Customer Reviews

HP TouchSmart 600-1055 23-Inch Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have owned the HP 600-1055 for about a month now. It is full of suprizes. The touch screen is more responsive than I thought and very fun. I find myself using both the mouse and the touch screen equally. I'm not going to give you all the specs, you can look those up yourself but there is one that I need to mention. It comes with a Bluray player. The screen is only 60 hz, so even though the picture is good, the blur you get with fast motion is distracting. Also it's not for gamers. I tried to run "Bass Pro Shop The Strike" and it did not meet the min. requirments for the game. The fun things are the picture and music touch programs. Live TV was easy to set up. My favorite is using a paint program with the touch screen. It's advanced finger painting. And depending upon the program, you can do some wonderous things.
Bottom line for me: A fun computer with enjoyable features for media and browsing, but not hard core for gaming or serious movie watching.

I love the touch screen but I did have to adjust it because it wasn't registering right. My biggest problem is in the A/V the audio pops, crackles and generally has static and slow down several times a minute with my mp3. The DVD I played had inappropriate frame slow down also as well as the video problem. I am downloading all the updates from Windows and HP, if that doesn't work, I may have to send it back as bad from the box.HP TouchSmart 600-1055 23-Inch Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Despite the Best Buy salesman's attempt to steer me away from this desktop, I bought it from Amazon anyway. All of the positive comments about this PC are true and I won' t dispute them. The issue I have is the amount of time spent on the phone to India to fix the same problems over and over. My last call was 1:08 and the shortest was probably about 45 mins.
HP does fix every problem remotely and a human answers every customer service call which is a rare treat. Two problems have consumed an incredible amount of time: the screen flickers and actually sometimes goes completely black for up to 5 seconds. The problem gets fixed after about an hour on the phone (some patch applied or my power settings changed, I lost track of thse fixes) and does not re-occur for a few days after which, I set aside another hour to talk to HP.

The second, and seemingly fixed isssue, was the keyboard software updates needed. Twice the keyboard would only register every 5th letter or so. The first time, I bought new batteries and when that didn't help, I called. HP fixed the problem the first time but it happen again. The second fix appears to have worked and the keyboard has operated perfectly for about 2 weeks now.

I am typing this on my old Gateway laptop while my HP 600 is flickering right next to me. Some person in Mumbai is in control of the desktop and attempting yet another fix. If this does not work, HOP will switch out the unit and give me anew one. Customer Support is great but I would have preferred NEVER to have had to call.

HP TouchSmart (HP-TS) 600-1055 Pros:

Pleasing design; lots of features (lots of "bang for your buck") ; fast; powerful graphics setup. Courteous, fairly quick tech help via email and chat sessions. Eco-friendly packaging. Large, bright screen with customizable bottom glow light that glows over the keyboard or platform it sits on. Many helpful ports with just a few missing that would be nice. Nice keyboard and mouse (mouse can be turned off to save battery power)

HP TouchSmart (HP-TS) 600-1055 Cons: Recall the phrase: "All that is gold, does not glitter!"

Big problems with many updates; updates sometimes need manual checking (problem became evident when Help section didn't work (showed text files instead of intended link destinations) and HP Support Assistant couldn't connect with HP Advisor and get computer info; the long list of updates/fixes on HP webpage near impossible to determine if your machine has them!); I eventually downloaded (5 )files with slightly different creation dates and version "stamps" although they are all called the same version for HP Support Assistant. Many different errors and "failed" responses. My search showed files from Aug. and possible July and before...but many of the fixes were released in Oct., Nov., Dec. but we bought the machine in Jan. so, in my opinion, it was "rushed out" before proper testing and "bug" fixes.

Spent two weeks of tremendous number of hours to attempt to fix and update properly (unsuccessful; was told incorrect steps by tech). Long waits for phone support. Techs don't take time or are not allowed time to review details of situation; quick to offer solutions and sometimes wrong information that requires returning machine to "Factory Settings"; I had to do this three times and still did not resolve problems. Techs don't answer questions (just don't respond) when they don't know or are not permitted to respond to like "bugs" with Windows 7 64 bit, HP software, other software. Tech used phrases like " (a fix will be released) in due course of time" (after my warranty runs out?)

After I told HP I was "giving up, sad, tired, and exhausted" and sending the machine back, they finally said a case manager could be contacted. Tech asking for information that is already in database (email, chat, registration, SN, PN, Model #) if "(I) wanted to `escalate'" problem. Tech said they passed the info. to the appropriate individuals, but no one else contacted me.

Some problems on HT-TS did something thru the wireless connection to my other computers (within minutes of it happening on the HP-TS, the same behavior started on others on network) . I had to uninstall and reinstall programs...no viruses or worms, etc. Mystery to me.. Security software of HP w/Windows did not properly recognize the computer was protected by both a firewall and antivirus software
TouchScreen program doesn't allow notifications from Internet Security software to show thru so you can reply; you have to minimize TS program to answer so that TS will work. Stray static while playing CD music

Touch screen seems more of a "novelty" (needed to clean screen often) that didn't often work unless you went out of program to changes settings, access web, etc. (not seamless). Mouse and keyboard still needed for detailed or small items

Must be vigilant of incompatible programs with Windows 7, 64-bit.

