As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks using the HP TouchSmart 600 PC as a standalone entertainment system. In the first part of this story, I shared my experiences with the TouchSmart’s HDTV and DVR capabilities. Today, I’ll be telling you how the TouchSmart fares as a replacement for your Blu-Ray or DVD home theater.
So to refresh your memory, the TouchSmart 600 features a large 23-inch 1080p BriteView LCD screen, which can also double as an HDTV. For movie playback, the system has a built-in Slot-loading Blu-ray player, which can also burn DVDs.
I put the Blu-ray player through its paces with a copy of The Dark Knight, which really looks beautiful on the wide, bright screen of the TouchSmart. The interface for movie playback is clean and simple, and lets you use the touchscreen to control the play, pause, volume and scrub controls for your discs. I also like the little visual chapter indicators on the scrub bar. I did find one minor annoyance with movie playback – when you press any on-screen control, a floating D-pad controller comes up in a separate floating window, and you have to close it separately – it doesn’t fade out like the rest of the controls. I also couldn’t figure out a way to get the advanced menu features on my Blu-ray discs to play, so if that’s important to you, you should research this further. And why the app is called “MediaSmart DVD”, even though it plays Blu-ray discs is anyone’s guess. No biggie. Still, it looks great, and if you’re looking for content to show off the screen, this is it.
The other day, I tried the TouchSmart with both over-the-air HD broadcasts and a direct HDMI connection from my PS3. But once you pop in a native 1080p Blu-ray disc, you’ll really see this thing shine. There’s really no comparison in image quality to any other video format besides a digital 1080p file.
In addition to physical media playback, the TouchSmart software also includes applications for Hulu and Netflix. Both of these apps work great, and the TouchSmart Hulu app offers a cleaner interface than the standard web-based version. It also offers touch-based controls which make it easy to select content and scrub through scenes with just your fingertip. There’s also a nice little image thumbnail that pops in as you scrub through the scene to help you navigate. It takes a second to refresh, but once you get a hang of it, it’s pretty slick.
By comparison, the Netflix app is pretty austere. It looks very nice, and offers smooth playback of standard-def content in your Instant Queue. I still wish that Netflix would allow you to modify their instant queue in their viewing apps though. For now, you still have to surf to Netflix.com or use one of the myriad Netflix phone apps to edit your queue.
The Netflix app does have a clean, simple cover-flow like interface for selecting movies using their DVD box art, and when a movie is playing back you can scrub with your finger and see preview stills to guide you through your movie.
Video playback on both Netflix and Hulu were smooth over my 802.11n wireless network on my 6mbps DSL connection. However, I didn’t see any streamed content beyond SD resolution on these services. At least not by my naked eye. That said, the TouchSmart handles HD streamed content from sites like YouTube without a hitch – just not in the TouchSmart interface.
I didn’t get a chance to check out surround playback during movies, but the TouchSmart does offer a SPDIF optical output which should provide your surround system with what it needs to engulf you with big movie sound. The speakers inside the TouchSmart are more than capable of projecting sound in a small room, such as a bedroom or den though.
If you were just looking for a Blu-ray player and a 23-inch LCD monitor, you could probably score both of those for less than $500 total. But remember, the TouchSmart 600 is a true multi-purpose computing and home entertainment device. You can surf the web, play digital media files, listen to Internet radio (more on this in my next post), play your game consoles, and do everything else you’re used to doing with a Windows 7 PC in one box. Not too shabby in my book.
In my next post, I’ll be telling you how the TouchSmart handles your digital music collection and my conclusions on the system. Stop back by later this week to find out more. And don’t forget, if you read all of the articles, you’ve got chance to win a TouchSmart 600 too.
Written by technabob on March 17th, 2010 with no comments.
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The guys over at HP asked me to take a challenge – to see if I could live with their TouchSmart 600 computer as a serious all-in-one entertainment hub. Over the the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the chance to put the TouchSmart through its paces and will be sharing my experiences with you during the course of the week.
Since this is the first post in the series, I thought I’d take a minute to walk you through the TouchSmart 600’s hardware. The particular configuration I had my hands on was the 600-1055. The system features a beautiful 23-inch widescreen display, powered by NextWindow’s optical multitouch technology. Since the display uses an infrared touch technology, it can only handle two points of input, but that’s enough for manipulating simple media interfaces and handling gestures like flicks, pinch and zoom with aplomb. The system also has a high quality sound system built in, and the audio is certainly as good as anything you’d find built into a good television these days. It’s no substitute for a full surround rig, but it’s fine for a small room. And of course, there is an SPDIF optical output if you really do want to hook the TouchSmart to a proper surround system.
Under the hood, there’s a serviceable Core 2 Duo P7450, running a 2.13GHz, and the system has 4GB of RAM and a speedy 7200RPM 750GB SATA hard drive, perfect for recording television programs and handling other media utility work – right in the sweet spot for this machine. The system ships with Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition, so they didn’t skimp on the OS, either.
