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HP has solved my wife’s problem. She likes to keep one eye on the stove (figuratively) and one on her email. The laptops that we’ve used in the past just take up counterspace… plus, it’s just not as user friendly as it could be. My thought has always been to set up an LCD with some hack machine under the counter but, recently, a “touch screen” PC by HP caught my eye - the $1799 TouchSmart Desktop PC.

Let’s just get the specs out of the way because, although this machine is powerful, the unique value of the TouchSmart isn’t in the nuts and bolts. Features:

• 1.9GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL58 Sockets S1 Processor
• 2GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 8x DVD DL Slim Drive
• 802.11g Wireless
• 500GB/ 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 19 Inch LCD Panel with Touchscreen Overlay and Stylus
• NVidia GeForce 6100

But it’s when you read the 5 star reviews that the TouchSmart PC shines. Three points in particular stand out:

• “the touch screen adds a new dimension which can make games more interesting and increases ones overall level of interactivity with the machine” - the ease of use brought by having a touch-based interface is obvious. Many people rave about how addictive it can be, saying “You will soon find that you are trying to touch every screen that you come to :)”
• “We… love the option of being able to watch and record tv with our computer.” - the built in NTSC TV Tuner puts the equivalent of a DVR on your countertop.
• “If you want a computer that doesn’t take up alot of space and is very fun to use, I couldn’t recommend this one higher.” - the small footprint is a big plus, since the TouchSmart Desktop PC only takes up a bit more space than the 19″ monitor itself. One reviewer adds “Not only did this machine get rid of my CPU, it replaced an external DVD burner, an external bluetooth USB hub as well as a card reader and speakers. I ended up with a lot of extra space at my desk.”

It’s clear that this is a computer that is far more focused on the tasks of entertainment and usability than the usual beige box. I will say that, in today’s market of $399 laptops and $299 desktops, the price of just under $1800 is a hard pill to swallow. What more can you say, though, than what one commenter contributed, “Best Computer out there for your money”. So take a look and think about this one for the person in your life with far too many things going on to be clutching at a mouse all day.

If you haven’t heard, there is quite a bit of buzz about Psystar home-built Open Computers. Essentially, these boxes are PC hardware set up to run an unmodified OS X Leopard kernel. When you see that they start at $399 + $155 for the OS pre-installed, you can imagine that the Mac guys are hopping on these.

So what’s the problem? Well, the OS installation/distribution is against the End User License Agreement (”EULA”) and, therefore, just waiting for a lawsuit by Apple. In that doc, it says the OS cannot be installed by end users on anything other than an “Apple labeled” computer. CNET has an interesting take on this:

If Mac OS X was the only operating system in the entire universe, and Apple required you to use its hardware, lawyers would have a field day.

For that reason, it seems interested users should buy now before everyone’s favorite benevolent monopoly (Apple) shuts the company down.

Paul Murphy with ZDNET goes one step farther and speculates “this particular group is going nowhere because there’s no real value in using even lower quality hardware to compete with Apple’s already low quality hardware”. Honestly, I haven’t yet read of anyone who has actually received their Psystar computer so, at this point, who knows what the true value is going to be other than an interesting legal challenge.

Get one of these Psystar Computers while you can. Not only is their payment processor giving them problems, but the looming EULA challenge by Apple is going to make this a short lived experiment.

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Think fast, what are two of the most important things in a desktop PC? RAM and drive space. Browsing our desktop systems page, I came across the Acer Aspire M3100-UD5200A Desktop PC for under $519.00. Big deal (you say) but check this out: it comes with 3 GB of RAM and a 1/2 TB hard drive. Incredible how inexpensive chips and storage have become… but I digress. The Acer Aspire M3100 could be an instant, low cost performer in any home office.

The specifications:

Acer AM3100 - MiniTower Desktop. AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor x2 5200+ (2×1MB cache) 3GB (1/1/1) DDRII SDRAM, 500GB SATA 7200 RPM HDD, DVD+/- RW drive, ATI Radeon x1250 graphics solution, 9-in-1 card reader, parallel, RJ-45 Gigabit LAN, VGA, HDMI, FireWire (IEEE 1394), headphones, microphone, six audio, eight USB 2.0 (four front, four back), Windows Vista Home Premium, includes USB keyboard and mouse.