Minimum RAM installed for Win 7, 64 bit (as I read), and memory upgrade is really expensive and must replace existing two modules. Cable port is of the old fashioned, difficult-to-attach design...no "easy connect" adaptor. No fire wire port; No HDMI output. The power adapter gives off lots of heat...and that means energy consumption...

Ok So I was ready to return it on day 2 LOL So much to figure out and so little time... I have zero patience for tech stuff.I use this puter for my business which is on line requiring pic downloads and lots of copy and paste to web site. Now it is day 5 and I am seriously loving it!Once you figure it out, the time saved doing these tasks is beyond belief! Having all the windows open at once is fantastic.I can copy text into a sticky note , then copy to my web page in seconds. I thought the speed of the puter was much slower than my old Gateway, not so, it turned out to be AOL. I can probably stop paying for AOL( which has recently been a real drag) now that I can open lots of windows at once with Explorer and so much more! I have yet to figure out the TV set up, set up my speakers and woofer wrong evidently as I only get sound with the radio on.Minor adjustment I am sure. I was more interested in getting my biz up and running. I am looking forward to playing with all the other toys, there are many. I have been a Gateway fan for many years. Loved their site and personal touch with phone access especially when purchasing. Now that they did away with all that, I researched All In Ones and this seemed to be the most favored although the Gateway was rated faster.Please beware however, Amazon does not refund full amount on returns! 85%. I saw a HP ALL IN one on QVC today and it was cheaper, 30 day full return, support, 3 yr McAfee, payment plan etc. Today only, check it out!

UPDATE Jan 26 2010. Ok, The HP keyboard and mouse drove me nuts.The mouse was far to sensitive.Like driving a car with too much play in the steering wheel.The keyboard was too small and not a comfortable placement for your wrists. I went back to my beloved wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse and am quite happy :)

I am not disappointed so far with this computer. It was very easy to set up. I think Windows 7 has some kinks to work out and any problems I am experiencing now is due to Windows 7 and not to the computer. It has some very nice features, very few cords. One of the neat features is a light which shines down onto your keyboard. The light has some different power settings and can even be turned off. The touch screen can be helpful but so far I have not found a good way to tap into the upper right corner of the screen to exit out of a program. Have not read all of the instructions yet, so there may be an easy way.

HP TouchSmart 600 review. I can only blame myself for buying something trendy and cool looking. Flys and bugs are attracted to the screen and can open docs by landing on it so if you live in the country this is not the PC for you. What a hassle. Also I purchased 2 of these and 1 of the screens is dramatically distorted after only 6 months of very light use. You can buy a very good computer for this kind of money and I suggest you keep looking. HP brought this to market way to early and the design and function needs a few more years for them to get it right and unless HP can get Steve Jobs and Mac's design team to come work for them I would avoid this purchase at all cost. Works well for movies as it far better suited as a TV! Bad for business PC and the system should be renamed TouchDumb.

I had high hopes for this product. Other reviews said that the HP touch software made this the touch screen to get over Sony. The product was easy to set up and I was up and running in no time. I started playing with the TouchSmart apps right away. It was a little sluggish but acceptable. The Hulu app kept telling me that there was an update. I would select update and the new hulu app would download and install. Next time I went into hulu the same thing happened...over and over. I spent over two hours on the phone with HP tech support. Very nice people but they could not solve this issue. They had me re-install the OS and it still happened. I went to google and there seem to be many folks with this same issue. I decided Hulu was not all that important right now.

This morning I get a notification that there are some TouchSmart updated from HP and would I like to install them. Sure. I initiate the updates. After about 10 minutes I get an alert that setup.exe could not be found. Please make sure that it is where it is suppose to be. The updates failed. I guess I can try to resolve but this is starting to feel more like a science experiment and not a finished consumer product.

Couldn't decide between an Mac or PC to replace a useless Dell Hybrid. Chose this due to features and cost, plus HP has always been a good brand no matter what I buy. Didn't really buy this for the touchscreen, mainly the other features which have performed flawlessly. Blu-Ray looks pretty awesome on the 23" screen. Has that wet appearance that you see on higher end HDTV's. I've read the reviews about the noise, but ours doesn't make any sound at all. Maybe it's because it's in a well ventilated corner of the room plus I don't play games on it. One drawback is that I had to reload all my office programs and of course some had reached their use limit for the serial keys (thanks Microsquish for being such penny pinchin hoods).
All in all, couldn't be happier and you can't beat the price on Amazon. If it is a little high, throw it in your cart and then wait for the price to drop again. Got this nearly $300 cheaper than normal. Just have to watch it and grab it when the price drops. For the price point, I'll wait to get a Mac when they offer some better features for their crazy prices.

You will thank me dearly for this advice: do not buy this or any HP Touchsmart model. It has a major over heating issue with its graphic card and motherboard. While you are Working the screen starts flickering and turns black. You need to shut it down to cool to work again and that on normal applications, forget about heavy graphics games it wont last a minute. Just search HP support "black screen" and you will find hordes of people complaining about this issue.

HP I am very disappointed with your quality.