HP TouchSmart IQ506

usability, design, price, size

reliability

77% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Elegant space saving design. Speakerbar produces booming lows and clear highs. Bright 22-inch screen hides smudges and fingerprints. Integrated TV tuner adds living room chops. Blazing connectivity via gigabit ethernet and integrated 802.11b/g/n. 500GB...

Not the smoothest touch-based interface. Handoffs between TouchSmart/Vista programs are slow and awkward. Very limited upgrade options. Mid-range GPU puts a damper on hardcore gaming. Retractable bezel feels cheap and rickety. Sluggish processor given...

Sharp multi-touch screen ; Sleek all-in-one design

Built-in speakers are a bit scratchy ; Lacks expandibility

Paying the $1500 price buys you a system with classy design, the versatility to handle everyday tasks, and the ability to do some light multimedia lifting. It doesn't have enough power to deal with more graphics-heavy activities. The TouchSmart is...

A lot less bloat/ads/crapware than previous HP machines. Improved touch-screen interface. 4GB of RAM. Integrated IR remote. Wireless everything. ATSC/HDTV tuner. "Ambient Lighting" lights your workspace. Energy efficient. EPEAT (silver) and Energy Star...

No Blu-ray. Internet Security is only 60-day subscription for live updates. Windows Media Center is a little slow to react. 64-bit Vista may be incompatible with your existing hardware and software. Still has some crapware. No back button on mouse. No...

More Media Center Reviews:

Sharp multi-touch screen ; Sleek all-in-one design

Built-in speakers are a bit scratchy ; Lacks expandibility

A lot of great design choices come together in a versatile PC, built for everyday use. Just don't expect it to do everything.

Awesome touch screen, tiny footprint, excellent value

Too slow for hardcore gaming; TouchSmart applications are weak

We’ll sum up by repeating what we said about the first-generation TouchSmart: It would be a big mistake to make the IQ506t your one-and-only PC: It’s just not powerful enough for gaming, heavy-duty photo or video editing, or many other enthusiast...

For the proposed premium price you get a classy design, the versatility to handle everyday tasks, and the ability to do some light multimedia lifting. The HP TouchSmart IQ506 doesn't have enough power to deal with more graphics-heavy activities, but...

Enter the HP TouchSmart computer with its touch-sensitive screen, now relaunched as two models. We tried the IQ506, the same size as the IQ504 but with slightly higher processor specs

HP has a really intriguing product on their hands. In order to stand out from the rest of the desktop market, they've taken a line of computers in a whole new direction, and I think the gamble is paying off. The touch experience is just so compelling...

So what do we think of the TouchSmart, other than bracing ourselves for flames from Apple fans understandably outraged by its combination of iMac, iPhone, and OS X influences? We think it fulfills the promise of last year's bulkier, less capable...