Hewlett Packard Pavilion M9040N Elite (GN553AA#ABA) PC Desktop

The HP Elite 9000 series computers look very nice and if you compare to other systems that employ the same parts, it appears quite the deal, easily undercutting the competition. How do they do it?

Unfortunately, if you tackle the easy to remove thumb screw on the side panel and take a look inside, you'll sink as if taking an uppercut into the solar plexus. Translation? The interior of this computer is a lesson in poor design, mediocre layout, and ill conceived decisions by HP. If you never plan on servicing or upgrading this computer, or are someone that never cracks your case, perhaps you'll remain blissful in the ignorance of seeing nothing past skin deep. Alas, it's a nifty chassis employing the 45/45 rule.

But venture forth into the interior and you might be scratching your head, especially considering it's 2008, and even pedestrian systems from Gateway have managed to eek out a layout with some form of rhyme or reason. Behold, your hard drive(s), now located BEHIND the cage for the "optional" portable drive bay. You'll be wishing you were a Genie in order to get to these beasts. Notice the location of the RAM slots, also almost totally obscured behind a myriad of strewn wires and cage. Indeed, the interior of the HP resembles an explosion of wire, looking for all the world as if it were put together by a Monkey on speed.

Why oh why make every single slot, card, and drive buried in the maw? Why cant a company like HP realize that a bit of forethought in design, with just a smidgeon of sense, would yield better results in the long haul, when the 46 yr old neophyte tries to tackle something within? Be prepared to talk to said neophyte for hours on the phone...

Sadly, the parts contained within are not that bad. Still, don't look too hard or you'll notice an undersized Power Supply in most of the configurations. And be forewarned that you'll need a 64bit version of Vista to read anything above your 3GB of RAM. In other words, those 8GB maximum specs have some conditions.

Lastly, this machine's performance is not a bad deal at a discounted price. Actually, it's a pretty speedy machine and when connected to the absolutely amazing HP 2408 LCD, you get a staggeringly good picture. But if you take a peek below the hood of this beast, be prepared to see exactly WHAT kind of deal you're getting. But from the outside, even with the sub-par wireless keyboard/mouse option and overextended proprietary HP drive bays, it seems a might fine machine. Just don't look too closely at what Jack built...