Joel StrauchArtwork by: Rick Rizner, John GoddardHP Pavilion 752Though HP and Compaq have
merged, their Pavilion and Presario home PC lines remain
separate. HP claims to be putting an emphasis on digital
media in its Pavilion line, and the 752 has some features
that fit the image. The handsome blue-and-gray minitower
offers some handy features, including a flip-open case on
top of the tower that will hold half a dozen CDs. A door on
the front of the case snaps down to reveal two
front-mounted USB 2.0 ports (four more are on the rear of
the system) for high-speed connections to peripherals. The
spacious 120GB hard drive provides ample storage room for
music, photos, and video. And the 24X/10X/40X HP CD-Writer
lets users easily transfer data to disc or burn their own
audio CDs.Utilizing the Intel 845GL
chip set’s integrated graphics, this Pavilion didn’t fare
too well in our gaming tests. Although the images earned
average visual ratings, our judges gave its frame rates
only a Satisfactory rating in Unreal Tournament at 1024 by
768 resolution and 32-bit color. Our judges gave Quake III
Arena an Unplayable rating at the same resolution and color
depth. (Both games ran smoothly at 800 by 600 resolution
and lower in 32-bit color). The motherboard in this
Pavilion doesn’t provide an AGP slot, so upgrading is not
an option.The 17-inch HP V70s CRT
monitor rendered adequately clear text in our test document
and brilliant colors with lifelike flesh tones in our test
photo. Full treble sound emanated from the Creative Labs
Cambridge SoundWorks SW320 three-speaker set, but the
subwoofer dished out rather distorted bass at any setting
higher than ‘7’.
With a 2A-GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 256MB of 266-MHz DDR memory, this Pavilion earned an adequate score of 102 on our PC WorldBench 4 tests. Not slow, it still landed four points below the score for a similarly configured Pavilion 9905. It may have lost some speed due to the integrated graphics system that usurps up to 48MB of system RAM.
Documentation includes a setup poster and a Quick Start guide that contains thorough overview information about the system, including a detailed troubleshooting section. Upgraders can easily reach the PCI slots and hard drive bays, but the memory slots are difficult to access in the cramped interior. Microsoft Works Suite 6.0, including Word and Money 2002, came bundled with the system.
Features such as the large
hard drive and plentiful USB 2.0 ports mark the Pavilion
752 as a multimedia hub, but the weak graphics and sound
system keep it from excelling as anything more than a basic
family PC.1283PC WorldBench 4 score
of 102, 2A-GHz Pentium 4 CPU, 256MB of DDR266 SDRAM,
Windows XP Home, 120GB hard drive, 16X DVD-ROM drive,
24X/10X/40X CD-RW drive, integrated Intel 845GL graphics,
17-inch HP V70s CRT monitor, integrated Intel 845GL sound,
Creative Labs Cambridge SoundWorks SW320 speakers, network
adapter, V.90 modem, minitower case, Microsoft Works 6.
One-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited 24-hour
daily toll-call support.www.hp.com800/999-4747
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