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A fingerprint sensor would be fun (and in keeping with the Touchsmart theme), but the only improvements I can think to make to the hardware are multi-finger touch capability and more upgrade options. Since the chassis and touchscreen are so nice, I would like the opportunity to keep this machine for a long time, and thus have the ability to upgrade the processor and video card as well as the memory and hard drive.
My biggest wish, however, is for a more robust, functional, and above all stable HP Touchsmart software suite :)
Do you really like your TouchSmart PC but wish it had something extra that you just can't live without or are already used to having in your previous PC? You know, an ESATA port, HDMI output, a removable hard drive bay tray, dual DVD-R/RW's, a password aware fingerprint sensor, etc. If so, then this is your place in the forum. HP is quietly watching, so drop the suggestions you have here, and who knows? Maybe your idea will be used in the next wave of TS-PC's...
Dave
March 26, 2009 9:11 PM
March 26, 2009 9:15 PM
I like your last wish :)
Can you elaborate more on the functional part? What are you looking for in terms of more functional?
March 26, 2009 11:34 PM
Well, number one, just a few features that we've come to expect from Calendar, Music, Photo, and Video applications in general:
-I know this has been mentioned many times, but the ability to choose which folders are monitored in the Music, Photo, and Video applications.
-Calendar syncing with mobile devices, Microsoft Outlook, and any other popular options. Kudos on adding Google Calendar sync, it's a great start!
-I saw an article saying that something like this is coming in the Spring update, but basic photo editing akin to what is offered in Windows Photo Gallery.
-Having built in commands to upload media to Picasa, Photobucket, YouTube, Facebook, other media sharing sites or personal blogs. You should also be able to easily drag items to a flash drive or SD card.
Number two, I think the Touchsmart software would be more functional if it wasn't so obtrusive. From the commercials and other media, it sometimes seems like HP expects people to put this computer in the middle of their living room or kitchen and leave the Touchsmart software running all the time, using the computer as a very high tech (and very pricey!) stereo, photo/video album, calendar, and notepad. A machine with specs like this is meant to be used for far more--here are some ways that would make it easier for me to use the machine and appreciate the Touchsmart software:
-If I allow the software to Quick Launch and Launch at Startup, it eats up my memory, sometimes hard freezes my computer (I think, though this may not have been the culprit), and forces me to always run iTunes as well if I want to use my music. If I don't Quick Launch the software or allow it run at startup, I have to wait for it to load every time I want to use it (and I only have four apps inside!) When it does load, it is full screen and doesn't alt-tab very well when I am referencing a website or document in order to make a note or calendar event.
I think the Touchsmart software would be more functional for me if it had an option to start windowed (maybe transparent without the Windows ribbon at the top so it could keep its sleek design-- sort of like the way the Dashboard appears on Apple machines?), and maybe had a small dock akin to the Windows Sidebar. Then, I could easily call up an app when I wanted, work with it, and then return to whatever I was doing.
Number three, if the Touchsmart is billed as a kitchen or family computer, I think there are a few features that would make it work better in this capacity:
-I think it would be useful to have little picture avatars or identities within the Touchsmart software--you could assign events on the Calendar to a certain person, maybe click on that person's name to see his/her events. You could also assign notes to that particular person.
-I think it would also be useful if you were able to have the computer wake from sleep into the Touchsmart software. When you come home after work or school, all you have to do is tap the screen and the Touchsmart software will show you if anyone left you a note. As it is right now, I don't let the HP Touchsmart software quick launch or start at startup, and as a result rarely remember to turn it on. I often forget notes I made for myself or appointments on my calendar. If the calendar and notes were right in front of my face every time I woke the computer up from sleep, they would fulfill their purpose (to remind me of things) better.
On the whole, I have been very happy with the HP Touchsmart unit and the accompanying software. I look forward to future edits and reading your thoughts on my suggestions--not being a programmer, I wonder at how feasible they are or if they would actually work as well as I imagine in practice :)
March 27, 2009 1:44 AM
Thank you very much for such detailed and thoughtful feedback. I will make the product planners aware of it.
