BostonPocketPC

If you didn't notice in the Sunday circulars of your favorite big box stores as well as some of the cool new commercials on your television, as well as HP's own HP Shopping site the new 22" HP TouchSmart is now available. The TouchSmart comes in two flavors the  IQ504 PC  for $1299 and the IQ506 PC for $1499 due to the built-in tuner (clicking on the links will bring up their respective spec sheets).

It comes with a Wireless keyboard that is illuminated by the bottom of the PC (which has just enough room to store it underneath), a wireless mouse and a remote control that looks like the one found on the new extenders and MediaSmart televisions. The stand is adjustable to reduce glare and makes easier adjustments for the built-in webcam.

It is pretty thin and has a slot optical drive. What is not shown in the picture is the single cable to the large power brick, which looked similar to the one from the HDX Dragon.

There are some cool videos available online showing an unboxing and how it works here along with tutorials on Music, Pictures, and Video.

Some of the cool software included with the TouchSmart are:

• HP TouchSmart Music - Create playlists with your favorite music
• HP TouchSmart Video - Watch, record and upload(10) your personal videos using touch
• HP TouchSmart Photo - Share your fun and memorable moments in life with family and friends
• HP TouchSmart RSS Feeds - Get the latest news right at your fingertips(10)
• HP TouchSmart Browser - Browse the web in a whole new way(10)
• HP TouchSmart Calendar - Manage your busy schedule and stay in touch with family
• HP TouchSmart Notes - Quick and easy text and voice notes right at your fingertips

As I found some free time this weekend to finish loading my DVDs into my 5 changers from 2 (that held 600), my oldest daughter stated that our HP television should have a sensor like the TouchSmart (she was the one that wanted to go to the store to see it and really,really,really wants one. don't we all?) so we could easily scroll through the 850+ DVDs in the Media Center library since you don't have to actually touch the screen, there are sensors around the bezel. Maybe sometime soon.

If you get a chance to try one out, I highly suggest it. The arc based user interface is akin to a windshield wiper and plays off the ergonomics of the arm's radius. The User Experience that HP has made for the TouchSmart makes you wonder why Microsoft or HP didn't do this with the Tablet PC and makes wonder at what they can do with Windows 7.

Specifications:

Operating System • Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 64-bit edition with Service Pack 1 -
Processor • Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5850 @ 2.16GHz(2)
Intel® GM965 Express Chipset, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz Front Side Bus
Memory • 4096MB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory(3)(2x2048MB)
Hard Drive • 500GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive(4)
Optical Drive(s) • Slot-load SuperMulti DVD Burner(6)
8x DVD-R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL, 5x DVD-RAM, 8x DVD-ROM, 24x CDR,24x CDRW, 24x CD-ROM
Video Graphics • NVIDIA GeForce 9300 M GS HD graphics module with 256MB dedicated video memory and support for Blu-ray, and Microsoft® DirectX® 10. Up to 2047MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows Vista®.
Network Interface • 10/100/1000 BaseT network interface
Wireless Connectivity • Integrated Bluetooth, Wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n) with built-in WLAN antenna(19)
Audio • Integrated High Definition Audio with 2.0 sound capabilities • High-performance 2.0 Speakers
TV Tuner: Dual-format NTSC or over-the-air ATSC high-definition TV tuner(17)
Remote Control • HP Media Center remote control with IR (infrared) receiver "
Memory Slots • 2 SoDIMMs (200-pin) (occupied)
External Ports • 5-in-1 memory card reader – supports Secure Digital (SD, SDHC), MultiMedia Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, 1 FireWire® (IEEE 1394) port (front), Headphone (front), Line-in (back), 5 USB 2.0 ports(2 front, 3 rear)( 5 available), Line-out (back), Digital Audio Out (back)
Mouse and Keyboard • HP low-profile wireless keyboard with numeric keypad,HP wireless optical mouse
Web Camera • Integrated webcam
Integrated Display • Touch-enabled 22" diagonal widescreen BrightView LCD with tilt adjustment, Built-in array microphone
Dimensions • Unpackaged: 21"(W) x 2.6" (D/L) x 17.4" (H) approx.
Weight • Unpackaged: 24lbs approx.
Lighting • HP Ambient Light lets you set a mood, or see your keyboard in the dark

More information is available at www.hp.com/touchsmart to look at each in more detail on HP Shopping here are links for the HP TouchSmart IQ504t PC and HP TouchSmart IQ506t PC that allows for customization as well as pre-built configurations, but instead of choosing hardware it looks to be software only.