Touched by Beauty

HP’s touch screen PC is a beauty, but slow and pricey
REMEMBER Minority Report? It had a sequence where Tom Cruise could solve a crime by flying through records, all using his hands to move things around on a virtual screen, on a virtual computer. Well some geeks at HP got inspired by the movie to build the world’s first all-in-one touch home PC, and it’s called the HP Touch Smart. This is HP’s second attempt—the earlier one was not very successful—but this one is much smarter, and looks more like the iMac or the Dell XPS.
The touch screen
At 22’’, this is the largest touch screen there is. Though the touch screen is good, the HP touch interface, the program that lets you play your music, videos, leave an audio or a text note, play around with your pictures, touch or crop them, is literally an overkill. It is good for my two-and-half-year-old nephew, who can now touch the computer and do things, as he does not know how to properly use a keyboard or mouse, but I am not going to trust a Rs 90,000 machine in the hands of a toddler.
There are a few things that are missing in the touch interface; the voice note function is good, but there are flaws. I was taking this phone note, repeating everything I heard on the phone. After the call I played the note, but forgot to save it. In a few minutes I took another note, and the machine overwrote the first one. This is a machine for people with dumb computer skills, and that’s really sad.
The webcam performance in daylight conditions is good, but at night it is very bad, it can barely see anything. If fact, you get spooky images as the screen light fills in.
Since the HP Smart Touch ships with Windows Vista Home Premium, the Windows Media Center is built-in and has a much better response to touch. Though the PC comes with a huge remote control, I did not bother to use it. After all, I am not replacing my television, at least not yet.
Where HP Touch Smart scores over the iMac is the TV Tuner, an IR Blaster which lets you change DTH channels using a software, Audio Out and Audio In.
Like the iMac, and other new generation machines, it features a slot DVD drive where you slide in the disc. What is good is that HP has given an eject button next to the drive. Apple does not have this function. However, it’s not easy inserting a DVD while sitting in front of the machine, you have to get up and do it.
A small clip at the back of the machine helps you tidy up all the cables that are coming in/out of the machine. The only wire that comes into the machine is the power cable. The size of the screen and the great emphasis on the design of the machine allow you to slide in the keyboard under the PC.
VERDICT: HP deserves a lot of credit for what it has done. If you are looking for an allout entertainer, and don’t mind spending money on a very, very slow machine, just because it’s the latest in technology, this is a must-buy. But for this much money, you can actually buy one of the fastest desktops on the market now.
For videos and pictures from the review, please visit: gsapra.blogspot.com
WHAT I LIKE
The wireless keyboard mouse is a standard accessory
The ambient light—reminiscent of an IBM thinkpad called the Think Light, or inspired by the light on the Philips Ambi Light TVs—with three brightness levels
The black shiny mirror piano finish, ideal for a country which prefers black over a white machine
The built-in SD card reader
The side USB ports
The brilliant microphone
WHAT I HATE
Synchronising the keyboard mouse the first time was a pain, it took me over half-an-hour to figure it out
Taking the dongle out from the back of a 22” screen, is not such an easy job, especially when you have spent a lot of money to buy the machine and turning over means risking a break
Windows Vista: The machine that came from HP for the review had a 4GB RAM and the Core 2 Duo 2.17 gave it a score of 3.8 on Vista, a tad too slow for me
Power adapter: Yes, the machine uses a bulky power adapter. Why not build an integrated supply into the PC?


Bootup Time


HP's Touch Interface


Skype on HP


Windows Media Centre

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The Above article appeared in the Indian Express, on Sunday 24th August 2008