March 27, 2009 6:49 PM
Very good feedback and suggestions indeed.
David
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l299/xz550rj/HPMagicGiveaway.jpg
Woohoo! I won my Touchsmart!
March 27, 2009 9:00 PM
Now there's a great post on the software side of things, I'm more of a harware guy, and here are a few of my ideas that will hopefully make it to the next iteration of the TouchSmart.
1. Status LED's for power/standby, HDD activity, Optical drive, and Caps/NUM Lock. Bring them around to the front so we can see them when we are using the PC. The software used to display caps and NumLock could be used to also trigger an LED run through a monofilament to any place on the front of the display, there's plenty of real estate on that bezel for physical info displays that don't use system resources.
2. I counted 91 processes running in the background, the only memory resident programs I myself added were for AVG Free, because that Norton System Bloat 2009 went straight to the trash bin. This PC needs as much resident program streamlining as is humanly possible, or HP will be forced to up the hardware in order to compete with the Apple OSX.
3. I'd really like to see the primary drive have an option to be removable through a tray and bay, and up to two drive bays offered as an option, so starting up the system with any OS or system setup that fits the needs of the customer is available. Since there are only 2 SATA ports on the current motherboards, the customer might be forced to use an external optical drive, but that would at least be an option for the flexibility of the drive options. I'm sure that a half height DVD burner could be put inside of a removable drive tray, and that could be swapped as well if needed. At least add an ESATA port if this isn't possible, or costs more than the demand for it would bring in revenue.
4. The CPU is upgradeable, and I'd like to see more of the higher-end P-series intel Core2 Duo chips put to use. This machine has so much going on in the background programs, that it is a "slug" when compared to similarly priced PC's without the Touch Capability. I personally have had the low power, performance oriented P9500 running at 25Watts and 2.53GhZ with 6MB of L2 cache in my IQ526 for about 2-3 weeks now, and not a single moment of trouble so far. It was a dramatic difference, and then again when I found that HP left the original T6600 CPU running at 2/3rds' throttle in Power Management, as if the TS was running on batteries. Tweak that setting up from the factory, as the users get these things, set them up, and write scathing reviews on how slow they are, shying others from giving a really nice machine a try. As configured, the TS is running mega-multimedia with a workstation engine.
5. Lastly, put some buttons on the thumb side of the mouse so we can navigate back and forth in the browser without having to run the mouse all the way up to the top of the screen to click on the back and forward buttons. I use a Razer Diamondback on my main machine, and when I switch back to the TS, that set of missing buttons slows my surfing down SO much.
Thanks to any and all who may be listening, going to bat for us at the next meeting, or howeveer you can help. Every one here on the TS side of the keyboard has made a rather expensive choice on their new PC, and it is good to see a company the size of HP taking their customer input so seriously.
Dave
March 27, 2009 9:10 PM
Custom gestures - Right now I can count the amount of multi-touch gestures on my five fingers which I guess is convenient in its own way, but I would like to do more. Let users create their own gestures. These gestures would be super intuitive since forgetting where and how they work would be like someone forgetting their dogs name. If you can't let us make our own then at least make gestures for panning, copy/pasting, and deleting.
Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
March 27, 2009 10:52 PM
Rose, the TS screen reads laterally, and wont read your fingertip surface unless you turn your finger sideways and at just the right height above the screen. There is existing hardware in use in several currently available laptops by Asus, Sony, HP, Acer, etc., that is designed only to read the ridges and whorls on the surface of one's fingertip. The software is already developed for it, and is integrated into MS Internet Explorer and a few others that have a need to store passwords. HP could put that reader right there above the TS button on the right side of the monitor bezel, and it would be convenient to use, yet out of the way so you wouldn't run over it accidentally.
