HardwareGeeks.com - Review: HP Pavilion Elite m9600

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Posted by: Michael on Sun, May 03rd, 2009

There are two things I ask from my PC, durability and power. Durability because even though I replace my systems every 2 to 3 years, when I give the old system to my nephew or one of my cousins I want it to still work the way it should.

I want them powerful because I am a power user and often times I have 20 apps open and maybe even a game or video play.

For the past few years, I trust HP machines to be durable so I have no worries there, but is the m9600 powerful enough for me? With the Intel Core i7 processor, 6 GB of memory (expandable up to 12) and a 512 MB ATI Radeon HD 4350, it was promising to be a powerful machine but would it deliver?

m9600 To find out I put it through the Michael Test as I call them. Yes I know a cheesy name but I couldn’t come up with anything better.

First before I continue with my test I have to say that the HP has impressed me, they have definitely cut back on the desktop clutter. There is not one program that is pre-installed that merits removal as nothing will interfere with your systems resources and bog you don’t before you even get started.

The desktop also had fewer than 10 icons. Because HP has cleaned up their act on the m9600 we have decided to certify it clutter free. Click here for details.

Anyway back to the testing of the m9600, the first test I did was the how fast it can install Microsoft Office test and then open up Word. You would be surprised at how many systems struggle with what sounds like a simple process.

The m9600 installed Office 2007 Ultimate quickly, in less than 2 minutes and word opened up almost as fast as I have seen it open on systems with an SSD drive.

That really impressed me because on my similarly spec’ed AMD powered system with only 4 GB of memory Office took about 5 minutes to install and While Word opened up fast it wasn’t as fast.

After my Office install test, I wanted to test how well the system would handle gaming, so I installed Crysis, Dead or Alive, and Command and Conquer.

When Crysis first came out that game was a monster, it took a lot to run that game smoothly even at the medium settings, at full settings the m9600 had no issues the game played flawlessly with no hiccups, the same can be said for Dead or Alive, full settings no issues and Command and Conquer the same although it takes a lot less to run C&C then it does Crysis and Dead or Alive.

The final test was to encode a DVD in the background, with NIS 360 ran a full system virus scan and while I watched watching a BLu-Ray movie. For those curious I watched The Simpsons.

I actually tried doing something similar before when AMD demoed something similar 2 or 3 years ago at a tech event here in NYC, however every system i tried it on would either BSOD on me or was sluggish and the movie even if it wasn’t a Blu-Ray movie would be unwatchable. It basically would lag and at times the audio would be out of sync.

However with the m9600 I could watch the movie with no lag and the DVD encoded with no problems and my virus scan finished without interrupting the performance of the movie. That is what I call power.

I think I forgot to mention how great the system looks, it has a black glossy finish with silver trim, and the HP logo glows when it’s powered up, it kind of has a nice effect.

The Disc drives are covered by a door that matches the system so it doesn’t look out of place. There is also a 15 in 1 memory card reader at the top which I think it’s perfectly positioned. Other systems with memory card readers have them in the middle and if you are like me and have your system on the floor you end up having to bend over more than you may want too.

There is also a Pocket Media bay and Personal Media drive bays for that added storage, I tested out the Pocket Media Bay and with the built in backup button on the front of the system, backing up has never been easier.

I also like the fact you can easily remove the drives and store them someplace safe like a fire proof safe or your safe deposit box.

There is also more than enough USB ports, 2 in the front along with a Firewire port, and 4 in the back along with another Firewire port.

The systems come integrated with a 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet port and a/b/g/n wireless.

It’s also loaded with all the software you need to properly run your system, and I thank HP for putting a Blu-Ray drive on a desktop and movie playing software is pre-installed. How many times have you purchased a new system and you pop in a DVD and it doesn’t play? I know I have a few times.

For those Windows 7 fans, I tested out Windows 7 RC on the M9600 and it performed flawlessly, so yes it can handle Windows 7.

The HP Pavilion Elite m9600 is a fantastic system, and with a starting price of $949 you can’t go wrong. However I would recommend you buy the $1520 system HP has configured on their site.

Even though this system is not a blackbird, It’s almost as powerful and well worth the price tag.

Not only have we certified the M9600 Clutter Free, but we also have awarded it our Gold Editors Choice award for the month of May.

The m9600 is available now directly from HP.