HP TouchSmart 300 PC review!

I was recently given the chance to review the new HP TouchSmart 300 PC. What did I think of it? Read on to find out if this should be your next computer purchase!


Design:

First of all - this is one good looking computer! Having no space left in the house for gadgets, computers, or just about anything else, I decided to put this computer on the dining room table. It actually looks good there! This computer is truly an all in one - no giant box connected to a monitor with wires everywhere. I love it.

Set-up:

Plug into wall, plug into computer. Done, that's it. Seriously. Oh one more step, hit power button. I guess my next observations are based on the ease of use of this system in conjunction with Windows 7. More on Windows 7 in a second. The computer seamlessly picked up the wireless mouse and the multiple function keyboard. This was very pleasing, as I've been in wireless connectivity hell in the past, but not this time! Software set-up was also simple - the usual registration info and that was just about it. (Connecting to the Internet was also almost instant, just entered my wifi password and that was that!)

Windows 7:

Very happy! I am running Windows Vista right now and my frustrations with the slow and poor response times have grown to unbearable levels. I can easily say that is no longer true. Very responsive, very quick and super user-friendly. As I already said, it all just worked. No cryptic questions, it just worked. And what more could I ask for?

Multimedia and Internet:

Import all my pictures in one step, yes. Import all my videos in one step, check. Make a picture CD and video DVD without pulling out my hair, double check! I have to say, this rivals my husbands iMac for ease of use. The internet is blazingly fast and ran without a problem. I blogged, I tweeted, I surfed and shopped. No problems at all except for a smaller balance in my PayPal account! Overall I ran into no issues to speak of. I'm attributing this to the combination of the excellent hardware paired with an awesome operating system.

Hardware:

The word "touch" is in this computer's name for a good reason. The beautiful and vibrant screen is fully inviting as a giant touch screen. Being used to this way of doing things with my iPhone I have to say that the transition could not have been easier. Even more interesting was the fact that my 4 year old was far more happy to use the screen to navigate around. A mouse can be challenging for a child, the touch screen made it a breeze for him. The most useful part of this touch screen technology is when was surfing the net. I don't know much about the inner workings of a computer, but whatever they packed into this elegant machine is much faster than anything I have used in the past. One thing that really bothers me about desktops is a loud fan -not a problem here! I can actually hear what is going on around me with this computer. The wireless mouse is pretty much standard and the wireless keyboard has all the extra buttons you'd expect from a modern computer; volume control, media playback, it's all there.

Conclusion:

HP has made a very quick, responsive and sexy computer. My kids love it, I love it and I think I've caught my technophile husband enjoying it. They are priced well and probably even better when you consider that you are getting everything you need in one easy to set-up box. We are all impressed and are seriously considering making one of these our next family computer!

Thanks HP for letting me test out the new TouchSmart 300 PC!