HP Pavilion AIOs

[Ruthieroo]

I'm looking to purchase a new all in one computer, specifically one from the HP Pavilion xa range (I'm not sure if that's the correct way to refer to it but it's the white all in ones with fabric fronted speakers) I'm looking at the HP 27-xa0033na as a 27" option and the HP 24-xa0016na as a 24" option (also where I'm looking at buying that from does a 3 year warranty which is tempting)

I was wondering a few things. Firstly, how 'upgradable' are these PCs, ie, if I wanted to swap out the RAM, HD, SSD etc at some point to upgrade it, would I be able to? Both models have 8GB RAM and I'd like the option of upgrading to 16GB. I'd also be interested in knowing this in terms of how serviceable/ repairable they are.

How hot do they tend to get and how good is cooling? I'm fairly okay with the concept of opening up and cleaning out a PC but I was just wondering how hot they run in general.

Also how noisy are they? I'm annoyingly sensitive to noise so this is quite a big consideration. I've looked at some similar ones at my local computer shop but obviously in that setting it's hard to tell.

Thanks so much, and any other thoughts about these PCs would be much appreciated 🙂 I'm looking at using it for photo editing and generating image heavy PDFs so need something decent.

[Karl-G]

Hi there.  I don't know the answer to all of your questions, but some as I've just purchased a HP Pavilion 27-xa0033na.

Firstly, I'm loving the 27 inch screen and the fabulous resolution.  The PC is definitely quiet and the keyboard is quality too.

Only annoying thing so far is the location of the USB ports, but I've just bought a Gucci looking 4 port USB 3.O affair from Amazon which sits beautifully on the front of the stand.  This makes a big difference when plugging in my portable hard drives, CD, etc.

I asked about upgrading the RAM when purchasing and I'm told that I can definitely double up on the RAM with another 8GB stick.  My only problem here is that I've been unable to find any help on how to take the thing apart (it really is not obvious, with no evident screws on the back or underside whatsoever (if you find out I'd appreciate a nod).

So far I've had no issues with slowing up and the 2Gb HDD is great.  It also comes ready partitioned, so you can direct your documents et al to the D drive, which is the majority of the space. That of course leaves to to easily back up and recover the C: drive.

In respect of photo editing, I love my photography and all graphics programs in general (heavy Photoshop user) and so far I've found this to be a dream.  Again the 27 inch screen makes a big difference (I've just upgraded from my 24 inch Beats special which has been going strong for 4 years now, without any issues whatsoever).

Good luck whichever way you go.

[Ruthieroo]

Hi Karl, thank you so much for your helpful post, it’s really good to hear from someone who owns one as I’ve found it near impossible to find any online reviews etc.

I went to have another look at a 27” one today (different model to this, a FHD one rather than QHD) and I think it made me decide that I really do want to go with a 27”. Have you found any issue with using Photoshop with this in terms of menus being very small etc? I’ve been reading lots about 4K and the need for scaling etc to make things appear readable but I understand QHD isn’t the same as 4K so I’m wondering if QHD might be a nice middle ground if that makes sense. I was wondering if the graphics would be enough for the big QHD screen but it sounds like it is (that may sound a silly thing to say but I really have no idea about these things!)

Re getting the back off, I have no real idea but I did watch a video of an older HP AIO being opened up and it seemed to involve levering off a small central cover to allow the rest of the back to be removed. No idea if this is the same but thought I’d mention it as it seemed like a sort of non obvious way of doing it and I wondered if this one might be similar 🙂

Does it seem to run quite cool? 🙂 I felt the back of the one in the shop but obviously being a different spec and not really under any load it was hard to tell.

[Karl-G]

Morning Ruthieroo,

Compared to the other HP All-in-ones I've owned (2 previous to this) this one definitely runs cool.  I've just put my hands over both external vents and can only feel a very low warmth with half a dozen apps running.

I wasn't sure about the resolution at first, as it's so much higher than the 24 inch of the beats audio.  However, now that I've got the screen the right distance from my seating position, and taken advantage of the size by aligning windows side by side, it works great for me personally.

On the USB side, I bought one of these from Amazon and stuck in on the front centre of my stand.  Looks amazing and works great - particularly the mouse/keyboard dongle, which played up with it tucked away at the back.

I did watch every video going on Youtube re the back plate but this one really is different.  I think I'll get in touch with HP techies and see what they say. As HP sell the RAM on their site they should be willing to tell you how to install it.

[Ruthieroo]

Hi Karl,

Thanks so much for that, that's good to know about the heat and also the screen. I (before being a bit more sensible about my budget and also realising that it'd be hard to learn how to use it having used Windows all my life!) was looking at Macs with 5k screens and I got to a point where I thought it would actually be overkill for me; sounds mad but the sort of work I do is viewed on screens which in most cases are probably nothing like 4 or 5k and so I was quite glad to see this one didn't have this as it sounds like it's a beautiful screen but without being over the top, if that makes sense, so I can get more of an idea of how most other people who are viewing what I create are seeing things. I've not explained that very well!

That's really handy to know about the USB thing too, thank you, I do use quite a lot of things plugged in so I think I'll go for one of those at some point if I do go ahead. Always handy to have more ports especially with having to use up one for the dongle.

Good luck with getting the back off!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Karl-G 

Here is the service manual for your AIO...That should be of help to you regarding how to upgrade the memory.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06111214

[Karl-G]

Thank you so much Paul.

You're a star (or a provost) for sure!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[Ruthieroo]

Just something else I've thought of Karl, sorry; is the screen glossy or matte? I've just noticed it says it's anti glare.

Many thanks!

[Karl-G]

It's a matte finish, with no obvious glare at all. I have to look really hard to make out the windows behind me, unlike the beatsaudio all in one I had before this, which was glossy and a complete pain when doing graphical stuff.