HP TouchSmart IQ816 Review

There hasn’t been much development of touch screen PCs by other manufacturers other than HP. The Touchsmart line of all-in-one PCs are creation of some brilliant minds working for HP. Good things do not come cheap and same is the case with HP TouchSmart IQ816 PC which sports a hefty price tag.

HP TouchSmart IQ816 PC specifications :

• Dimensions : 26″ x 5.5″ x 19.6″
• Weight : 35.3 lbs
• Display : 25.5″ TFT active matrix
• Display resolution : 1920 x 1200
• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo T8100/ 2.1 GHz
• Chipset : Mobile Intel GM965 Express
• RAM : 4GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Graphics : Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS
• Hard Disk : 750GB SATA-300 7200 rpm
• Optical drive : Blu-ray burner
• OS : Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• Approx. price : $2000

The HP TouchSmart IQ816 has a monstrous 25.5″ touch screen, the largest available on a PC. The PC comes with a custom TouchSmart software developed by HP. The software is basically a collection of various widgets clubbed together. These include note, weather, calendar, photo viewer, painting tool, music player, video player applications.

These applications are launched through a full screen containing all the shortcuts to the various applications. The development kit has been opened to third-party developers, so one can hope to see some cool new applications for the PC.

The keyboard can be illuminated in night by a row of LEDs that have three levels of brightness. HP’s proprietary Pocket drives also can a slot at the top. It also has a webcam located right in center  of top panel. The ports do not hold any surprises and are the usual USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, media card reader and digital and analog audio ports.

The PC can be wall mounted but it does not use the standard VESA mount but can be purchased separately from HP. The PC has a big hard drive, enough to house all your digital media. HP unexpectedly decides to bundle a Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, 2.1 GHz processor in this ultra expensive machine that affects productivity. 4GB RAM is good enough and so are the graphics with Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS. The performance does not match up to the high price tag though.

Pros :

• Large display
• Touchscreen display
• Pocket media bay
• TouchSmart software

Cons :

• Highly expensive
• Average performance
• Limited ports

Final Thoughts

The HP TouchSmart IQ816 is a large touchscreen PC from HP that apart from having touchscreen functionality does not have much to boast about. It is low on performance and the price tag puts it out of reach of most people.

Rating : 3/5