In January of 2007, HP announced, and shipped the first generation of TouchSmart PCs. Positioned squarely at the entertainment and lifestyle spaces; it was far reaching in its potential, and probably just slightly ahead of its time.
The IQ506 represents the next generation of TouchSmart computers, and it shows in this stylish, yet functional system. The current TouchSmart software is more fluid in use, and provides seamless, yet dynamic tactile controls to the user.
Since August 5, 2008, I have been using the HP TouchSmart IQ506 personal computer.
This system is a single piece system with wireless mouse and keyboard combo. Touch functionality is enabled throughout.
Unboxing/OOBE
The TouchSmart IQ506 came in a very distinctive, and attractive yellow shipping box made of some plastic/composite material. This huge box, and with, a first for me on a system box, Velcro® bindings, contained the TouchSmart IQ506, the easily attached base, and an wireless keyboard and mouse combo in the well-padded case.
(NOTE: This yellow box is special packaging for the review units, as they have to withstand several packing and re-packing cycles during the course of the reviews.)
The OOBE setup manual, a TouchSmart user manual, and the usual support and licensing documentation were in the box as well. All required cables and cords were also in the box. A screen-wiping cloth completed the items therein.
I snapped the base onto the monitor/system unit, connected the power, and got the show started.
First impressions
I had shied away from all-in-one personal computers in the past since I assumed, correctly, that the tradeoffs were not worth the convenience of a multi-piece system.
No longer.
A look at the specs on this system reveals why:
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22” HP Brightview™ touch screen monitor, with a tilt angle of up to 40°
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Intel Core 2 Duo T5850, 2.16 GHz
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4GB DDR2-667 RAM
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256MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M
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500GB 7,200 rpm SATA drive
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Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1, 64-bit
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802.11 a/b/g/n wireless
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Bluetooth
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ATSC/NTSC TV tuner and Windows Media Center remote
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5-in-1 memory card reader
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Slot-loading DVD burner
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Built-in webcam and microphone array
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One IEEE 1394 and 5 USB 2.0 ports
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GigE Ethernet
All that in an all-in-one unit!
Testing Scenario: Entertainment
Since entertainment is one of the segments targeted by the TouchSmart, I decided to test it using lots of audio, video, and photographic content.
I went t the archives in The Floating O’odua, and transferred nearly 20,000 songs to a folder on the hard drive. I broke down my already sorted directory structure, and had WMP re-sort the files.
I copied movies to the hard drive, ripped some movies, and copied raw footage of movies, my animated movie I have been working on. I also copied several gigabytes of photographs to this system
Media Hub using HP TouchSmart Software
The HP TouchSmart system is a two-factor solution: apart from the touch functionality embedded in the TouchSmart PC hardware, HP TouchSmart software also drives this system.
The TouchSmart Software Suite is optimized for entertainment, and consists of the following components: music, video, pictures, RSS feeds, calendar, notes, and is controlled by the Touch Browser, an icon of which is embedded into the front of the system and a shortcut placed on the desktop.
Touch Browser. This allows two-finger scrolling, and single-finger selection of items. I was able to scroll easily through content listings, and select as easily.
TouchSmart Music. This is an easy-to-use music player. It presented my music in two album views that were customizable, and made the creation of playlists as simple as (finger) drag and drop. All music controls using the player were within a finger’s touch away.
TouchSmart Video. As simple to learn and use as the Music Player. It takes advantage of the embedded webcam and array microphones to enable the creation, which can be uploaded directly to YouTube.
TouchSmart Photo. TouchSmart Photo gives uses editing capabilities, with viewing, resizing, album creation, and slideshows at one’s fingertips. I found the use of touch to be much more intuitive in content creation than using the mouse.
Media hub, using Windows Media Center
After using the TouchSmart software, I connected the system to a cable feed and turned it into a media hub.
As a Windows Media Center device, the IQ506 performed as expected. DVR, HD content shone.
