HP TouchSmart 610
- Category: Desktop Computers
May 2, 2011
Editor's Rating
- Very nice design
- High-quality HD touch screen
- Solid performance for most users
- No HDMI or TV tuner
- Integrated graphics
- Lots of bloatware/trialware
The HP TouchSmart 610 is a good-performing all-in-one PC that has an Intel Core i3-550 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 750GB hard drive. There is also a 23-inch 1080p HD touch screen display, built-in wireless, but the connectivity is a little lacking.
The HP TouchSmart 610 measures 17.7 x 23 x 4-inches (hwd) and weighs about 27-pounds. It has a stylish design that is very minimal at the same time. The backside stand is also built quite sturdy and the unit didn't feel like it was in danger of tipping backwards while we were using the touch screen. The screen slides forward and down to make using it more comfortable.
The 23-inch LED touch screen has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080-pixels, which is 1080p high-definition. It has an amazingly wide viewing angle and is definitely well-suited as a multimedia screen. The sensitivity of the touch screen is also quite impressive, as we usually find with HP's products. HP's included TouchSmart software allows you to navigate through photos, music and videos all with touch-based gestures and they all work very well.
In terms of connectivity, on the left side of the HP TouchSmart 610, you'll find a 6-in-1 memory card reader, two USB 2.0 ports and two audio jacks. The back side has four more USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and two more audio ports for connecting a surround sound system. We would've liked to see an HDMI port, a TV tuner and one or two USB 3.0 ports, especially for the $1000 price tag and multimedia orientation of the PC.
Specification of our review unit HP TouchSmart 610 included a dual-core Intel Core i3-550 (3.2GHz) CPU (upgradable to a quad-core Core i7), 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 16GB), a 750GB 7200RPM hard drive, integrated Intel HD graphics and a slot-loading SuperMulti DVD+/-RW LightScribe optical disc drive. While these specification are quite good, if you're interested in having even more power, consider upgrading to the quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU and discrete ATI Radeon HD 5570 graphics card.
Also included is built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless connectivity and the operating system that HP chose for this system is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit).
However, the specifications that our review unit had were quite good for the majority of users. We had no issues playing streaming HD content or watching a DVD. We were unable to play any 3D games with any playable results due to the integrated Intel graphics.
One downside to this computer that is worth mentioning goes for all HP computers: lots of bloatware. HP is known for loading up their computers with lots of bloatware and trialware. This computer comes with a 60-day trial for Norton Internet Security 2011, a 30-day trial for Norton Online Backup, HP WildTangent Games and many other advertisements and links on the desktop for online services.
