AMD Athlon(TM) II 235e dual-core processor [2.7GHz, 2MB L2, up to 4000MT/s bus], 4GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs], 320GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive, Integrated graphics - ATI Radeon HD 3200. The OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. This is going to be used in at home and doing a little home business on in it.
> Does anyone else have one of these machines and how is it working for you??
> Can any memory upgrades be done to this machine?
> Is the AMD Athlon(TM) II 235e dual-core processor a good processor? Is it fairly new?
Would like input ASAP.
Thanks for the info.

Sounds like a great laptop! Almost a gaming machine, except for the graphics. The Athlon II is fairly new and at 2.7GHz Dual Core, it will be able to handle pretty much anything non-gaming. You should be able to upgrade the RAM, although you might have to use 4GB DIMMs, which are EXPENSIVE, especially Laptop DDR3. 4GB should be able to handle most things, unless you like running all of your programs at once and need an extended taskbar to handle all of your programs open at once. What sort of programs are you planning to run (Word, Internet?) and what is your budget, as there are probably better deals out there.

shamrok3 wrote:Sounds like a great laptop!

Uh... That's a desktop... It's one of those all-in-ones kinda like the iMac.

As for the processor, yes it's new. That's a 45W version of the Athlon II X2 Regors. Just read any of the Regor reviews to gauge performance. Hmm, as far as I'm aware, it should perform equivalent to or better than an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200. Unfortunately, since the product's new, you probably won't be able to find info about upgradability. Try searching HP's website for manuals and stuff.

*Facepalm* you can see I didn't do any research on this one. Being an All-in-One sorta screws up what I said, but as long as you can open it up, it should still be applicable.

shamrok3 wrote:Being an All-in-One sorta screws up what I said, but as long as you can open it up, it should still be applicable.

True, but sometimes, they don't have easy slots where you can install RAM, etc. That's why I said search for a manual. That way, he'll know if there are parts that are user-serviceable.

shamrok3 wrote:Sounds like a great laptop! Almost a gaming machine, except for the graphics. The Athlon II is fairly new and at 2.7GHz Dual Core, it will be able to handle pretty much anything non-gaming. You should be able to upgrade the RAM, although you might have to use 4GB DIMMs, which are EXPENSIVE, especially Laptop DDR3. 4GB should be able to handle most things, unless you like running all of your programs at once and need an extended taskbar to handle all of your programs open at once. What sort of programs are you planning to run (Word, Internet?) and what is your budget, as there are probably better deals out there.

Thank you for your input.
The machine is an all-in-one. A little thicker then a laptop and can be moved around in a house, but I would not want to take it places like a StarBucks.
What is the problem with the graphics? Have not seen the machine in person, just on the QVC program.
The RAM, I am thinking that if I want more, I would have to put in 2-4GB DIMMs=8GB. But that would be very expensive. If I was doing AutoCAD and MathCAD then maybe.
Programs I would be running are Microsoft Office, surf the internet, work with photos, watch shows from the net. I also run a small home business and so I make flyers things like that. And I would have multi-programs open at a time. I am not a gamer what so ever.
The thing I liked about this unit is that I can have one unit up stairs using the wireless.
"What is my budget", to spend as little as possible but be fast and get the job done.
I have looked at buying all the parts and putting a computer together, put the parts are just as expensive if not more then a built machine. And with a DELL or HP unit, there is other software that comes with the machine that I would have to buy.
If you have an idea for a machine, please let me know. Thanks for the help.

AlpineKid wrote:[
I have looked at buying all the parts and putting a computer together, put the parts are just as expensive if not more then a built machine. And with a DELL or HP unit, there is other software that comes with the machine that I would have to buy.
If you have an idea for a machine, please let me know. Thanks for the help.

Seriously? Over here in Australia, it's probably half the price to DIY than to buy a brand-name PC. If you juts want to be able to move it around the house, desktops are fine (but laptops are the best!). I would probably write up a computer quote for you (not to sell, just for you to build!) But prices in Australia are completely different, and I don't know any good PC parts wholesalers in the US (or wherever you are). If you are just using it for general word processing, picture editing, web surfing, you probably only need around a 2.3-2.5GHz Core 2 Duo, but you could go AMD Athlon II or something similar. Probably go with a Gigabyte or ASUS DDR2 Motherboard (Something on the cheap side ). Probably look for integrated graphics. Probably find the cheapest case/PSU combo you can find, and probably around 500GB HDD (Western Digital or Seagate, I recommend) Go for cheap Kingston or Patriot RAM and that's about it! If you plan on doing this, building your own PC is REALLY easy. If you have any problems though, these forums are full of people who have built their own PCs.

on a budget machine its tough to beat dell or hp here in the states. Especially if you need a copy of windows too. Once you start building mid-range and high-end systems is where diy is the way to go.