Media creation
In order to create content, I installed my consumer stalwarts on the system: Pinnacle Systems Studio 12, CyberLink DVDsuite, Reallusion iClone Studio 2.5 and CrazyTalk Pro 5.
Original video content was shot using a Canon HV20 HD digital camcorder, while a Canon Rebel XTi DSLR and a Nikon S52c point-and-click camera were used for still photography.
I created a movie containing animation from iClone Studio, HD content from the camcorder, and still pictures.
I then had Studio 12 transcode for Blu-Ray, regular DVD, and the Zune.
(Please look my forays into high-end content creation using the HP xw8600 and Adobe Premiere Pro shortly….)
In a word: sweet!
Unintended use: The Small Business Desktop
Why should consumers have all the fun?
One of the reasons I was intrigued by the TouchSmart series was touch functionality.
I have been a proponent of (Microsoft Windows-based) Tablet PCs since I realized the productivity gains afforded by the Tablet functionality while using them. As a result, I wanted to see if those sort of gains could be realized using the TouchSmart.
I am pleased to report that the TouchSmart does provide those productivity gains.
In my tests of the HP TouchSmart IQ506 in a small and medium business setting, from a business executive’s desktop, to an inside salesperson’s system, and culminating as a physician’s desktop adjunct to a laptop/mobile system, the IQ506 shone. Brightly, too!
It was fast, capable, ran Windows Vista™ smoothly, and didn’t create or run into incompatibility issues with software written for Windows XP.
For these business scenarios, the IQ506 met or exceeded expectations.
For the executive, being able t manipulate data and information directly using his/her own digits is without a doubt, a godsend. Perusing BI and CRM dashboards using Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft CRM is a lot easier when you can point and select directly with your finger.
The salesperson is able to view several pieces of information, and move through several levels of that information effortlessly.
Finally, for an ongoing project, our test subjects the physicians actually preferred the TouchSmart to a standard PC since it presented the same interface as their Tablet PCs. In fact, I was informed that replacing all desktops used by the physicians and mid-level providers was under consideration, and might make it into their budget in 2008 EOY for fiscal 2009. Yeah, it was that good!
For this scenario, I installed Microsoft Research’s InkSeine.
Missing/wish list
Despite all this, the TouchSmart seemed to be missing the following:
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Touch pen or stylus
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A larger screen, in the 30” range
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Windows Media Connect functionality
I found myself wanting to augment the use of my fingers for close-in work, and using a stylus from one of my Tablet PCs for most of my business desktop trials.
Conclusion
The HP TouchSmart IQ500 series of systems should be your next media hub, and lifestyle system.
It is currently the best all-in-one system on the market, with the innovative TouchSmart technology serving to improve your entertainment experience.
It passes the OOBE test exceptionally, and then goes on to deliver more than expected based on that same combination of Windows Vista and HP TouchSmart functionality.
We award the HP TouchSmart IQ500-series the SmallBizVista.com Business Ready Award of Excellence.
I went into the test of this system looking to see if I could bring the benefits of TouchSmart technology to by core constituency, the small and medium business spaces.
I believe this system will deliver to the business desktop the same gains in productivity we now see in the use of Tablet PCs, of which my personal favorite is the HP tx2500 series.
I am looking forward to pitching the value represented in this device to my clients, also making them aware of the future proofing built into the IQ500 series: the Touch functionality that will be inherent in Windows 7.
System highlights
In addition to the system specs listed above,
- A beautiful, functional design
- Grand piano-style black, with ‘Espresso’ accents,
- Slim form factor,
- A truly silent system. From the xw6600 to this, how com only HP seems to have a handle on noise attenuation?
- Ambient light control
- Full-function remote control
- Single power cord
Acknowledgements
My review of this system was speedy, and very much unexpected, for which I thank Marco Pena unconditionally. All it took for him to facilitate this review was a request.
Furthermore, he and Andy Lutzky were able to make Garrett Gargan, the Product Manager for the IQ500-series at HP, available to brief me personally on this worthy device.