HP Omni 27 Quad Review

One step forward, and a giant leap back

THE DISPLAYS IN HP’s TouchSmart series top out at 23 inches. To get anything bigger, you must move over to HP’s Omni all-in-one lineup. The upper limit here is a ginormous 27 inches, but you won’t get that slick touch user interface, and you’ll need to sacrifice performance to keep the price tag in the same $1,250 neighborhood occupied by the TouchSmart 520-1070 we reviewed in March. We’re not convinced those are good trade-offs.
Both models feature an HDMI input that allows you to use the display independent of the computer, and that’s easily one of their best features. Plug in a set-top box or a gaming console, and the machines can serve double duty as a computer and a 1080p display for watching TV or playing games. There’s just one problem: You can’t use the wireless keyboard to control or mute the volume when the computer is being used solely as a display. Instead, you must push the PC/Game mode button to bring up an onscreen control panel, press the minus button three times to select the volume control function, and then repeatedly press the plus or minus buttons to adjust the volume. To mute the volume, you must turn it to zero—which takes 14 button presses from full volume—or switch the display back into PC mode. That will drive you nuts at every commercial break and every time the phone rings.

HP Omni 27 Quad Review

The 27-inch screen is great for watching movies and TV, but your eyes won’t like using this computer for long stretches.

We tend to dismiss the speakers in all-in-ones because the small enclosures just can’t produce good bass response. Connecting HP’s Pulse subwoofer (a $130 option) into the Omni 27 Quad’s subwoofer output made us realize how well HP’s integrated speakers produce mid- and high frequencies. You might, however, find an even better sub from a mainstream speaker manufacturer. Polk Audio’s PSW10, for instance, has an amp that produces 50 watts RMS to the Pulse’s 30 watts, and it features a 10-inch driver compared to the Pulse’s 6-incher. We found it online for just $120.
Unlike the TouchSmart 520, the Omni 27 Quad does not include a discrete videocard or a TV tuner. You can add these features when you place your online order, but a videocard will add $70 to $120 to the price, and the TV tuner will tack on $50.

HP Omni 27 Quad Review

Adding HP's Pulse subwoofer to the Omni 27 Quad does wonders for its audio capabilities—and it has blue LEDs! (Don’t worry, you can turn them off.)

Like the TouchSmart 520-1070, the Omni 27 Quad comes packed with 8GB of RAM, but the unit we reviewed was outfitted with a 2.5GHz Core i5 2400S (compared to the 2.8GHz Core i7-2600S on the TouchSmart) and a paltry 1TB hard drive (compared to the 2TB drive on the TouchSmart). Here again, you can order a customized model at additional expense.
Native resolution of 1920x1080 is fine for 23- or 24-inch computer displays, and it’s the highest resolution that current-gen HDTVs can deliver. But you sacrifice a great deal of precision when you spread that number of pixels over a 27-inch screen that’s just two feet from your eyes. Losing the TV tuner—and even the touch UI—isn’t a big deal, but we don’t like the idea of stepping down to a lesser CPU and a smaller hard drive to get that big screen. Our biggest complaint, however, centers on the ridiculously convoluted volume control—it’s bad enough to prevent us from recommending the Omni 27 Quad at any price.

HP Omni 27 Quad

HP Omni 27 Quad Review

OMINVOROUS

Big display; HDMI input; HP’s Magic Canvas.

AVARICIOUS

Absurd volume control in HDMI mode; integrated graphics; display lacks precision for critical applications.

6

SPECIFICATIONS

	HP Omni 27 Quad	HP TouchSmart 530-1070
Price	$1,250	$1,250
CPU	2.5GHz Core i5-2400S	2.8GHz Core i7-2600S
GPU	Integrated	AMD Radeon HD 6550A
RAM	8GB DDR3/1333	8GB DDR3/1333
HDD	1TB (7,200rpm)	2TB (5,400rpm)
Optical	Blu-ray player/DVD burner	Blu-ray player/DVD burner
Display	27-inch LED backlit	23-inch LED backlit

BENCHMARKS

 

	HP Omni 27 Quad	HP TouchSmart 530-1070
Photoshop (sec)	86.6	83.7
MainConcept (sec)	1,341	1,119
Premiere (sec)	574	659
ProShow Producer (sec)	652	563
Metro 2033 (fps)	9.3	17.8

By Saeed Khan