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Get a six-core HP desktop for $469.99

If you're looking for serious computing power, this refurbished HP Envy has you covered.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
The HP ENVY H8-1534 features six cores, a mammoth hard drive, and a blazing dedicated video card.
The HP ENVY H8-1534 features six cores, a mammoth hard drive, and a blazing dedicated video card. Woot

In recent weeks I've learned that Cheapskate readers still love their desktops, and definitely want to see more of them. With that in mind, I bring you the single most powerful PC I've ever covered in these pages.

Today only, and while supplies last, Tech.Woot has the refurbished HP Envy H8-1534 hexa-core desktop PC for $469.99, plus $5 for shipping. How good a deal is that? The system sells new at Best Buy for $689.99.

In case you don't remember your geometry, hexa means six -- as in six cores. How much software out there can take advantage of six independent processor cores? Who knows? Who cares! Six cores! Hey, nobody needs a Ferrari to drive to the grocery store, but you'd gladly take one, wouldn't you?

Those cores reside inside a 3.8GHz AMD FX-6200 processor, here paired with 10GB(!) of DDR3 memory, a 1.5TB hard drive, and an Eyefinity Radeon HD 7570 video card with 2GB of dedicated DDR3 RAM.

In other words, crank up the special effects on all your favorite games; the Envy should be able to handle them without breaking a sweat.

The system also features a DVD burner, a media reader, eight USB ports (two of them USB 3.0), Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and Windows 8. Personally, I'm living with Windows 8 by pretending it's not there: I use Classic Start Menu to boot straight to Desktop mode and restore the Start button.

I also think this is a fairly sexy-looking tower, with its glossy black front panel and glowing, Cylon-like red LED. Well over a hundred Best Buy customers collectively rated the Envy 4.2 stars out of 5, and review aggregator TestFreaks reports a score of 9.2 out of 10.

The only wrinkle I can see is the 90-day warranty, which is fairly typical for a refurbished desktop. But unless the motherboard dies, most desktops are pretty easy to repair should the need arise. (That's just my opinion, having repaired loads of them over the years.)

Ultimately, if you're looking for a power-packed tower that should cover all your computing needs for the foreseeable future, this is the deal to beat.

Bonus deal: I'm baffled as to why, but every kid I know (mine included) is hopelessly addicted to Minecraft. And it's a seven-dollar game! Well, it was: For a limited time, Amazon has Minecraft Pocket Edition for Android for $3.99. Hey, Minecraft: 1993 called and they want their hideous graphics back!

Bonus deal No. 2: It's not Tuesday yet, but, whoa, here come the Windows RT tablet deals. Dell, for example, currently has the Dell XPS 10 Windows RT tablet for $299.99 shipped (plus sales tax in some states). At that price, suddenly this 10-inch tablet starts to look a whole lot more interesting.

Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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