HP TouchSmart update tackles iMac, Gateway
updated 04:00 am EDT, Tue June 10, 2008
HP TouchSmart IQ500
HP on Tuesday completely replaced theTouchSmart PC with a new design more conspicuously aimed at the iMac and a recent crop of Windows-based all-in-ones such as the Gateway One. The IQ500 series expands from the earlier 19-inch screen to a 22-inch model that also eliminates the separate floating display: the entire computer is stored behind the main display and uses a slot-load optical drive as well as side-mounted ports to keep the design thin. The touchscreen interface has likewise been given a makeover with a new Cover Flow-like fan layout for choosing music from album covers, an enhanced image editor, and an application tray that gives users access to many more touchscreen-driven apps than the original.
The new TouchSmarts move further upscale in design with the upgrade using a two-tone black and mahogany color scheme, a wireless mouse and keyboard pairing, and an ambient light sensor to adjust the display's brightness. A webcam and 802.11n Wi-Fi are also part of the common platform.
HP's update marks a switch from the original AMD-base design to Intel and starts off the $1,299 IQ504 model with a 2GHz Core 2 Duo paired with basic Intel graphics, 4GB of memory, and a 320GB hard drive. An upgrade to the IQ506 at $1,499 brings a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo as well as GeForce 9300M GS dedicated video, a 500GB hard disk, and a combo ATSC/NTSC tuner that picks up both analog TV and HDTV signals and uses the computer's hard drive for DVR functions. HP should list both TouchSmarts online today and expects them to appear in retail shops by July 13th.
Ugly
06/10, 05:54am reply
Ugly!
Parky
Mac Elite
Joined: Oct 1999
HP TouchSmart
06/10, 08:28am reply
Hello stupid HP. Can you not come up with something original. Still using that crappy Windoze OS.
Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
Duck
06/10, 08:59am reply
It if walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, ... you can dress it up and try and compete with iMac, but it's still a PC underneath! I am forced to use a PC at work, but have a MacBook too and there is NO comparison. The PC world is constantly chasing Apple in design, but yet leading in market-share. CS Lewis once said that we're like children content to make mud pies because we can't fathom what a vacation at the sea-shore would be like...so it seems with the computer world.
goshornMac
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Joined: Jun 2008
Duck
06/10, 09:01am reply
It if walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, ... you can dress it up and try and compete with iMac, but it's still a PC underneath! I am forced to use a PC at work, but have a MacBook too and there is NO comparison. The PC world is constantly chasing Apple in design, but yet leading in market-share? CS Lewis once said that we're like children content to make mud pies because we can't fathom what a vacation at the sea-shore would be like...so it seems with the computer world.
goshornMac
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Joined: Jun 2008
nice, but
06/10, 09:37am reply
Well, it's ugly, yes, but it does have some nice features missing from the iMac - namely touchscreen and TV tuner card. It pales in comparison to the iMac in most every other respect though.
Could Apple add a touch screen to iMac? Yes. Will they? That's yet to be seen... I wonder why they haven't done so already... seems like a given to me. Apple still can't seem to understand media card slots, so I wouldn't hold my breath.
mytdave
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Joined: Aug 2000
Misapprehension
06/10, 12:03pm reply
"Apple still can't seem to understand media card slots..."
Understand them? One can buy a USB-connected card reader for a paltry $5. I mean, how often does the common user have occasion to slide in their media card? Why violate the integrity of the casing with such things?
What Apple's designers understand so well is that to take that single piece of aluminum, from which the iMac is forged, and to slash into it with a hopeless array of ever-changing varying slot-sizes and formats, you effectively turn the simple elegance of the case into a crime scene - - the very "ugliness" of which these johnny-come-lately PeeCees are accused.
dli_
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Joined: Jul 2007
Woa
06/10, 12:41pm reply
It looks like a fat-backed '90s Apple display. Only uglier.
loudpedal
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 1999
Not ugly
06/12, 12:06am reply
I don't think it's ugly at all; in fact its very minimalist and sleek considering all the hardware involved.
It may not be paper thin (which I don't find practical) but it looks like a winner.
Guest
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
admit it
06/12, 12:12am reply
ha ha haa haa ha
come on, admit it.. this thing is a one up on an old, aged now boring product called imac.. when was the last thing apple really did anything for imac? i mean really??.. get with the times, the sands are shifting... appreciate goodness..
Guest
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