My first objective with the TouchSmart was to see how well it would work as a TV/DVR. The timing for this couldn’t have been better, as my brand new 58-inch Samsung plasma died and we had no TV in our living room for the last month (eeegads!) So while I wouldn’t normally recommend using a 23-inch display as your primary television, it worked for us in a pinch. The TouchSmart’s display size is definitely better suited to a bedroom, or maybe an office or den. It’s just a little large for most kitchens, but they do offer a 20-inch model as well.
So, back to the TV/DVR thing. There are a few ways to slice and dice this on the TouchSmart, and that’s part of the beauty of this thing. You can watch live television using the computer’s built in Digital ATSC tuner, and using either the included TouchSmart software or Windows Media Center, you can view live programs, and record them for later playback. I personally preferred the Windows Media software for this, as it works with the bundled remote control, and was a bit zippier than the TouchSmart interface. That said, the TouchSmart version does work well if you plan on primarily the touch screen for input, so maybe it would be good in a small room where you will be right by the screen all the time.
I recorded several programs in both the foreground and background, and didn’t run into any problems with playback quality, even for 720p and 1080i HD broadcasts. Oddly enough, I did run into some stutter on HD content in the TouchSmart app during live TV though, but it’s possible some sort of background task (maybe anti-virus or system updates) was hogging resources. This only occurred once or twice in my experience. The recording worked fine, even in the background while other tasks were going on, although since there’s only a single tuner, you won’t be able to record two programs at the same time like you can with some DVRs. However, I couldn’t figure out a way to pause or scrub that program while the program was recording using the TouchSmart software. It works fine with a live program that you’re not currently recording, though, so go figure.
That all said, I felt that the program guide interface for the Windows Media side of the house was much easier to read from a distance and found more APG program data than the TouchSmart version managed to muster. That said, the system includes both interfaces, so its your choice. Here’s the TouchSmart running Windows Media Center Live TV for comparison:
In addition to over-the-air television, the TouchSmart software includes apps for Netflix and Hulu, both of which performed admirably, and featured touch-enhanced interfaces with bigger buttons, and nice scrub bars for jumping through content. I’ll be covering the DVD/Blu-Ray and streaming video capabilities in more detail in my next post.
But what if you’ve got a satellite or fiber-optic receiver? With most desktop PCs, you’d be out of luck. There’s an S-Video input and an IR blaster output if you want to use a set-top tuner with Windows Media Center. And while you can’t use the built-in media or touchscreen software to watch from one of these devices in high-def, the TouchSmart has a handy HDMI input on the side, which lets you flip out of computer mode, and use it just like a regular HDTV.
I tried it with both my DirecTV HD DVR and my Sony PlayStation 3, and it worked great with both. My only issue with this input is that there’s no decent cable management for it, whereas all the other ports on the computer are neatly tucked behind a cover, this cable ends up sticking out of the side of the display. That said, It’s a minor complaint. More computers need to include this feature. There’s also a component RCA and stereo audio input there too, but I’m not really looking forward to watching crappy old video signals on a beautiful 1920 x 1080 LCD, are you? On the other hand, God of War III looks mighty nice.
Overall, I’d say the TouchSmart 600 is a fine performer for watching and recording television programs, and there are numerous choices for how you get your digital content into the system. I wouldn’t say it’s an ideal living room system because of the relatively small screen size, for a bedroom or office, it’s perfect. And while the TouchSmart software itself may not be as refined as Windows Media Center for TV viewing, the hardware is quite capable, and it’s your choice which interface to use.
Over the next few days, I’ll be talking about my experiences with movies and streamed content, as well as music and audio on the system. Be sure to swing by again for more details. And if you’re really attentive, you’ve got a chance to win a TouchSmart 600 for yourself.
Written by technabob on March 15th, 2010 with no comments.
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It turns out that Microsoft doesn’t have a monopoly on supersized multitouch goodness – PQ Labs is hawking their iTable, aka Multi-touch G³. Contrary to its name, it supports not only OS X, but Windows 2000 through Windows 7 as well.
Depending on the configuration, the iTable can detect up to 32 touch points, and can be as large as 65″. Actually I think PQ Labs can build larger screens if you ask nicely. So is the iTable any good? It seems to be good enough for playing Warcraft III. Watch out for the gesture that’s mapped to the attack command:
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
Now that’s how you command an army.
[via CrunchGear]
Written by lambert v. on March 10th, 2010 with no comments.
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The Ezy PC-x9 Tablet PC has a similar design with Apple’s iPad. It is actually a tablet shaped portable computer device that comes equipped with a touchscreen, WI-FI, a 3G network and a multitouch screen. Priced at $679 each, this Apple iPad competitor boasts a 10.2-inch multitouch display, Microsoft Windows 7 OS, a 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. [Product Page]
Written by Johan on March 9th, 2010 with no comments.
