Hasta La Gadget!

We admittedly didn’t initially get the point of HP’s new “Recline” family of all-in-ones. Sure, we understood the concept well enough; these machines use a patent-pending hinge allowing the touchscreen to hang off the table, close to your lap. But we couldn’t understand why HP would opt for such a funky design, other than the fact that its research team concluded a good deal of people would prefer to use their desktops this way. (We’re skeptical of marketing departments, can’t you tell?) It turns out, a lap-screen is the sort of feature you really do want, even if you don’t know it yet.

Setting aside that onscreen piano example in the above photo — now that’s a gimmick — we found we had a much easier time interacting with IE and Maps app than we would have if the screen were upright. In part, that’s because having the 1080p display sitting lower and at that particular angle makes it easier to type on the onscreen keyboard, which in turn takes the pain out of entering URLs and search terms. Also, though, the lower the screen is, the more you’re likely to interact with it like a tablet — a very big tablet, but a tablet nonetheless. That means you might even find yourself using two hands at once, as opposed to reaching up occasionally to swipe with your finger. Our only gripe? There’s no physical Start button, so you’ll have to either swipe the Charms bar or pause to hit the shortcut on your keyboard. Not a big deal, but it does mean the tablet experience might not feel as seamless as what you’d expect from a proper slate. If we’ve convinced you to take a closer look, the Recline 23 and 27 are both available today, though if you’d rather have it with a red hinge (and even more Beats branding than usual) you’ll have to wait until November. %Gallery-slideshow83364%

Filed under: Desktops, HP

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The folks at HP have introduced a new set of monitors this week, starting with the HP Pavilion 23tm, a 23-inch diagonal touch monitor made for Windows 8. This device works with 5-point multi-touch and is made, as HP says, for collaboration, productivity, and connectivity alike. Meanwhile the HP ENVY 23 IPS monitor is made […]

HP has just announced the HP Envy 23, a 23” IPS monitor that will ensure your small screen content will be able to bat with the big leagues. It is capable of delivering edge-to-edge presentation of all your games, movies, and content including Beats Audio sound, all in a stunning IPS display. After all, you are able to hook up a range of devices and seamlessly stream content from your phone or tablet over to the 23-inch diagonal display, thanks to a singular VGA and a pair of HDMI inputs. (more…)

HP Envy 23 IPS Monitor original content from Ubergizmo.

HP just announced a series of funky-looking all-in-ones, but unfortunately, that press shot up there doesn’t really do the unique design justice. Like most modern desktops, the Recline PC, as it’s called, has an articulating stand so you can use it in tabletop mode, at a near-flat angle. In this case, though, HP’s also incorporated a patent-pending hinge that allows you to use it with the touchscreen hanging off the table, close to your lap. (HP’s market research team found there are people who would prefer to use their all-in-one this way.) Et voilà! That’s why this thing is named the Recline: you can position it with the touchscreen half off the desk, and it won’t topple over because the PC’s center of gravity is halfway between the base and the display.

Available in 23- and 27-inch screen sizes, the Recline will be available with a mix of Haswell processors, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage (sometimes paired with an SSD), a 1GB NVIDIA GT 730A GPU, Beats Audio and 1080p displays. All of the configurations will have 802.11ac WiFi and the Recline 27 in particular adds NFC. As an added bonus, you also get 50GB of free lifetime storage through Box.com. Additionally — because HP would do something like this — the company will also sell a special Beats-branded version with a red hinge (pictured above). That version will be available with a 23-inch screen only, and will feature slightly lesser specs (a Core i3 CPU and less RAM to start).%Gallery-slideshow77215%

Filed under: Desktops, Displays, HP

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HP is bringing you their newest Full HD monitor, the EliteDisplay E221c. Aimed at business users, this new 21.5-inch IPS LED-backlight monitor provides 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 7ms (GTG) response time and 178/178 degree viewing angles. Not to mention, it also comes with a 720p HD webcam with dual microphones and built-in speakers, and and has D-Sub, DVI-D and DisplayPort connectors. The EliteDisplay E221c sells for $219. [HP]