HP ships hack-friendly all-in-one
Crack open the Z1 and tinker to your heart's content
HP has begun shipping its easy-to-upgrade all-in-one desktop PC, the Z1, worldwide, the computer giant said today.
The 27in, 2560 x 1440, one-billion colour screen machine packs a clamshell casing that allows hardware hackers the crack the Z1 open to add and replace its inner workings.
Aimed at punters needing serious performance, the Z1 packs Intel Xeon processors and Nvidia's Quadro graphics chippery. It's for video editors, industrial designers - folk like that.
Which is why prices start at a staggering £1349/$1899, though the base model only features a 3.3GHz Core i3-2120.
Other components include support for up to 32GB of ECC DDR 3 memory, lots of space for 10,000rpm hard drives, 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi and nine USB ports: two USB 3.0 connectors, the rest USB 2.0, three of which are inside the case.
HP is offering the Z1 with Windows 7 Pro in its 32- and 64-bit forms, or with a selection of Linux distros.
The monster machine measures 660 x 584 x 419mm, including the stand, and weighs 21kg. All the details are on HP's website. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Staggering?
By the way, that £1349 is ex.VAT. Anyone serious enough to buy one from home might as well get an iMac which already has double RAM, double HD, better OS (IMHO), better graphics at less of the cost (£1399 inc.VAT). Why would you even start with 2GB RAM for Windows 7 64-bit? That's ridiculous.
"video editors, industrial designers" - you need more than an internal graphics chip, 2GB RAM to do that! You'll prob end up spending £700 upgrading the damn thing before you even start. Good try HP, better luck next time.
Wot?
No 10Gbit thunderbolt?
No dodeca-core xeon like a mac pro?
It isn't consumer kit, but it also isn't pro kit either.
Linux: Q2 2012
As usual, you have to read the small print: the Linux options are nowhere to be seen when you go to the shopping site and the reason is to be found in the notes on the detailed tech specs: "Linux available 2nd calendar quarter 2012 (CQ2'12)"
Having said this, it looks like a very nice machine for its target audience. Granted, it's got the same downside as any other all-in-one in the sense that the screen is non-replaceable but for customers for whom desk space is at a premium and who would otherwise be tempted by an iMac, it looks like a good alternative. A good compromise between a desktop/tower design and other all-in-one designs methinks.
For those saying "it's not as upgradable as X" or "not as cheap as Y" or "not as slick looking as Z", you are probably right. Just remember that very few people have a single requirement in mind when buying a computer so a design that provides a good compromise between several conflicting requirements is usually a winner.
Finally, it's an HP. Good news for some, bad news for others. My (limited) experience with HP hardware is that their consumer stuff is crap while their business/professional offering is a bit dull but is solid and works very well.
Interesting toy anyway!
Re: ew YUK
> ... more and more less upgradable ...
Eh? Yeah, but no, but yeah, etc.
Re: Comes with Windows Vista...
...or Windows 7 with "Use small icons" selected in the Taskbar property page.
