Due to me putting my back out yesterday I wasn’t able to unbox the TouchSmart last night so today I had some help and managed to get the unit unboxed. I IMG_0998recorded an unboxing / first impressions video but to be honest its not until I put it in the living room tonight and started using it that I realised how good the machine is. There is two areas to focus on: The all in one hardware which is packaged in a very sleep design and the HP TouchSmart software which is amazingly tactile and had the whole family eager to play with it

First a quick look at the spec:

  • Intel Core 2 Duo T5850
  • 4GB Ram
  • 64bit Windows Vista Home Premium
  • 465GB hard disk
  • DVD burner
  • TV Tuner
  • 22" Touch Display
  • Wifi and Bluetooth
  • Webcam
  • Wireless keyboard and mouse
  • All in one design

The TouchSmart software is beautiful,it looks great, it responds to flicks and presses and I love how the faster you swipe the faster it goes. It can play music, videos, and display pictures, there is a touch based web browser, RSS reader and weather apps. This is something I can only really show off in the video but a measure of it’s success is that my wife said "wow can we keep it" rather than the normal "oh no not another box". It invites you to touch and play with it. My plan was to buy a new Media Center machine and hide it away but I now can see me going for something like this and have it in the living room (still working as a server for my Extenders as well)

So watch out for my Unboxing video coming soon and I will keep you updated on how it fairs in my living room

0 thoughts on “HP IQ500 TouchSmart First Impressions”
  1. Ian,

    I found the coating on the monitor to be outstanding at minimizing fingerprints, but at the same time, a little “sticky”–meaning that my finger did not glide across it as easily as I would have liked. I’m interested in your opinion on the feel of the hardware.

  2. it doesn’t feel sticky, well I didn’t notice it. Maybe I will now you have pointed it out.
    I will have a look tonight

  3. I had a day off with the kids and managed to put my back out so that delayed me unboxing HP’s new TouchSmart…

  4. It is a great touchscreen PC with a nice UI. Fatal flaw – No VESA mount. I think many applications for this technology in public/common areas would be best served by a wall-mounted touchscreen. I won’t be purchasing one for this reason.

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