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THIS is what a Windows PC should look like…

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We had a neighborhood picnic on Saturday at our neighbors house.  While we were chatting in the kitchen, I noticed their new computer.

They had an HP TouchSmart computer, and I have to say that I was blown away by it.  I really liked the industrial design and the touch interface is really smooth.

 

6-24-08-touchsmart-2

All in all a machine that I’d be happy put in my kitchen.  It wouldn’t work as a desktop PC for me (I prefer to have more customizability than you can get in an all-in-one), but for our kitchen PC (which we almost never upgrade) it would be absolutely perfect.  

 

I wish more OEMs spent as much time as HP clearly has on making their machines beautiful.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    PingBack from http://blog.a-foton.ru/2008/08/this-is-what-a-windows-pc-should-look-like%e2%80%a6/

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    It looks like a real nice machine, however I think they missed the mark by not including a built in TV tuner.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    I'm not sure this is an optimal KITCHEN computer. Touch screen + greasy kitchen fingers = smear city.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    I really like it.  My wife said it almost looks like our iMac.  If you really want a great piece of design... get something from Apple and run Windows on it.  I prefer Mac OS X myself, although I am sure you have different opinions.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    > I wish more OEMs spent as much time as HP clearly has on making their machines beautiful. That should read as "I wish more OEMs spent as much time as HP clearly has on emulating Apple designs from a year ago" ;)

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    In particular, Lenovo should take note - we've been buying Lenovo PCs at work recently, and they just look appalling.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    I wish that PCs with integrated monitors could be used as standalone monitors as well. It's nice having everything in a neat package (especially for places like the kitchen, as mentioned in the main post) but when the PC part becomes obsolete the monitor part will probably still be useful so it's a shame you can't plug another PC into it. Has anyone designed a PC like this where you can do that? Same with laptops, I guess, although the keyboards kinda get in the way in many situations.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    We got one of these at work for some testing -- and yes, it's a very nice PC.  There's even a little printer you can snug into it nicely. When it came out I looked up the price.  It's hard to spend easily over a thousand dollars when perfectly capable machines are available for less then five hundred.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    >That should read as "I wish more OEMs spent as much >time as HP clearly has on emulating Apple designs from a >year ago" ;) Huh? Can you point me in the direction of any all-in-one (not just Apple) that looks like this?

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    Peter: You're right, it is expensive.  But it works for the exact same set of people who would buy an iMac. quadro: exactly.  There are a relatively limited set of ways you can build an all-in-one (since most all-in-one's are essentially a laptop with the screen on the outside).  But the design on this PC is really nice.

  • Anonymous
    August 05, 2008
    Gah! I just noticed the keyboard layout. The cursor keys and insert/home/etc. block are in the WRONG places.

  • Anonymous
    August 06, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 06, 2008
    If you can find an equally capable machine - where the capabilities include "taking up very little physical space especially compared to a typical tower case" - for half the price then you should buy it. Small things are expensive becuse they're hard to make, not because they use a lot of raw materials. And, as always in this industry, what is new and expensive today will be cheaper in a few years. Early adopters pay more beause they want it right now. Your choices are always "expensive or a few years old". Even when buying a new desktop.

  • Anonymous
    August 07, 2008
    Looks like an apple... Seriously though,  I have an HP laptop has beautiful industrial design,  and HP also makes machines that are similar in form factor to the mac mini.  

  • Anonymous
    August 07, 2008
    Meh, it looks like a Mac. It also seems to be based on the idea that people will see it and tell you how beautiful it is, but actually PCs are appliances and no one cares. I'd rather have a laptop I can carry around, even if the screen is smaller.

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2008
    It does look fantastic, and would be even more fantastic if there wasn't a $700 difference when trying to buy it in Australia. Did HP not hear about the exchange rate?

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    August 13, 2008
    @Glip: Learn some economics sometime, you'll understand the world much better. Pricing is a function not only of supply (cost to build the item), but also of demand (what people are willing to pay for it).  The cost of living has traditionally been higher in Europe and Japan.  Although the pricing of electronics is higher than the same product in the US, the price is roughly the same relative to some basket of other products sold in the market. If you don't want to pay more for the same item that Americans buy, then don't.  And convince your fellow Australians also to refuse to buy above a given price.  When you change your demand curve, the supplier will reprice the item to maximize profits. Canadians experience this problem, too, and it's really very obvious because the CAD is almost at parity with the USD.  Cross-border transshipments are quite brisk these days -- you can often come out ahead even after Canada customs.