HP - Pavilion Wave Desktop - Intel Core i3 - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive - Onyx black

Customer Images

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• See
  More

The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Attractive, good performance, with minor misteps

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • My Best Buy® Elite Plus Member
  • Top 25 Contributor

  Pros Appealing design Very clean setup with minimal wires Nicely balance built-in speaker Compact size Capable Core i series desktop processor Enough memory for all but the most demanding tasks HDMI and Displayport Dual monitor capable USB-C for the future Includes wireless keyboard and mouse Multiple microphones for Cortana Cons Traditional hard drive Massive power brick with proprietary plug Difficult to upgrade hardware Doesn’t fully take advantage of new technology in Windows 10 Keyboard can miss keys with faster typing speeds Keyboard is a bit cramped Mouse feels sticky and clicks require too much effort Hard drive and fan can be a bit noisy for some With regular box PCs becoming less popular, many companies are looking to change the definition of computer. HP is looking to take the standard drab looking computer case and turn it into something attractive you don’t mind having on a desk and it looks like they have succeeded. A nice feature for those looking to reduce clutter is the using HDMI and DisplayPort for monitors means smaller cords. Combine that with a built-in speaker and included wireless mouse and keyboard and the clutter is almost nonexistent. Just be prepared to find a place to fput the extremely large power brick. I have enjoyed having a much neater desk, and more space. The built is speaker has a good range for a computer in this price level. It is listed as a 360-degree speaker but you will still notice exactly where the sound comes from. Keeping the sleekness in mind, the other option would have been monitor speakers which don’t have the range of the one in the tower. A built-in tower speaker is a good compromise. Of course, it doesn’t have tonal range or bass for audiophiles but for most people it has a pleasing range. If you want separate speakers, you would either use the front stereo jack, an HDMI audio extractor, or USB sound card. However; this does seem defeat the purpose of this design. Another possible problem with separate speakers could be the extra microphones tuned for use with Cortana. They work very well to understand commands given combined with the built-in speaker, but I suspect separate speakers would defeat this tuning. I can walk in the office and call Cortana without touching the computer to start up music, get the weather, or get the news. The experience has been more enjoyable than expected. The included keyboard and mouse are adequate. If you have a lower typing speed you will likely find it works just fine. If you type faster, you might notice this keyboard will tend to miss keystrokes unless you bang on them hard. The mouse is adequate for this price point. It is ambidextrous and neutral. It feels a little sticky on a mousepad and the buttons require a more firm click than a higher end unit, but for the package deal it is appropriate. The wheel on the mouse is surprisingly good. This Wave, being the lower end model, comes only with integrated graphics. It works good for regular tasks and casual gaming. If you need more horsepower, there is an upgraded model with a separate graphics card. Neither is intended for hardcore gamers or people who like to customize. The one thing that surprised me about this design is that it a modern design with good specs in most places but includes an Achilles heel. With such a modern design, it has a standard hard drive. Hybrid drives are not that much more expensive and SSDs have come down in price significantly. It seems odd that this modern system uses an old school hard drive. This could be a blazing fast system with an SSD but the traditional hard drive crunching comes up often sounding like an old computer. Installing an HP printer on other modern computers takes no more than about 8 minutes. This system took 45 minutes to install one and 25 to install the other. In modern times, this feels like an eternity. The higher end model that includes an SSD likely doesn’t exhibit this issue but it is surprising they didn’t address this across the board. This system is intended to be displayed and out in the open, likely on the desk. This is where the choice of a traditional hard drive is also quite odd. Old hard drives make a distinct sound that sound somewhat like crunching. When you place this computer out for display on a desk or shelf, it amplifies that sound taking away from the overall experience. Another noise of note is the case fan can be heard as what can be best described as a faint purring sound. The fan can get very loud at initial startup. So far, even during heavy usage it has not needed to run at full speed. Overall, the regular sounds are not overly intrusive but do take away from what could be a more refined experience. I am extremely picky about sound so the vast majority of people will never notice. For those like me, you will still be ok but you know what to expect. If you have owned other HP computers, you will know that they usually come preloaded with software of questionable use. Although this system is no exception, the software is easily removed. Oddly what seems to be missing and would be useful is a hardware diagnostics. Other HP systems I have had included robust diagnostics to check everything in the event strange things started occurring with the computer. I have searched everywhere, including on startup, and can find none. Another small misstep is that HP didn’t take advantage of the advanced technology of Windows 10. Instead of promoting the games included in the store that work quite well, they preinstalled WildTangent games which are full of advertisements and require managing a separate account. The system applications, while updated in style, are still traditional applications meaning you must manually update them and address them as well. It is a shame they weren’t redesigned as apps that could be automatically maintained by Windows and updated without fuss. On a more advanced note, it would have been nice to see HP take advantage of a new technology in Windows which would have allowed the system to be restored via the web if needed. Currently, the only way to reinstall Windows is via the information on the hard drive. Windows 10 has a new recovery system that HP could have used in the event of failure, for whatever reason, the system could be restored via an automatic download from HP very easily. This could have further enhanced the customer experience but it was nowhere to be found. Overall, the HP Wave is a very nice system with a modern design. With some minor adjustments, such as using an SSD in all models and modernizing the apps, this could have been a near perfect system. It most certainly feels like an HP system, but it feels like they have improved the design while keeping prices manageable. The system is designed well overall and can be a nice upgrade for someone needing a new system. It would be nice to see HP will make some minor tweaks with the next generation of what is already a very nice new design. Until then, the current HP Wave a very capable and elegantly designed desktop computer.

