8. HP TouchSmart PC Offers Lots Of Cool Features To Like

By: Ed Tittel

While HP refers to the TouchSmart IQ770 PC as a "perfect kitchen PC," we can't help but think this fabulous device will make itself perfectly at home no matter what room it lives in. As the first term in the product name indicates, this PC is built around a touch screen, albeit one that's designed to function as an all-around desktop PC - rather than as a screen running the dedicated retail, foodservice, or kiosk applications most typically used for full-sized LCD displays.

There's a lot to like about the TouchSmart IQ770 beyond its touch-activated screen interface. The device is built around a mobile AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52 processor (1.6 GHz) along with AMD LIVE! Media Center capabilities - AMD's answer to the VIIV architecture. This PC also includes 2 GB of DDR2 RAM and 320 GB of hard disk space, which provides plenty of support for the Vista Premium OS that comes installed as the standard runtime platform.

As modern PC designs go, the HP TouchScreen IQ770 is sleek, stylish, and very attractive.

The HP TouchScreen integrates a 19" LCD screen into the base where the rest of the circuitry resides, along with a slide out keyboard, along with an aluminum frame in which the screen nestles. The IQ770 even includes a 1.3 megapixel webcam with voice microphone, along with built-in TV tuners for standard television as well as HDTV.

In addition to a wireless keyboard and mouse, the unit also includes an MCE remote control, along with a built-in IR receiver to further enhance its use as a multimedia machine. There's even a media bay designed to accommodate one or more removable 80 or 160 GB drives to further extend storage. The DVD drive included with the unit plays only conventional DVDs, even though the built-in 1440x900 LCD can handle higher-definition media with ease.

At an MSRP of $1,800, this PC comes with a pretty serious price tag - unsurprisingly, we weren't able to find any significant discounts on this great little unit. Those grads and dads who are lucky enough to wind up with such a stellar unit will remember this gift for a long time to come. For more information on the HP TouchScreen IQ770, please visit its product page.