The $US900, 23-inch TouchSmart 520 is the new guy worth talking about. Is it better looking than the iMac? No. Is it more enjoyable to use than the iMac? No. Is it a damn decent PC all-in-one, that actually has some spiffy design cred? Hell yes. And that’s reason enough to care.
I’ve never liked HP’s TouchSmart software — it’s been a bloated, laggy layer of code slopped over an already puffy Windows foundation. HP’s smartened up a bit. Not only does the TouchSmart interface feel more responsive, HP’s made it a cinch to get the hell out of touchtown if you want, reverting back to plain old Windows 7. You’re free to use the TouchSmart as if it were a capable, non-touch, Core i7 desktop.
Now this is a little silly — you’re paying extra for those touch features. So that’s why HP needs to take its non-touch guts, and stick them in the 520′s beautiful frame. The display itself — crisp and vibrant — is suspended by two lean, sturdy, metallic legs, like a delicate insect, concealing its processing power in a relatively lean box. Graceful as it looks, you can push the thing around — it tilts at your convenience without giving you the impression you’ll wreck it in the process. The face is clean, the back is pared down and still entirely accessible for digging around inside, and the whole chassis is friendly. Which is what you want from something that’s staring you in the face for several hours on end.
It’s a unique design, and an uncommon one that hasn’t directly torn several dense pages from Apple’s design manual. This look should be the standard across HP’s all-in-one fleet, not just the premium touch stuff. I just hope the company’s industrial brains aren’t too panicked by the sinking (or drifting) corporate ship to stay focused on design.
olearymo
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 8:36 AMsooo…. HP *is* making PCs? I’m so confused. I don’t mean Giz is confusing, I mean HP is just… what the hell are they these days?
Jason
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 9:38 AMFirst of all: it looks immensely better than an iMac; it even comes with a proper keyboard!
Secondly: the UI experience between OSX and Windows (esp. with TouchSmart software modifying the experience) is entirely subjective. Stop being a fanboy.
Thirdly: All-in-ones are silly. What happens if you want to add/change components on a machine like this?
TSH
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 11:03 AMMost people I know (i.e., the mass market that is actually profitable for HP) treat PCs like appliances: it’s a black box that does something for them. They don’t service their washing machine or vacuum cleaner – nor do they want to dig around inside their PC. Apple realised this long ago and it boggles my mind that other companies are *still* playing catchup for that market.
I’m a massive hardware nerd but I can’t deny the appeal of the “applicance” approach.
olearymo
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 12:12 PMThe same thing they do with a laptop, Jason. In many cases, you can change the RAM on a laptop or all in one, and in some the hard drive.
An all-in-one is just a large laptop without the hinge and battery. Some people like them, others dont (full disclosure, I have and quite like an iMac).
They’re not ‘silly’ any more than a big tower is ‘silly’. They just don’t suit you. A tower doesn’t suit me. Isn’t it nice to live and let live?
Joel
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 10:02 AMHow does this look better than an iMac? Since I started using my iMac, PCs that ar made out of black plastic have started to look incredibly ‘cheap and nasty’ IMO