Often, when we talk about a desktop PC, we imagine a set-up which includes a monstrosity called a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a fat ugly monitor, twin speakers with wires dangling all over the place and a Universal Powers Supply (Brick). Not very appealing is it?
Well, back in 1998 Steve Jobs had a solution when he returned to Apple - it was called the iMac and it's now become synonymous with modern day desktop computing.
It is something we call an all-in-one computer, and HP's latest TouchSmart 610 is exactly that: a computer which can live in our drawing room, unhindered by the visually unappealing bits of a standard desktop, without sacrificing performance. The TouchSmart 610 also adds a touch screen display cashing in on the tablet frenzy, but we will be the judges of the device's overall utility.
First Impression
On first impression, if we compare the TouchSmart 610 to an Apple iMac or a Lenovo IdeaCentre, we are obligated to point out it is not the most handsome all-in-one money can buy. It is, however, the most powerfulWindows all-in-one just on the basis of its specifications.
Clearly, HP has opted for a very business like industrial design which makes the TouchSmart 610 pretty chunky. At 23x17.7x4.1 inches, the TouchSmart 610 is not the most slender of devices.
Something we really enjoyed about the TouchSmart 610 was the plethora of connectivity options we had at our disposal. On the left hand side of the machine we get twin USB ports, separate headphone and optical out jacks, memory card reader and volume controls and what not.
We are pampered with more USB connectivity in the rear, where HP has a designed a clever enclosure which contains four more USB, ports, another headphone out which also doubles as an optical out, and the essential Ethernet port.
So, on the TouchSmart 610, the connectivity options are right up there with a standard PC. This is one thing other competing all-in-ones cannot claim, with a maximum of four USB ports.
The 23-inch LCD Touch display is at the forefront and we also get a large grill beneath the display which is home to the Dr.Dre Beats speakers.
Apart from the display we get the regular wireless keyboard and mouse. Interestingly, the keyboard is super-slim and is very, very comfortable to type on, though we did notice some cheap plastic bits used in its construction. Frankly, it did not feel very sturdy!
HP also arms the TouchSmart 610 with a fantabulous reclining mechanism, which smoothly arches back and forth according to the user's requirements. Some may like the bulky look and some may not, but one thing is for sure - this is the most well built HP desktop we have seen here in years, even if its not able to match the likes of the iMac on design, which admittedly is in a league of its own.
Another nicety we would like to mention is the nifty little web camera, which can also recline, in accordance with the user's orientation. One has to say the TouchSmart 610 is a very well engineered product. HP has clearly put in a lot of thought in designing it.
Multimedia
The all-in-one design has been optimized to deliver the best multimedia experience in a living room environment. While these machines may not posses hyper active daisy-chained SLI Graphics cards, they are usually adept at delivering a satisfactory multimedia experience to the household. We believe the HP TouchSmart 610 excels in this respect, as its large 23-inch touch display is perfect for multimedia consumption. The display may not boast of the Super HD resolutions of an iMac, but its 1920x1280 Full HD resolution display is crisp with deep blacks. The viewing angles are quite superlative. We tested this aspect in great detail and noticed that the depth remained pretty steady from all angles.
Another facet that impresses is that the top of the line HP TouchSmart 610 comes with a slot-loading Blu-Ray drive, which is the current de-facto standard for consuming HD content via physical disk based media.
Like all the high-end products shipped by HP, the TouchSmart 610 comes with the Dr.Dre Beats audio system installed. Beats consistsof the large built-in 20-watt speaker module along with enhanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP). Does it work? Heck, yeah. The moment we homed in on the AC/DC classic Highway To Hell we knew these were no ordinary speakers. The mid-range crunch of Angus Young's Gibson SG was wild, overdriven and searing, but yet managed immense clarity especially in comparison to other speakers we have seen on all-in-one computers including the iMac. But this was not the crescendo; its real mojo was in playing Dr. Dre's patented genre - Hip-Hop. Be it the pop-panache of Lady Gaga or Eminem's rapping prowess, the Beats audio system handled it all very ably. But before we get ahead of ourselves - these speakers sound sublime for the class of computer they come with, but by no means they would replace a 2.1-channel speaker system from a Logitech or Creative. That's just not going to happen!
