HP TouchSmart IQ506 PC - Reviews

Get Smart Touching

Looking all sleek and shiny is the HP TouchSmart IQ506 PC, which is ready for all your fingerprint abuse.

Last seen at our labs just before its unveiling in Berlin at the HP Connecting Your World event was the HP TouchSmart IQ506 PC, which made its way to our labs again for a full review as promised. But first, you might want to take a trip down memory lane and look at the IQ506's predecessor, the IQ770 PC , which while nice, didn't quite evoke the excitement and appeal of the newer IQ506. It's good to know that given the time span of about a year, HP has done a minor miracle in shrinking the previous design into something much more compact and stylish, something which we quite like and is sure to appeal to consumers too.



Besides shrinking the size down into a more compact package, HP has also upped the touch screen panel size of the IQ506 to 22-inches of glorious screen realty. Furthermore, HP also promises 4GB of memory for every variant that will be available on the market, which in our books makes the newer IQ506 that much sweeter (or powerful whichever way you look at it). So now that we've gotten your attention, let's start with the specifications listing of the HP TouchSmart IQ506 system before we take a closer look at its characteristics:-

The IQ506 also keeps to a relatively clean back profile that's pleasing to the eye, though we could have done without the glossy surface on the back.

HP TouchSmart IQ500 Specifications

Processor and Chipset

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5850 (2.16 GHz)
• Processor Bus: 667Mhz, 800Mhz

Operating System

• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1

System Memory

• 4GB DDR2 RAM

Video & Display

• NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS HD
• 22-inch LCD Panel
• Native resolution: 1680 x 1050

HDD

• Western Digital Caviar Blue 3.5-inch SATA (WD5000AAKS )
• 500GB
• 7200RPM
• 16MB Buffer
• SATA-II interface

Optical Drive

• Slot loaded SuperMulti DVD Burner

Communication

• Wired LAN (10/100/1000)
• Wireless LAN (802.11 b/g/n) with built-in WLAN antenna
• Bluetooth

Audio

• High performance 2.0 speakers

Front & Side I/O Ports

• 5 x USB 2.0 ports
• 1 x RJ-45
• IEEE 1394
• S/PDIF-Out
• Video In
• Audio In
• IR Blaster Out
• 5-in-1 Digital Media Reader
• Headphone and microphone jacks

Miscellaneous

• Integrated 1.3MP webcam
• Single PAL TV Tuner with Personal Video Recorder Functionality, Single NTSC TV Tuner with Personal Video Recorder Functionality
• HP low profile wireless keyboard
• HP cordless optical 2-button scroller mouse
• Media Center remote control