Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion a6350 series of desktop computers hits a sweet spot between price and performance. These systems are priced at $499.99 as a baseline and start out very nicely equipped. If you want more options, HP has them available for you, but essentially, all you need is a display and you've got yourself a well-rounded multimedia PC.

The models in this series are built inside HP's latest Pavilion chassis -- a sleek black midsize tower with room for plenty of components. A dual-core processor from either AMD or Intel (depending on whether you go with the a6350z or the a6350t, respectively) provides the central power of these computers. We took a look at the a6350z, which features a 2.4GHz Athlon 64 X2 4600+ processor. HP pairs this with a healthy 2GB of 667MHz RAM, so it's a great system for multitasking.

Storage space for the a6350z is respectable thanks to the 250GB 7,200rpm hard drive. This gives you a quarter-terabyte of room for installing games and housing multimedia files. If you'd like a little more elbow room, HP will let you double it to a half-terabyte 500GB drive for the low upgrade price of $50.

The series' optical drive is HP's own LightScribe SuperMulti DVD-RW drive. This drive can handle burns to all sorts of media, from CDs to DVDs to Dual Layer DVDs. Additionally, it features LightScribe labeling technology, which lets you imprint monochromatic labels on the surface of special media. These discs cost a little more than traditional media, but the price difference has become fairly minimal, and the ability to burn professional-looking labels comes in quite handy for everything from school projects to sharing family photos.

You also have the option to add an HD DVD-ROM drive in the second optical drive bay. This adds $150 to the overall sticker price, but it also lets you play HD DVDs in your desktop computer, which is handy if you're planning to connect it to your home theater system.

Also on the front of the tower is a 15-in-1 media card reader; this allows you to swap files and photos from your PDA or digital camera by simply inserting the memory card. The front of the tower also features three USB ports and a FireWire port, so you can connect a digital camcorder or other high-speed peripheral without having to crawl behind your computer.

Practically the only aspect of these computers that really needs an upgrade is the graphics. The default graphics option is integrated NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE. This just won't cut it for 3D gaming, and it would be a shame to not be able to play the latest games efficiently on such a powerful multimedia system. Luckily, you can upgrade fairly inexpensively -- a GeForce 8400 with 128MB of dedicated video memory is only $50 over baseline, and an even more cutting-edge GeForce 8400 with 256MB of memory and an HDMI output port can be had for $80.

Another upgrade option is a TV tuner. These desktop computers ship with Windows Vista Home Premium edition, the multimedia-centric version of Microsoft's new operating system, so by adding an $80 TV tuner (complete with remote control), you'll be able to watch and record your favorite television shows on your PC. It's definitely something to consider if you will be hooking this system up to an HD-TV.

Fans of removable storage may also want to think about adding HP's Pocket Media Drive. This large hard drives can be popped in and out of the system via a front-mounted bay and lets you backup your data or transfer many files easily. A 160GB removable drive and bay adds $150 to the overall system price.

There's no monitor included with the a6350 desktop computers at baseline, although HP offers some excellent prices on bundles that include displays. For example, you can get a 17-inch widescreen LCD for $130 or a monstrous 20-inch widescreen flat panel for $200, which is a great price for such a large display.

If you go crazy with the upgrades, these nicely priced Pavilions can get rather expensive, but even the baseline models are pretty powerful multimedia PCs. If you are looking for a home computer with good core power and a solid set of high-end components, the HP Pavilion a6350 desktop computers will almost certainly satisfy.


Pros: Great components for the price, nice multimedia performance
Cons: No display at baseline