HP/Compaq's Presario SR1800 family of desktop computers is one of their retail systems--You can't buy them online, so you don't have as much choice of components as you do with computers purchased directly from the manufacturer. On the other hand, you can often find a better bargain on retail systems at some brick and mortar vendors.

We took a look at the SR1811NX, an AMD Sempron-based Presario that ships with a 17-inch CRT monitor for under $500. It's not the most cutting-edge home desktop on the market, but it's a great deal for a second or even third computer for your home.

The Sempron is AMD's budget processor, but the 2.0GHz Sempron 3500+ is powerful enough for running most applications and some light gaming. HP/Compaq pairs it with 512MB of 400MHz DDR memory. There's much faster memory out there, but this makes a fair compromise of power and price. These systems have four DIMM slots and can handle up to 4GB of RAM, so there's a decent amount of expansion room for future memory upgrades.

The drives on these desktops are more impressive, with the storage space of a 160GB 7,200rpm hard drive. You'll have lots of room for housing multimedia files--even large video clips--as well as application installations.

The main optical drive is one of the best you can find. It's a 16X Double-Layer DVD writer with HP's LightScribe technology built in. It burns almost any media out there, including DL DVDs that hold up to 8.5GB of data (or four hours of high-resolution video) on a single disk. And it supports LightScribe media that allows you to create your own monochromatic professional-looking labels on your CDs and DVDs. LightScribe media is a bit more expensive than traditional media, but it's handy for those home video DVD disks you make for friends and family.

There's also a second optical drive, but it's a plain CD-ROM drive useful for application installs and disk-to-disk audio backups, but not much more.

Graphics are integrated on these home desktop computers, but it is ATI's Radeon Xpress 200, so it's a bit above the standard integrated graphics options you find on some systems. The graphics still share video memory with the main system RAM, so you'll see performance slowdowns during graphically intensive tasks. The motherboard does offer a PCI Express slot, so if you'll be playing a lot of 3D games on your home desktop computer, you should consider an upgrade to a stand-alone video card with its own dedicated video memory.

There's no floppy drive on these desktop computers for home users, but the 9-in-1 media card reader on the front of the black and silver chassis may prove to be a lot more useful. It supports a variety of flash memory cards, from CompactFlash and Secure Digital to Memory Stick and Micro Drive, so if you have a digital camera or MP3 player that utilizes one of these formats, it's a cinch to swap files or photos from your device to your Presario PC.

HP/Compaq has also put some useful connectivity ports on the front of the tower. The two USB 2.0 and single Firewire port make it easy to connect high-speed peripherals to your home desktop computer. And the audio input and output and headphone ports are handy for hooking up a headset for game communication or using an Internet telephony service such as Skype.

Both a modem and a network interface are included on these home desktop computers, so you'll be able to connect via a dial-up or a broadband Internet service provider.

The 17-inch CRT that ships with our SR1811NX isn't stellar, but it's a decent enough display and a nice find at this price point. There are a variety of systems in the SR1800 family of home desktop computers, so look for one that has the specifications and the bundle that best meet your needs.

Speaking of the bundle, HP/Compaq includes a nice set of software with this desktop computer for home users. Microsoft Works 8.0 contains some basic office applications such as a word processor and spreadsheet program. HP's own PhotoSmart Premier 6 helps you edit and organize your digital photos. And there's also Microsoft Money 2006 and Quicken New User Edition 2006 software to keep your finances in line.

The HP/Compaq Presario SR1800 series of desktop computers for home users are nicely priced budget systems that have the power and components that fit the needs of the average home user well.


Pros: Great price, monitor included, LightScribe drive
Cons: Slower memory, integrated graphics

Warranty
1-year limited