The pros: inexpensive, lots of RAM, drive space and 8 USB ports. The cons: the ATI graphics card is a bit of an underperformer and the price doesn’t include a monitor. Now that would be a deal… but monitors are a cheap add on, or something most nerds like me already have around.

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Ranking high on the way-cool scale, the Apple Mac Mini is a compact but powerful desktop computer system many friends of mine are raving about. Yes, it’s now old news (the Mini came out in early 2005) but the specs have kept up with the times and the tiny footprint is still very attractive. What seals the deal? A price starting at under $600.

The first thing you notice about the Mac Mini is the minimal “case”, if you can even call it that. With dimensions (in inches) of 8.7 x 8.6 x 5.4 and a shipping weight under 10 lbs, there’s a lot going on in a small package.

Mac Mini

What are the specs? Start with a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Add 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 2 GB), a 80 GB SATA hard drive with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard and a slot-loading DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. Finish with a FireWire port, 4 USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet and built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (802.11g) and the small package suddenly looks much, much bigger. One reviewer wrote

This little Mac CPU is perfect for people who want a powerful but inexpensive CPU without the frills. Just 2.5″ high and 6.5″ square, it fits almost anywhere: on a desk, in a drawer, on a narrow shelf. The unit comes with a Mac SuperDrive for burning and playing DVD/CDs, a remote control, BlueTooth technology, the iLife Suite (iPhoto, iTunes, Garage Band, Photo Booth, iMovie, etc.), and the newest OS X Leopard (on CDs, not installed.) That’s it. You have to buy your own keyboard, mouse, monitor, and anything else you’d like to add.

For the most part, people rave about the OS, footprint and speed of the Apple Mac Mini. The two cons I’ve consistently found were i) the power button is in the back and hard to find and ii) upgrading the RAM is difficult. Honestly, that’s it? A quick search turned up this Mac Mini RAM Upgrade article so it seems available resources can cure at least one of those negatives. *L* ok, upgrading the RAM does involve a putty knife.

For those looking to break into the Apple world or simply want a small, powerful desktop, the $595 Mac Mini appears to be a clear option. Pair this machine with your Apple monitor, keyboard and mouse of choice and you have everything that makes Mac great at your fingertips.

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Normally, I don’t use this space to blog about software but the Flock web browser has recently shown up on my radar. At version 1.1, this is an early stage in the development of this “Social Web Browser” - a Mozilla/Gecko browsing core with integrated social bookmarking, blogging, media and webmail support.

Users who are online all day know that every keystroke saved is worth investigating. That (and my general, geek’s interest) what was initially intriguing about the FREE Flock browser download I saw in the PC Magazine Best Free Software list. Through a vertical browser frame, Flock loads quick links to your favorite social services. If you’re big into communities like Facebook, Flickr, Blogger or Magnolia the browser allows you to pre-load your user information for quick and easy access to those services. Webmail services like GMail are supported as well, so all bases are covered. As stated within their company info,

Flock is an open source company that innovates on the superior, constantly-improving Mozilla architecture to provide a fast, safe and competitive browsing experience.

Which brings me to my only cynical question: How is the Flock browser better or different than customizing Firefox itself with toolbars and add-ins? Maybe you can tell me. The two are so closely related that my StatsCounter info reads Flock as Firefox. To be precise, the browser footprint reads as Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080304 Firefox/2.0.0.12 Flock/1.1.

The install is currently only approved for Windows machines (with the notable exception of Ultima Linux) but indications are it’ll run smoothly on any GNU/Linux on x86 box. Perhaps I’ll hop on my Asus Laptop running their slick Linux OS, install the browser and see what happens.

What kind of reception is this upstart receiving from the tech world at large? Recently, the Flock web browser was awarded a South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) Annual Web Award under the “community” category. There’s been a bit of press in Wired and other outlets but let’s see if their user base can drum up enough support to keep the angel-funded venture on a roll. If the 160+ topics in the Community section of their forums is any indication, good buzz is well under way.

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