The HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite touchscreen PC has been attracting attention ever since I put the review model on my desk here at AllBusiness.com world HQ. With its unique design and large titled screen, it's been an attractive nuisance to just about everyone who walks by my office.
That's cool, though, because it's been an invitation to check out what the TouchSmart 9300 Elite does best: make it easy for several people to work together at the same computer.
A Laid-Back Display
Sure, the TouchSmart 9300 Elite can work as a standard PC. With an Intel Core i7 chip, 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive, Blu-ray combo drive, and NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M MXM graphics card with 1 GB of dedicated RAM, it's got all the horsepower of a standard high-end Windows 7 PC. Stand the screen up straight and use the standard wireless keyboard and mouse, and that's exactly what it is -- albeit priced at a relatively spendy $1,564.
But that hardly scratches the surface of what the TouchSmart 9300 Elite is all about. You see, that surface is a 23-inch touchscreen fitted into a sleek one-piece case mounted on an innovative "reclining" mount that lets you easily slide it from vertical anywhere downto 30 degrees from horizontal. And that's when the TouchSmart 9300 Elite begins to demonstrate what it's all about.
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With the screen tilted, it's natural for two or three people to stand around it, looking at the screen together. The touchscreen means that anyone can control it; there's no fighting over "who's going to drive" like there is when trying to share a standard computer.
Easy to Share
While I've been testing it, small groups of AllBusiness staffers have used the review model to go over new website designs, make illustration and graphics choices, and even update complicated spreadsheets. All those things could have been done on standard PCs, but the TouchSmart 9300 Elite made it noticeably easier and more comfortable.
Many people who used it immediately remarked that "it would be great if we had one of these things in a conference room." I agree, and it would also be appropriate in customer-facing applications like design showrooms and real-estate offices, or really any time small groups of people need to confer over a single screen.
Sure, an iPad or other tablet might be able to offer some of the same functions, but the TouchSmart 9300 Elite's big screen makes it easier for more than two people to share. And as a Windows 7 machine, it runs all the standard productivity software most office workers are used to.
Fingertip Slip-Ups
While I really liked the concept, however, HP hasn't yet perfected the execution. The sliding gimbal design requires a lot of space around the unit, which could cause problems in small offices. More importantly, the touch screen itself quickly attracted sticky fingerprints. (Things worked much better with a stylus instead of a fingertip, but that ruins some of the natural ease of the touchscreen interface.)
And while the screen responds to traditional Windows-style controls, it doesn't always use the now-familiar touch-screen gestures such as pinch-and-zoom to resize windows (though HP's own picture viewer does so).
I also had trouble tapping precisely where I wanted to on the multi-touch screen whether I used my finger or a stylus. It often took several tries to open a browser window or launch an application, even though it seemed like I hit exactly the right spot. Grabbing and scrolling windows also took a bit of practice, and despite the Core i7 processor and hefty graphics chip, things didn't always move smoothly.
On the software side, things worked better the closer I stayed to basic Windows instead of the touchscreen-specific software. The slide-out, on-screen keyboard was difficult to control, for example. The "real" keyboard was much more comfortable for data entry and easy enough to pass around as needed. And really, only one person can enter text at a time anyway.
As a standard workstation for a single knowledge worker, the HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC is a pricey but attractive and powerful option. As a "collaboration engine" for conference rooms, public spaces, retail, and consultation environments, the TouchSmart 9300's innovative industrial design makes it a unique alternative to projectors and tablets for small, informal groups.
HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC
MSRP: $1,564 as reviewed (Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive, Blu-ray drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M MXM graphics).
PROS:
- Large touchscreen with innovative tilt-mount setup.
- Sleek, all-in-one design.
- Solid hardware configuration.
- Hiccups with touchscreen responsiveness.
- Tilt-mount display takes up a lot of room.
- Spendy for a business PC.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite Business PC makes an innovative collaboration engine for small groups, despite a few lingering performance and usability issues.