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Samsung has announced their latest 22-inch multitouch LCD monitor ‘LD220Z’ for the Russian market. This new widescreen monitor provides 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 70,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 5ms response time. It also comes with two 1.5W built-in speakers and has both D-Sub and HDMI connectors. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing yet. [Samsung]
Written by Isaiah on March 6th, 2010 with no comments.
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Multitouch displays are cool – no question about it. However, most of the larger multitouch displays out there are one-off custom builds. And while Microsoft sells their multitouch Surface as a turnkey solution, it’s only got a 30-inch display. The guys over at Ideum have upped the game with their ready-to-use MT-50 multitouch table, which comes with a high-def 50-inch tabletop (though viewable area looks closer to about 40-inches diagonal).
The Ideum MT-50 retails for about $21,000 (USD) and is designed for use in museums, tradeshows and other exhibitions (why not my living room?) and features a massive 50-inch multitouch glass surface. It can detect up to 40 simultaneous points of input, so multiple users can interact with it at the same time. The MT-50 is designed for durability too. It’s built from aircraft-grade aluminum and steel, and the tempered glass tabletop is designed to be nearly indestructible.
The Ideum table offers a 1280 x 720 display, and ships with Gestureworks, a library which allows true multitouch interaction using Adobe Flash. By comparison, Microsoft’s Surface only has, 1024 x 768 resolution display, and requires that your develop apps using Microsoft proprietary toolkits such as WPF, XNA and Expression Blend. The MT-50 also bests the Surface standard build with a beefy 3GHz quad core CPU, versus Microsoft’s 2.13 GHz dual core.
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The MT-50 has already found its way into numerous museum exhibitions, such as this recent mashup between Google Maps and Flickr used in an exhibit at the California Science Center.
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
And if the production 50-incher isn’t enough for you, the guys at Ideum have already built a custom 100-inch version of the table for one client:
Now all I need is one of these in my living room, and I’ll be all set.
Written by technabob on February 21st, 2010 with no comments.
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Remember that Notion Ink Adam tablet that we first reported as possible vaporware? Well, we were clearly wrong, and the Interwebs are buzzing with glee over the impressive specs and hands-on demos that have been making the rounds at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The Notion Ink guys have really come a long way from their early conceptual designs, and are now showing off a completely functional prototype of what could be a serious iPad killer.
The final specs for the pad include a powerful Arm Cortex A9 Dual Core CPU, an nVidia Tegra 2 graphics chip, and the amazing new PixelQi transflective 1024 x 600 LCD multitouch screen, which works great in either a darkened room or bright daylight. Battery life with the backlight on is 16 hours, but with the backlight off, you’re looking at an astounding 160 hours, which makes this a real contender against the Kindle and the Nook for reading books too.
While most of the images shown here are clearly renders, the guys over Technoholik have some hands-on images and video of the Adam in action…
Click to View Embedded Video Clip
Compared on specs alone, the Adam blows the iPad out of the water. Check out this comparison from chart from the guys at Notion Ink:
And while the prototype isn’t quite as thin as an iPad, the Notion Ink guys claim the final version will get down to 1.7 pounds and 14mm thick, making it just a hair bigger than Apple’s tablet. That said, there’s a whole lot more computing power in the Adam at this point. And this tablet can actually play 1080p video and Flash, too. The Adam will also include 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi (802.11b/g, but not n) connectivity, as well as A-GPS.
The biggest thing I’m concerned about at this point is that the Adam runs on Android – and I’m not yet convinced that Android has been optimized for a tablet experience. That said, Notion Ink says other OSes will eventually run on the tablet, including Chromium, Ubuntu and other Linux builds.
Prices for the Adam will start at just $327 (USD), and go up to $800 bucks for a completely maxed out version. It’s not known yet what the base model will include compared to the top-of-the-line, but from the looks of these two spec sheets (1 | 2), I think you’ll be shelling out extra dough for the PixelQi version. Notion Ink expects to start shipping the Adam in the June/July timeframe, shortly after the iPad hits.
This is definitely one to watch in the great tablet war of 2010. For more details on the Notion Ink Adam, be sure to bookmark their website and blog for information as it emerges.
[via Gizmodo]
Written by technabob on February 15th, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on Adam and Gadgets and MWC 2010 and Media Players and Notion Ink and Pixel Qi and Technology and arm cortex and computing and future tech and gps navigation and mobile and mobile tech and multitouch and portable and tablet.
TRUtablet will launch the TRUtablet 9, which is a new 8.9 inch multitouch tablet that runs on Windows 7 Home Premium OS. Priced at $649 upwards, the tablet features a 1GB of RAM (upgradable up to 2GB), up to 128GB SSDs for storage, 3G, and GPS. Other important specs include WiFi, Bluetooth, a 1.3MP webcam, three USB ports, and an SD card slot. TRUtablet will start taking orders next week and will release the tablet in March 2010. [Product Page]
Written by Johan on February 12th, 2010 with no comments.
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