HP Pavilion Media Center M8120N Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600, 3 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)

so far so good. i haven't had a chance to use it too much, i have been on vacation for two weeks, but i have had no problems. it works fast and is easy to understand. it really is not that different than my last computer.

First of all, I read the specs before buying this PC, so will not leave a bad review based on my own lack of research. I was bummed to find out that it does not have a DVI port, the one thing I forgot to check out before buying.
This computer will work wonderfully for most users. It has plenty of speed, RAM and hard drive space for the average video and photo buff. If you intend to download a ton of movies, use it as you entertainment system and want the best video output options, I would look elsewhere.
I do watch TV on mine and it was VERY easy to setup with my cable. The picture quality is OK while watching TV and much better when watching an actual DVD movie. Remember that your monitor and cable will make a huge difference as well. Windows Media Center works great too. It comes with built-in movies to teach you step by step how to get the best sound and picture quality.
I bought mine for the price and the amount of ports on the front. Vista works great in my opinion. Some people may have issues, but it usually a driver issue and is typically the fault of the manufacturer of the device you are having an issue with and not Vista itself.
It runs very quiet, looks nice, has two PCI expansion slots to add whatever (maybe more USB ports) and all the front AV ports I needed for a very low price. It has one extra bay in the front to add a second CD or DVD drive, which I have already done on mine for faster CD and DVD copying. This computer was exactly what I expected.
I think this PC should have a few more USB ports and a DVI output for sure. I am reviewing the m8100n. I am seeing some people posting reviews under the wrong area.
My advice is to think on your own and pick what specs you need first and then read the reviews. Not everyone wants the same thing and many people have unreasonable expectations. If this computer meets your needs as far as specs go, then buy it. You will love it!

Great service. Best CPU buy ever! Killer machine. Great bargain. Software needed several upgrades though.

The fast processor and huge RAM didn't help with the performance when running Windows Vista. If you go to control panel, click system, and look at the system rating, this machine scores 3.0 out of base scores ranging from 1 to 5.9. The cheaper machine scores higher in desktop performance for having a better graphic card.
Here is a breakdown of scores for each component of this machine.
Processor (5.3), RAM (5.9), Graphics: Desktop performance for Windows Aero (3.0), Gaming graphics (3.0), Primary hard disk (5.8). The machine froze often and the computer runs super slow. It's slower than my old machine that has lower processor and less memory. I called HP and was informed that the machine came with onboard graphics chipset. If I need my computer to perform faster, they recommend to install a new graphic card. The machine can't even run youtube video or movie smoothly even I use wired cable internet. Even I reinstall the machine back to the factory setting, it didn't help at all. Worse investment that I've ever made. I now decided to buy a new graphic card to get out of this frustration. If you don't plan to upgrade your new machine, don't waste the time. Vista needs decent graphic card to for Windows Aero. Without it, this machine performance goes down the hill.

The Good:

This machine can do great things, like fast video editing, decent play on games not requiring more graphics power than it has (i.e. few year old games), uses less electricity than my old computer, and in general is an attractive machine on most levels.

The Bad:
It's either Vista or the machine itself or a combination, but I crash out repeatedly trying to do resource intensive tasks like right-clicking (crashed explorer.exe 4 times this morning trying to move a file). Vista is also slow, bloated, and darned near unusable at times...How much of this is the machine and how much an abysmal OS, I can't say. My wife & some friends have Vista w/out nearly the problems, though.

The machine also runs pretty hot and the interior design is not great. It's got built in room for those HP media drives, but the bay seems to restrict air flow. Also, the only version of Linux I could find that would support the sound card was Knoppix, but it runs the volume really low, so Linux is out for the time being.

The Ugly:

I got the thing because it looked like an unbelievably great deal, far and away above the competition at the price range. A few weeks later, dropped in price and came with a monitor at a local store, confound it! Oh well, still good for the price.

**Update**
After Service Pack 1 for Vista the crashing has gone away, though Vista is still abysmal as an operating system. If you can, wait until the next version of Windows comes out, maybe it'll be slightly better.