Yesterday I had a brief look at Sony’s All in One PC range, today I want to look at the HP Touchsmart. Although it is technically an All in One PC, it’s probably better described as a home theatre or multimedia system. That’s not to say it isn’t a very cabable computer.
The HP Touchsmart
2 weeks ago I got a chance to play around with the Touchsmart in Bangkok for 15 minutes or so. I have to say that I fell in love with it. Even before I looked at the specifications and the price I was in awe at how user friendly the Touchscreen system was. I had assumed that it would be like some sort of glorified tablet but it actually works incredibly well.
Browsing through music, videos and pictures was very similar to browsing through Apples iTouch or iPhone.
The Touchsmart series has been out for a few years but the two current versions available in the UK are the IQ522 and the IQ820. The IQ522 is the cheaper one at £899.99 with the IQ820 currently costing £1399.99 (There is also a 12″ touchsmart laptop out just now for around £750).
The IQ522 has :
- 22″ Screen
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6400
- 4GB of RAM
- 500GB Hard Drive
- DVD ReWriter
- NVIDIA GeForce 9300M
- Wireless N Lan
- TV tuner, TV in, S-video in, stereo audio in, IR blaster out
- Wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse
- Webcam and microphone
- HP Vista Media Center Remote Control
- Vista Home Premium 64Bit
The more expensive IQ820 gets you :
- 25.5″ screen
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7450
- 4GB of RAM
- 640GB Hard Drive
- Blu Ray Player and DVD ReWriter
- NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS HD 512MB
- Wireless N Lan
- TV tuner, TV in, S-video in, stereo audio in, IR blaster out
- Wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse
- Webcam and microphone
- HP Vista Media Center Remote Control
- Vista Home Premium 64Bit
So basically, for an extra £500 you get a larger screen, more powerful processor, Blu Ray drive, slightly larger hard drive and a better graphics card. I’m not too sure if the IQ820 is worth the extra money as the lower end model is still pretty powerful. Might be worth the extra cash if you are going to be using the system for gaming.
This ad from HP gives an idea of what can be done with the Touchsmart :
Verdict
The lower end model, the IQ522, is something I am seriously considering. At £899.99 it offers pretty good value. It’s a pretty powerful pc, can be used as a TV and as I have mentioned many times before, I was very impressed with the touchscreen feature when I used it.
Hopefully the price of the Touchsmart drops another hundred or so in the next few months to make it that little bit more affordable :)
