I've had the Hewlett Packard Pavilion zd8000 for about four and a half years and have used it for a whole slew of things. While I now have an Apple computer, before I got it I was using this computer both for personal use and for recording music. The model that I have of this computer has a 3.0 Ghz processor and 2 GB of RAM. It has a great monitor, as everything comes in clear, and overall has a great look to it. The built in mouse and keyboard is laid out conveniently and smartly. In addition to basic tasks like using word processing software and the internet, I was running Cubase SX for both tracking and mixing purposes. Using a MOTU 896 HD audio interface, I was able to record eight tracks at once with little problems if any at all. I was also able to run about twenty four tracks at once with plug-ins on each track. Even though this was probably the limit to what I could run on this, it was all I needed, and it always did it pretty effectively. However, as time went on I could feel it getting slower and after a while it wasn't able to run as fast anymore. I decided I wanted to switch to Pro Tools, so I needed to change over to an Apple computer, but the Hewlett Packard Pavilion zd8000 lap top worked great for me while I had it. The price of a new one of these when I bought it was definitely overpriced in hindsight, but you can probably get it for cheaper now. This computer is probably best suited for personal uses, but for a while it worked well for both personal and audio purposes. I probably would recommend getting a Mac if you are looking to work with audio, but overall this computer is pretty well made.