14 DAY TRIAL // Even with all the legal troubles cropping up recently, HP is showing no signs of distress and is going about its business, more or less, as usual, as any serious company should. After having unveiled plans to create wrist watches powered by solar energy, the PC supplier is now unveiling its latest changes to its all-in-one desktop collection. Consisting of a platform upgrade and the addition of two extra models, these changes are meant to bring the product family up-to-date and make it more approachable by the mainstream.
One of the new developments is the upgrading of the TouchSmart 600 with the latest 32nm process-based Arrandale CPUs from Intel. These chips' high clocks and integrated graphics are also complemented by Beats Audio, a sound technology developed in collaboration with Beats and Dr. Dre. Essentially, this system will put its newfound graphics and audio capabilities to good use when playing, making or editing high-quality videos and music files.
In addition to adding support for 32nm Core i3 and Core i5 processors to the TouchSmart 600, HP also added an enterprise-grade PC known as the HP Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim desktop. This system crams Radeon HD 4200 graphics (with DirectX 10), DDR3, ten USB ports, dual-monitor technology and AMD CPUs inside a frame only ten inches high and 2.6 inches wide. Furthermore, the AiO comes with tailored security software, such as HP ProtectTools, as well as a high energy efficiency (87%) that earned it the ENERGY STAR certification.
The last addition to the series of such systems is the aptly named All-inOne 200, which is consumer-oriented and has a price point accessible enough for it to be used in the family room or the bedroom. EPEAT Silver-certified and ENERGY STAR compliant, it boasts a display of 21.5 inches with a maximum resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, an Intel CPU, a hard drive of 500GB storage space, a DVD burner, 4GB of memory, WiFi and Ethernet.
The HP TouchSmart 600 with Intel i3 processors is already available at $1,099, whereas the Core i5 models will start selling on April 28. The HP All-in-One desktop PC is quite cheap, at $699, and it is also available immediately. Finally, the HP Compaq 6005 Pro Ultra Slim has a starting price of $599 and will ship on April 26.