Rat trap
The only drawback is the fiddly action of pushing the display down. I would have loved the movement to be smooth and sexy, but it was more like grope and hump. Surely this will get easier with practice but I found myself standing up every time I wanted to angle the display, possibly to get better leverage, which in the Dabbs household is usually a good sign that I will eventually break it.
Change the angle of the webcam with this wheel. You’ll need this if you keep changing the angle of the display
On a more positive note, the Beats audio (the bass-thumping technology from Dr Dre) works well, and the TouchSmart 610 sounds good through standard headphones and external speakers too. Even the built-in speakers are impressively beefy.
On a final word of warning, the TouchSmart is supplied with one of the biggest ‘dead rat’ transformer blocks I have seen on an external power supply in recent years, and the cable leading from the block to the computer is a little bit too short for my liking. Unless you place the computer right at the back of your desk, you may have to choose between having the huge power block also sitting on your desk or have it hanging underneath, not quite resting on the floor.
The display doesn’t just lean back, it virtually prostrates itself
Verdict
By all rights, I ought to be singing my adoration of this updated HP TouchSmart. It is clearly an improvement on the original 600, with its extreme display angle adjustment, and good audio quality. The touchscreen is exceptional too. However, this time round, my enthusiasm is tempered by the benchmark results, which strike me as worryingly average for a £1200 computer, no matter how smart it is. ®
More Desktop PC Reviews |
||||
 Sapphire
Edge HD |
 Dell
Inspiron Zino HD 410 |
 Apple
iMac 27in |
 Acer
Revo RL 100 |
 Apple
Mac Mini |
HP TouchSmart 610
COMMENTS
Reply to post: How Much?!
For that much I could get a whole new family.
Hey, you think you can write ONE review without a gratuitous Apple reference??
Has everybody fallen to the 'Apple invented everything' hypnosis?
A little over 30 years ago, most smaller computers were all-in-one.
I don't hear automobile reviewers relating every single car review to how its "similar to" Mercedes or Ford, by being packaged in a boxy shape with 4 corners and 4 wheels and a motor. The all-in-one car vs having horses in front?
Its getting tiresome and retarded.
If the media would stop feeding this hysteria, maybe the ass-hats at Apple would one day be forced to let go of their horrible business practices, walled gardens and control freakishness, that prevents anyone with an IQ over 100 from buying their great-looking crap.
"As an all-in-one computer, the TouchSmart 610 mimics Apple’s iMac series...."
That roaring noise you can hear is a suborbital writ delivery system taking off from Cupertino as we speak.
Is that necessary?
"USB 3.0 devices are still rare and specialised, HP reckons an owner of a family computer may want to connect two of them. Gosh, I’m seriously behind the envelope compared with those bleeding-edge home users."
Is the sarcasm really necessary? I imagine the chip supports (at least) 2 ports, and the physical connector comes as a dual block, so it's no difference in terms of design and manufacturing to have 2 instead of just one.
Please don't marr an otherwise fair review with a bit of misplaced 'humour'.
