Review: HP TouchSmart IQ770

If you’re finding that Mum & Dad are having too much trouble using a mouse or keyboard, HP have a new computer that lets their fingers do the talking.

This week we’re looking at a new computer, the HP TouchSmart IQ770. Now the TouchSmart is a new type of computer mixing style with functionality for the home market.

If you find that Mum & Dad are having too much trouble using the mouse or keyboard, the HP TouchSmart uses a touch screen. Different to touch screens you might have seen in the past, this one uses two cameras to watch where your fingers go. This means that instead of using a less dynamic touch screen, HP were able to use a vibrant display and encase it behind heavy plastic to give you a great looking and well-built display.

The display isn’t the only “well-built” part. The entire unit is high class in its design and build quality. Weighing in at around 17 kilos, the TouchSmart sports a dual-core chip, 2 gigs of memory, a Geforce Go 7600 with 256 megs of ram on-board, a 320gb hard disk, a slot-loading Lightscribe DVD burner as well as speakers, Firewire, wireless LAN, gigabit networking, an HD tuner, a webcam, microphone and the 19 inch Touch Enabled Brightview LCD. Really, the TouchSmart comes decked out for users of any sort.

The TouchSmart will let you down in a couple of areas if you buy it for the wrong reasons. It doesn’t have a lot of grunt so don’t buy it expecting to run all the latest games at the best settings. It also doesn’t seem to let you take a picture of yourself with the in-built camera nor can do you password hide notes meant for other people with HP’s software.

You may have seen the ad campaign with Shrek that basically says “Fit For A King” with a picture of the TouchSmart and DreamWorks’ animated ogre. Well, the TouchSmart might just be fit for a king, but you’re also going to need to be a king to buy it. While it may be built to last, it’s also somewhat costly coming in with a Recommended Retail Price just $3699.

Still, if you’re looking for something that will survive your family and is easy to use, it’s actually a really interesting computer to have.

Pros

  • Excellent build quality
  • Very attractive
  • Screen is vibrant and very easy to use

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Can be very slow at points
  • Software has some strange quirks

Product: HP TouchSmart IQ770

Vendor: HP Australia

RRP: $3699

Website: HP TouchSmart

Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au

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