Home > Consumer Reviews > HP Pavilion a350n Desktop PC (2.80-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 512 MB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD+RW/CD-RW Combo Drive)

I recently purchased this system and wasted many hours, because it failed to work right out of the box. The first system I purchases would start-up and then shut down (powers off) unexpectedly. I returned this one to the store for a replacement and when I got the new one home it had problems too. It displayed error messages indicating that a Windows .dll file was corrupted or missing and it would not start Windows. After calling H-P techical support they sent a "recovery console disk" by FedEx. The techical support person I spoke with was a complete idiot. He tried to make it sound like it was my fault because I did not download the latest S/W updates from H-P's web site and suggested that I should have know to do this immediately, even this was not mentioned in any of the literature that was provided with the system. He even said that it was the same as knowing that you have to put gas in a new car when you buy it!!! Excuse me for thinking that a product is supposed to work when you get it home! When I received the disk I had to call H-P technical support again, because the poorly written instruction did not match what was on the screen. H-P tech support assisted me, but this failed to work. Not only did it not work, it wiped out all the applications and data I had put on the hard drive. They said they would have to send me another "recovery disk". At this point I was too fed up with H-P and returned the A350n to the store where I purchased it (Microcenter, Duluth, GA)for a refund even though I knew that their policy was to charges a 15% re-stocking fee. Fortunately, the manager at the store was very understanding and decided to waive the re-stocking fee - kudos to Microcenter!
I have to say that most of the H-P's Techical support people were very good (except for the one "idiot") and I was able to get a person on the phone without being put on hold for a long time.

However, I would be extremely cautious in purchasing a PC from H-P since they seem to have some serious quality control issues. If you feel lucky, buy it from a local store that has a liberal return policy. Good luck!

I decided to buy a new computer after having my old HP computer for six years, without a problem to speak of. HP has always been very helpful with any questions I have had. So far I am very impressed with my A350N. There have been no problems, and the computer is super fast. I love it, and I know, I made the best choice to buy another HP product.

This computer is worth every penny. I am a big fan of gaming (Counter-Strike) and tis computer preforms like the game was ment to be played on it. My friend just bought a top of the line computer with the best grphic card and i cant tell the difference between mine ans his.
My computer
$1,000(1 Gig memory upgrade)

His
$3,000

This computer fits all my needs. It is very fast, I havent had 1 single problem with it, it runs great, and it is perfect for gaming!

I used to have a sony vaio and i hated it. Teh memory went out in a second and it lagged like there was no tomorrow!

Any Questions at all about this computer email me at seany012012@yahoo.com!

Buy it! You wont regret it ! i promise!!!

Several years ago, HP decided to deprive their customers of Windows recovery CDs. Instead, HP puts recovery information in a hidden partition on YOUR hard drive, thus decreasing its capacity. If you have to use this information to recover from a serious system problem, the process will restore the computer to its original condition. This means that all of the software and data files that you have added will be removed and all of the space-hogging software that HP provides (and which you probably removed to attempt to recover some hard disk space) will be restored.
HP claims to have stopped providing recovery CDs because of its contract with Microsoft. Translation: they saved money at your expense. Avoid all HP computers!!!!!

I have had this pc for about a week. Its a great machine. Yes it still has the usual lags like most machines every once in awhile but its better than the other ones I've seen. The only drawback that I see is that the hard drive is very loud. It sounds like its grinding all the time.