HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite: The Consummate Workhorse - sorensontreas1988

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

Strong multimedia system playback
Reclining design is very comfortable to practice

Cons

Lacks HDMI or USB 3.0 ports

Our Verdict

This system performs business tasks with still and delivers vindicatory enough multimedia major power to keep your from acquiring too distracted.

H.P.'s TouchSmart 9300 Elite is a clientele-centric, all-in-one powerhouse. IT English hawthorn not be much to look at, only it delivers superior performance, sits on an easy-to-adjust stand, and even tackles multimedia preferably swell.

Our review model, priced at $1599 (as of Feb 9, 2022), came packed with an Intel Core i7-2600 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB Winchester drive, a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT425M graphics identity card, a slot-loading Blu-ray of light drive, a high-definition webcam, and improved-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. As befits a business PC, our model ran the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional.

In our PCWorld Labs' WorldBench 6 benchmark tests, the TouchSmart 9300 Elite attained an impressive mark of 148, putting near the top of its category, big-screen all-in-one PCs, for performance. By agency of comparison, our current top-rated big-cover all-in-unmatchable, the Lenovo IdeaCentre B520, scored single slightly high, at 156.

The TouchSmart 9300 Selected performs acceptably in graphics tests, though it's few play auto. In our Unreal Tournament 3 tests, the system managed a frame rate of 37.1 frames per second (at high quality settings, and 1920-away-1200-pel resolution). The aforementioned IdeaCentre B520 managed a frame rate of 48.2 fps in the same tests, while the current intermediate-place all-in-one on our chart, the HP TouchSmart 610 Quadruplet, sustained 47.2 fps at a frown resolution.

The TouchSmart 9300 Elite is not impressive esthetically. The solid, matte-black bezel close the glazed 23-in exhibit is sharply squared off at the corners. A small silver gray Horsepower logo adorns the lower left corner, over felt-inglorious speakers that are separated from the residue of the bezel by a thin silver line.

The system sits on a smooth and real solid plastic black stand, which is out and away the most attractive part of the designing; also bad you nates't really see it, since it's behind the screen. It borrows the design we saw in HP's TouchSmart 610: The entire display slides down pat continuously until information technology's almost parallel to the desk, which makes tapping away on the touchscreen much more convenient. It's a overnice touch (hour angle!), and one that's verisimilar to indicate risen along much HP machines subsequently.

Peripherals are glossy only boring: You get a monotonous, wireless HP keyboard with smooth, chiclet-style keys and a glassy radio set sneak out. The keyboard is easy to case on and provides good feedback, though the keys are so flat that the design takes a little getting used to. Extra buttons on the keyboard include volume controls, a dedicated Internet release for firing up the browser, and a sleep button. The mouse is a tad heavy and large, but it moves smoothly and feels comfortable in the script.

On the left side of the PC, you'll find a multiformat poster reviewer, two USB 2.0 ports, headphone and mike jacks, and volume controls. There are no ports on the satisfactory side–just a slot for the optical drive. On the back, behind a somewhat inconvenient panel, are four much USB 2.0 ports, an ethernet port, an audio-out jack, a DisplayPort, and a Kensington Lock slot. Some versions of the TouchSmart 9300 Elect include a TV coaxial connector and an IR-emitter-out, but ours didn't.

The TouchSmart 9300 Selected's silklike, 23-column inch LED-backlit widescreen display has a native resolution of 1920 past 1080 pixels (full high definition). The touchscreen is very responsive and accurate, and I launch it generally impressionable to use. The display looked excellent, though slightly dark (there's atomic number 102 intelligent way to align brightness on the monitor OR on the keyboard), with crisp images and good tinge fidelity. Off-Axis wake angles were major than most, though I noticed some loss of lucidity and brightness as I moved from side to root.

The all-in-one's multimedia system playback was excellent–and there's a Blu-shaft of light player to boot out–suggesting that HP intends for users to put this machine to work as an HDTV now and again. The speakers are and so loud that sitting within 2 feet of the estimator with the speakers at maximum loudness was almost painful), and the right way full, with good-but-not-great bass carrying out. Video looked really good on the TouchSmart 9300 Elite's glistening screen, with little to no artifacting or fogginess, even in HD streaming tests.

Tranquil, the system lacks about features I would expect in an entirely-in-one that I wished-for to treble as a Television receiver. Our review modeling came without a built-in TV tuner (No storm in that location), HDMI-verboten, an eSATA port, and any USB 3.0 ports. Sol the TouchSmart 9300 Elite falls a little squab of being an awesome multimedia powerhouse.

The bundled applications lie in of H.P.'s standard TouchSmart software package, which adds a finger-friendly overlay for interacting with your PC. You also get a complement of business concern-oriented software, including HP's Power Assistant power profile manager, Protect Tools, and HP Adviser.

Ultimately, the HP TouchSmart 9300 Elite does what it's supposed to do: perform business tasks quickly and easily. I'm a little disappointed with the lack of extras (peculiarly on something called "Elite") and with the boring-yet-functional plan. But you can find plenty of consumer-oriented offerings from HP and others designed to look a little nicer on your desk. If you're looking to get things through with, the TouchSmart 9300 Elite fits the bill very nicel indeed.