More than two years after Apple introduced its 27-inch iMac, HP will offer the first large-screen Windows-based competitor with its new Omni 27 all-in-one.
(Credit: HP)
Available in the US on 8 January, the Omni 27 will start at US$1200. HP Australia as of yet has no information on local pricing or availability, but it will be interesting to see if it makes it to the local market, or if Apple's stronghold is perceived as unassailable.
Configuration options will include Intel CPUs ranging from the Core i3 to the Core i7 series, with 4GB and 8GB memory variants discrete graphics chip options from both AMD and Nvidia, and up to 3TB of hard-drive capacity.
Respectable specs aside, the 27-inch display is the main attraction. HP is not using the same high-resolution, 2560x1440-pixel display as Apple. Instead, the Omni 27 will only hit 1920x1080 pixels. We'd suspect that this also means a TN-based screen, meaning poor viewing angles, but this remains to be seen. We could be surprised with IPS.
As a member of HP's Omni product line, the Omni 27 does not have a touchscreen. That hasn't prevented HP from including the Magic Canvas desktop background that comes with HP's TouchSmart all-in-ones.
Magic Canvas acts as a kind of extended desktop workspace to which you can pin icons and shortcuts, and it borders on redundant to the standard Windows desktop on a non-touch PC. Far more useful is the included HDMI input, which lets you connect HDMI-based video source components directly to the Omni 27. That effectively turns the system into a stand-alone display for a cable box or a game console.
Via CNET
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