  • 
  • 

  Posted 9 years ago by CraigB

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Just Average

  • Incentivized
  • Verified Purchaser
  • My Best Buy® Member

  I purchased this for my husband after his other computer no longer worked. He only uses it mostly for the internet and some emails, so for him, this unit is fine. However, there are not nearly enough USB/HDMI outlets, and there is no CD/DVD capability. We purchased the i3, but in hindsight, I would have much rather invested in the i5. The size and the esthetics are nice, the sound is respectable, but the limited HDMI/USB ports make it a hassle sometimes. Yes, there are external USBs, but it just seems as though incorporating more of these ports onto the unit itself would be a huge improvement. Also, start-up seems a little draggy. But overall, it is not a bad unit, it just could use some tweaking here and there in my opinion.

  • 

  Posted 8 years ago by CyndiLou

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Eye catching design and fantastic speakers.

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 250 Contributor
  • My Best Buy® Member

  So desktops today seem to be a dying breed. With the abundance of low end/inexpensive laptops, desktops seem to have a hard time (and get a hard time) from consumers these days. However, some people still prefer them over laptops and this unit from HP should be one to look into if you're in the market for a desktop. The most prominent and noticeable features of this unit is the size and design. Design wise, if it didn't have the HP logo on it, you'd think it was a high end speaker or something. Size wise, it's very small. At, roughly, 10 inches tall and 7 inches wide, it's very compact and doesn't take up a whole lot of space. Personally, I think it looks great and is quite a nice addition to my work desk. All the ports are located in the back of the unit so cable management might be something to consider. The power button is back there as well as you'll want this to placed somewhere in the open for easy access. Up front there is a headphone jack and USB port. Power wise it's packing a 3.2 GHz 6th gen i3 dual core processor along with 8GB of RAM. It's plenty fast enough for just about any process so there's no worry there. There's a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive as well. I think something like this should've had a SSD drive in it even if it were 256GB or something. Using a spindle drive, even one that's 7200RPM just seems out of date. Economically it makes sense for HP however with a new product and revamped design, I think that extra speed from the SSD would've made this a sure bet. RAM is expandable, I believe, so there's that option available if you want/need this to be a snappier. It's not your typical desktop so this isn't something that you're going to put under the desk or in a cabinet somewhere. You'll want this to be seen and admired.....and heard. In addition to being a pretty cool looking desktop, the one thing that stuck out for me using this was the speakers. Previously, if you wanted speakers you had to get those cruddy speakers you plug into the computer or the higher end ones that cost a pretty penny. I love listening to music/videos on my computers and the B&O speakers on this really blew me away. The sound is clear and crisp and, most importantly, omni directional. No more turning your speakers to get the best sound out of them. The top of the unit houses the speakers and they're on par with some of the better bluetooth speakers on the market. Whether you're sitting in front of your computer or in another room, the sound from this desktop is very nice. This is basically like having a super small desktop computer with a bluetooth speaker built into it. Very nice and personally the thing I liked most about this desktop. Bloatware is a thing with this computer as it is with any new device like this. Not surprisingly, most of it is from HP so it'll take you a little while uninstalling it along with the other culprits like McAffee and Windows bloatware. The sole reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because of the included wireless mouse/keyboard. These two things are complete GARBAGE and should never have been included with this beautiful machine. The keyboard itself has an odd layout; specifically with the number pad and directional arrows. They're intermingled so it's not what you're typically used to on a keyboard. You think you're hitting the zero button but you're actually hitting the right arrow key. Seeing as how keyboards are pretty common in their layout, I have no idea why HP would go around and muck with it. It's a poor layout and the connection is sometimes unstable. I'm using it to write this review and I cannot remember the last time I had to click the backspace button so many times. It's quite irritating to the point where I actually dock it from the review of the desktop itself. I'm currently looking to buy a replacement keyboard//mouse just so I don't have to continue using this. The mouse it oddly shaped IMO and quite stiff when you're trying to click on something. It just doesn't feel right and, again, I'm looking to replace it already. If you get this desktop, just throw away the keyboard/mouse and go get a better set somewhere. Aside from that, this is a fantastic desktop. It's quite fast for just about any program you need as well as any task. I don't use any video/photo editing programs so I can't comment on how those handle on this computer however I don't see any major issues with using them. For me, the hardware specs and speakers alone on this desktop are worth it. If nothing else, go out and listen to some music on this computer and see for yourself.

  • 
  • 

  Posted 9 years ago by LouRevue