Now, HP has named it the TouchSmart but believe us there is nothing smart about the Touch. We will give HP the benefit of doubt when we say that the lousy interface is not their own doing, but rather a folly on Microsoft's part who deliver Windows 7. In our humble opinion, the idea of poking and pointing with one's fingers at a desktop display for 8-hours is the not most productive way of doing work. Most probably HP is trying to get a bite of the Apple, as the tablet market has taken off like a Concord with the launch of the iPad. In HP's defense, the touch does become quite handy while using Paint and, once we managed to recline the TouchSmart 610, the display was pretty responsive. But that joy ride had its shelf life too - 25 minutes in total, after which our fingers grew, tired of being poked around like a stylus.
Besides this, HP loaded the TouchSmart 610 with their homemade media center software - also called TouchSmart - which did a pretty neat job of combining all the multimedia content inside one interface. TouchSmart is a standalone program and along side its media center roots, it adds multiple tidbits, such as a Facebook app, Tweet-deck like Twitter app and also an apps center. We love the interface design, which reminded us of Android Widgets and also include a carousel like dock in the bottom - but the clunky scrolling thanks to Windows 7 hampers the experience. Having said this, we must also mention that the TouchSmart 610 boasts of the most impressive touch interface donned by a Windows machine, but we are guessing that's not going gain HP many brownie points as once someone has experienced the iPad there is simply no going back, even if we are talking about a desktop.
As this is a machine destined for the living room, HP added a dedicated remote control. There is nothing special about this as most companies do this with their all-in-one product apart from, of course, the almighty Apple who'd rather you pay for the remote.
Performance
One thing is for sure - unlike the other all-in-one machines making the rounds, the HP TouchSmart 610 is definitely a powerful machine. Our testing unit came with the latest Core i5 Sandy Bridge processor clocked at 3.2 GHz with 4 cores, along side a more than decent AMD Radeon 5770 Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) with 1GB of memory, which can handle most modern PC games, unless one insists on playing the likes of Crysis 2 on maximum resolutions. Adding to the powerful processing prowess, we also get 4GB of RAM and 750GB of hard disk space to boot.
The specs are definitely pretty high end and it showed its mettle in daily usage. As journalists, we're used to multitasking on our computers, with various programs running simultaneously, such as Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, Mozilla Firefox, iTunes being open almost incessantly. So a Windows based machine can be prone to the odd hang, but even after using the TouchSmart 610 for five days we didn't come across anything of the sort. Hats off to HP as normally raw specs do not always get converted to such solidity in terms of regular performance. Yes, we agree machines may render graphics beautifully and would handle heavy duty softwares like Nuendo pretty well, but they rarely show such consistent performance over a period of five days where the machine was not even shut down once.
When it came down to raw horsepower we already knew it had the goods to deliver, but this too was tested pretty thoroughly. We encoded multiple video files from the .MKV format to .MP4 and all this was handled swiftly while we were running iTunes in the background alongside, Word and Outlook. Not too shabby.
Even when we tried testing its graphical prowess the TouchSmart 610 had the goods. Mass Effect 2 ran smoothly at 60 FPS on maximum resolution, though we did see the odd blip in the frame rate towards the ending sections of the game where the action sequences reached fever pitch. While the graphics are impressive they are not suited for newer games such as Crysis 2 on maximum settings as these games tend to demand a higher caliber of graphical performance.
To complete our suite of tests, we had to run the PCMark Vantage and 3DMark benchmark tests. This was a painful experience as for some reason our copies refused to run, but after a long struggle we managed to get them up with some interesting results.
On the PCMark Vantage the TouchSmart 610 scored an impressive 8174 and on the 3D mark test it scored a more than adequate 7041. On the whole, the TouchSmart 610 was quite a screamer.
Verdict
At approximately Rs. 75,000, the HP TouchSmart 610 is truly a very smart all-in-one PC, but we do have reservations about its Touch interface, which is less than ideal.
As a home entertainment hub, the TouchSmart 610 will meet all demands without breaking a sweat.
The only problem is its bulky design - for an all-in-one - and slightly steep price tag, as one could easily buy a similarly speced standard desktop for less than Rs. 60,000. So, it will only appeal to those who are hell bent on a powerful all-in-one machine, and we dare say it's the best one making the rounds amongst those running Windows.
Pros
Impressive performance
Intelligently engineered
Fabulous Display
Cons
Bulky
Pricey
Not a Smart Touch
Price: Rs. 74,999
RATINGS:
Performance: 4.5
Price: 3
Ease of setup: 4.5
Ergonomics: 4
Wow Factor: 3
Overall: 3.9
