The TouchSmart is a touch screen computer from HP. This range of computers comes as either an all-in-one desktop PC or a laptop. The operating system used by the HP TouchSmart is Windows Vista and more recently the new Windows 7. Depending on the model you choose, it will have an Intel or AMD processor.
Bill Gates released the TouchSmart in January 2007, it was the first touchscreen computer to be mass-marketed as a desktop computer. The first TouchSmart machines, known as the TouchSmart IQ770 series, had a 19-inch touchscreen. The machine had everything you’d expect from a modern desktop computer, including a variety of USB ports and connectors that allowed you to connect to the Internet and other devices. The first models received good reviews from critics.
Some time passed and in June 2008 the second series of TouchSmart computers, the HP TouchSmart IQ500, was released. These computers had a larger 22-inch touch screen monitor, an Intel Core Duo processor, and a large 500 GB disk space. HP also launched the TouchSmart IQ800 series that features a 25.5-inch touchscreen monitor and turned it into an entertainment center by including a remote control TV tuner. Some of the IQ800 series models had built-in Blu-Ray.
The most up-to-date models in HP’s touchscreen lineup are the TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600, both released in October 2009. The TouchSmart 300 is a great family computer and is very easy to use. This third generation of HP touchscreen computers continues to receive rave reviews from digital review sites. The TouchSmart 300 has started to integrate speech recognition into some of its software, making it a truly futuristic machine. The TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600 are similar in specs, it’s the screen size where they differ. The TouchSmart 300 has a 20-inch monitor, while the TouchSmart 600 has a 23-inch monitor.
TouchSmart 300 and TouchSmart 600 are aimed at the consumer market; however, HP has released the TouchSmart 9100 for business users. The TouchSmart 9100 is very similar to the TouchSmart 600 and runs on Windows 7 Professional. The software included in this impressive machine is better suited to business users than the models intended for consumers.