Dave
March 28, 2009 11:41 PM
I have a very basic wish for the engineers to mull over; why isn't there at least a VGA output connector on this machine so that if my LCD loses it's CCFL lamp or the screen electronics or "ballast" inverter goes out, I can at least use my backup monitor until I troubleshoot the problem and round up the parts ??? I know that there are also some serious spreadsheet users and CAD station operators out there who didn't buy this machine because of the missing output for a second monitor. C'mon, HP, there is an empty svga out connector on the motherboard, why didn't you port the signals to the outside of the case so we could use them?
Dave
March 29, 2009 4:11 PM
The way I have my IQ positioned with the right side of the chassis pressed up against a wall, I am unable to access the usb ports! I would like to see usb ports on BOTH sides of the chassis.
April 1, 2009 5:02 PM
Personally what I'd like to see for the next version of the hardware is for it to be purely a multitouch MONITOR and not the full computer. That way we can use whatever PC we like with it, but still have the nice multitouch/Windows 7 stuff.
I'd really love to have this, but with my much more powerful developer PC, so I can use it - together with additional monitors to do some multitouch WPF development. Plus, that way I don't need to throw out a perfectly good touchscreen, just because the computer is no longer state of the art or you need upgrades that you can't do with the all in one, such as newer video card.
Fast forward, and you could see how most monitors could be offered with the multitouch touchscreen option. Simply the screen, USB connector and custom drivers for Windows.
I'm sure this will be coming eventually - especially with Windows 7 and its built in multitouch support and I'm sure HP won't be the only ones doing it.
April 1, 2009 6:19 PM
Good point, Richard,
The biggest complaint I remember seeing when I was shopping around is that for the price, the consumer expected a higher-end motherboard/cpu combo with a desktop interface video card that could be upped when Win7 and DX11 comes out. At additional expense, I have upped the cpu to a P9500 with 6MB L2 and 2.53GhZ with the virtual machine capability, but the nvidia M9300GS isn't going to run CAD/CAM like a card designed for it would. You are also limited by the power supply, also a notebook item, 19V/7A, or 133W, not really up to running high end SLI gamer cards and Quad-Core Extremes from the desktop. The problem is, you don't get the compact package that attracted many of us, and was my deciding factor in not buying an 18.4" ASUS laptop. I guess we will see what the market will bear, as Win7 may be MS's final call, and if it's a flop, it may be years before you see anything as innovative as this hit the market, especially in light of the skittish economy we are in. The same can be said for HP, and the TS is one of those Love/Hate machines, and if it flops, do you think HP will do a total revamp, or scale back and sell what they know will sell? The monitor is a great idea for those who want to build their own machines, but will HP sell their TS front end with it, or will we see a better version from MS? Questions we will have to wait and see the answers to, and only hope for the best is all we as consumers can do. Oh man, the news is on, I'm sounding just like them, sorry, great suggestion, Richard.
Dave
April 1, 2009 9:44 PM
Having a port where your can hook up your HDTV to would be A big asset. also having a graphics card that will support the resolution on an HDTV.
April 2, 2009 12:13 AM
The nvidia M9000 GS series video card in this case doesn't determine the resolution, the LCD panel of the 500 series has a native resolution below 1080, (1680 x 1050) so an HDMI out would work without upscaling once the resolution of the card was adjusted to it from the windows display properties, but the upscaling from 1050 to 1080 is so slight that you probably wouldn't notice it.
The 800 series with the 25.5" screen has a native 1900x1200 resolution, so HD output is already there, it just needs a port to plug into. We need an alternative port to plug into when the screen eventually fails so we can get our data and settings off while we wait on parts to arrive, or the new pc to be dropped off by the UPS truck. Right now all we have is a 720x480 S-video DIN jack, and the screen would be off the edges to the point of being unreadable.
D
April 2, 2009 12:31 AM
I would like to see a laptop multidrive with a beefed up tray installed. This way we could use ANY cd/dvd that would snap into place instead of the slot load drive we have now. I would also get my LightScribe that I like so much.
