HP TouchSmart 600 – Review

HP TouchSmart 600

The HP Touch Screen 600 is set to launch on October 22, 2009 with the starting price of $1050. However, most computer technical wizards would suggest a system that is at least $1600 so it could end up being quite pricey and not something that would fit in everyone’s budget.

The typical configurations that are expected or needed are as follows: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz and 4 GB DDR3 RAM. There are some other installations that are considered important to those who are technical gurus or computer testers. These installations included a slot load Blu-Ray player/DVD burner, NVIDIA GeForce GT230M with 1 GB dedicated RAM, 23-inch 1080P multi-touch display, and many different other inputs which include a 6 USB, a card reader, coax, S-Video, HDMI, audio and composite.

This new Touch Smart system is the third generation. There are many things that were left the same and had remained unchanged on the system. There is a two-point IR based multi-touch screen. There have been some major problems with the combination of hardware and software. This is due to a ton of new stuff that is available for this generation of the Touch Smart system. The new things that are included with this system are: Windows 7 operating systems, HDMI-in, Updated Touch Smart UI, Custom Hulu, Netflix, Twitter, and Recipe book applications are available and pre loaded into the system, HD Tuning (not CableCard), Fully Customizable LED under lighting, and a Tilting Webcam.

The overall hardware of the HP Touch Screen 600 has some changes and yet some things that are very similar to the previous generations of systems. The body has been almost unchanged and this might be one of the advantages as the system’s body is a high gloss black that was quite popular. The case was mostly plastic and it did a good job of helping there to be colors that would pop on the screen. This is because of the color of black and how it interacts with the colors that are on the screen. Basically the claim is that the colors will pop in a fashion that is similar to an HDTV. There is even a panel that hides some of the design features in order to give you a nice clean look.

The screen is completely touch sensitive although there still seems to be some quirks with the sensitivity of the touch screen. The screen does have the viewing ability that is similar to a LCD HDTV. Also the touch sensitivity is not the greatest. Even when touching slowly and focusing completely it is not 100% accurate. Further if you are just using the screen normally and not moving slowly the accuracy is even lower. In most tests the accuracy was between 85%-95% accurate. Further if there are a lot of programs running then the system gets slower and less accurate as well. However, even with the problems the screen is still better than previous generations of the same program.

There is also a wireless keyboard and mouse that both work well and have a good performance rating. Both pieces of equipment are functional and can work well. There is also a remote that adds to the package. Also the remote gives the package a home theater feel. The soundbar is located under the screen so at times the audio quality is not the best and can be distorted a bit but for the most part the audio works exceptionally well. There are some potentials for improvement but the quality does fit in with the television mode that is available. For those who are using the computer for music, standalone speakers are a necessity as the sound is not very clear when it gets louder and the quality of sound is not the best. However all other equipment seems to work well and overall the system offers some great improvements over the previous generations.

The best thing about the new Touch Smart system though overall is the software that is available and included. You are actually able to touch your way through many different operations and functions of your computer. There are a number of different things that are included with the system and the programs. With the Touch Smart program you are able to touch your way through your own videos and photographs as well as through many other system programs and analysis. Plus you can have your own hand drawn notes.

Another great program for this system is that there is a Netflix application that is really quite popular. The live TV and DVR options are also incredible and allow the user to flip through channels with the included remote or by hand with the touch screen option. All in all this new generation has many features that are better than generations of the past.

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Tags: HP, HP TouchSmart 600, Touch Smart System, TouchSmart 600