HP Touchsmart reviewed. Verdict: Yeah, pretty good

Demystifying Digital reviews HP's latest TouchSmart PCs, and finds that it's a good alternative to Apple's iMac. The A/V options are far superior, the price is right, and the touchscreen software is improved — if still far from perfect. The limiting factor, DD says, is Vista.

Its a slave to Windows Vista's own capabilities. Vista has touch-sensitive functionality built-in for developers to make use of, but there's no support for multi-touch, like you see in Apple's iPhone or iPod Touch. So imagine trying to crop a photo by having to re-size it one touch at a time. It seems a bit archaic, doesn't it?

The thing that surprised me about it was how attractive it was in the flesh, especially compared to the hideous first-generation models. Most interesting about 2008 is the trend toward more attractive design by leading PC makers.

HP TouchSmart PC: Should You Touch it? [Demystifying Digital via CrunchGear]

[#1 posted by vamidus , August 21, 2008 11:22 AM]

this looks familiar..

http://www.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/apple-imac.png

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/images/gatewayone-lg1.jpg

Is this a case of lifting somebody's good design ideas?

[#2 posted by Trent Hawkins , August 21, 2008 2:19 PM]

I'll wait for the Dell version, which will have multitouch.

[#3 posted by Clay , August 21, 2008 6:21 PM]

Ok. You know what? It's time for HP to quit dancing around the subject and bring out the big guns.

HP obviously has real UI designers who are ages beyond the hacks in Redmond (at least the Windows UI team). Such a nice industrial design and tidbits of interaction design as this shouldn't have to be compromised by being nailed to the sinking ship that is Vista.

HP needs to build a Linux distro around the TouchSmart UI.

You're freaking HP. It's 2008. Microsoft won't send in ninjas to kill you this time. You can do it; you have a design team that's capable, you have a hardware platform that's maturing, and you can afford to hire the Linux expertise you'd need to pull this off.

You build in a decent little TouchSmart word processor and a few core apps, customize Firefox for touch optimization, and release it so that everyone can get a taste of what awaits them if they buy a TouchSmart.

HP, you could be like Apple, with full control over your hardware and software. The 1990s are long gone; Microsoft can't touch you now. You're free to make something really different.

Something really different and really good.

[#4 posted by aandnota , August 22, 2008 6:55 AM]

maybe i'm off my rocker, but couldn't you just install leopard on the thing? inexpensive hardware plus a good os.

[#5 posted by Ryan Rapolsive , August 22, 2008 4:06 PM]

I can picture the side having wood panel kind of like 80's TV. That will make it right at home!