April 2, 2009 5:57 PM
I would love to see a monitor only version of this touchscreen, as long as the monitor has an HDMI input. On that note, I'm not sure why the control protocol of the HDMI spec couldn't be used to allow for one cable connection to an appropriately outfitted graphics card for graphics, sound and touch commands.
Maybe the design could be a two part PC/monitor that could attach to provide functionality similar to todays monitor, but could detach for other PC options
Standard VESA mounting options would be appreciated and could be the attachment point for the two part design.
Sorry for the rambling.
April 7, 2009 12:51 PM
1 - Component/HDMI input to allow direct viewing of HD TV from cablebox.
2 - Component/HDMI output to allow viewing Blueray movie (on TouchScreen's Blueray DVD drive) on another TV.
April 8, 2009 10:44 PM
I'd really like to see some more serious video card choices available for the TS, and have them available to HP customers as after purchase upgrade options in the HP store. The one year warranty is over before you know it, and I'm not going to buy a new TS every year something new comes out. I hate the fact that HP decided to hybrid the TS as a desktop/laptop clone, but even moreso I hate that the video cards had to follow the laptop architecture, which limits performance immediately, but also prohibits the aftermarket upgrade path available to fullsized desktop users. I'd really like to start playing some of the newer games out for the PC, but I guess I'll have to build a seperate gaming rig, or stay away from anything too hardware intensive for now with the TouchSmart.
Dave
April 18, 2009 10:58 PM
I sure hope somebody at HP reads this. I would have bought the 816 today, BUT that would have been a terrible disappointment for SEVERAL reasons.
1st problem It's not that I need an HDMI to hook up other devices. The BluRay is plenty. Can't wait to hook up my coax cable to watch all the HD programming out there. One of the main reasons for getting this computer aside from needing a more powerful computer for developing educational software is that I have not invested in a HiDef television yet and this seems the perfect opportunity to do so. However, cable tv cost an arm and a leg and if I'm going to pay the other arm and leg for what I see is a great computer, that computer better be able to show all of the HD channels I'm paying for. Unfortunately, the tuner will only receive the unencrypted QAMs so the Touchsmart fails to be a replacement for the television. It's quite a shame. I went shopping today and it seemed that every other computer including laptops had HDMI. It seems that HP really dropped the ball here. There are some rather complicated and expensive temporary solutions to this, including a Slingbox, but I sure hope HP remedies this issue ASAP. If anyone out there doesn't understand this issue, simply put, you can't get your paid channels on this computer and so if you don't have a separate HDTV, you can't watch HBOHD or any others.
2nd problem Not as big of a deal here, since HP seems to be supplying their own API for the dual touch capabilities (sure wish it were a true multitouch), but it's a shame that Windows 7 is right around the corner. If I were to buy today, I'd have to buy Windows 7 next year. If I were to buy after July 1, then I can get a free upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista (so I read somewhere from MicroSoft). For other's reading this, Windows 7 is probably a worthwhile upgrade for the Touchsmarts since it has multitouch support built in.
3rd problem This is not really an issue, but would be an added bonus. The Touchsmart is a great computer to begin using touch-technology to develop new and exciting educational software, and while I can do plenty with the dual touch available, I haven't even begun to dream of what can be done with multitouch. I am really excited for this technology, not only for my own home entertainment, but the fascination it will bring my students.
April 19, 2009 12:55 AM
It would be very nice if the next genaration of touch smarts had better prosseors and grafic cards. Like it should have atleast dual core 3.0 or mabe even quad. (imagine that). Maby a better grafic card for gaming so it can really be a media pc as the notebook cards a bad. Im going to maybe buy a touch samrt soon or (most likly) wait till next year for a better system. Also i would love if it could be upgradable but i know how hard that would be.
Some other features that would be nice is that for the pass word you could just use your finger print.
And thats about it btw this is my first post and soory if I had plenty of spelling mistakes as i was typing this very fast :D
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