The TouchSmart IQ800 Series has two models: the IQ816 and IQ804, they have slight specifications differences, and they are obviously 3.5″ bigger than the IQ506t Series. You can go check the specifications on HP’s website, but we thought that it would be most interesting to talk about how it feels to play with this. The concept is actually quite interesting, and I have to admit that although I’m skeptical that this would be a blockbuster in retail stores, it’s quite fun to play with. The user interface homepage is where HP has done a better job. It’s very finger-friendly and the UI is intuitive. It could use a little more graphics processing muscle, but it’s fine as it is. When we go deeper into the applications, like the photo gallery, the user interface is not as polished, although it’s not bad. I suspect that HP doesn’t have enough software engineers working on this project, which might be seen as “experimental” in the company – that’s my theory anyways.
We liked the physical design and the overall finish. Details like the LED light for the keyboard and the HP Media Bay on the top are nice. It has a TV tuner, so you it can also be a TV. For those who can afford it, this could be the ultimate kitchen computer or better: an home entry computer. But for most, it will remain an object of curiosity, at least until the price comes down and until more applications are developed for it. This is a worthy project and we hope that HP will continue its software efforts to improve it.
Filed in ..