HP Omni 200 5380qd

 

The HP Omni 200 demonstrated stellar performance across our application tests. The Acer Aspire Z5700-U3112 might have a CPU with a faster core clock speed, but the combination of the HP's discrete graphics card, 6GB of RAM, and a CPU with twice the cache as that of the Acer pushed the Omni ahead of its older competition on ever test. The only exception came with our multimedia multitasking test, in which Apple's iMac ) (rumored to be replaced soon), continues to lead. Among Windows 7 PCs, the HP comes in second on our multitasking test, and overall it will provide sufficient performance to handle any mainstream task you throw its way.

All-in-one desktops may often boast touch screens these days, but we're glad to see HP offer a competitive alternative for those content with a traditional mouse-and-keyboard interface. The unflashy $949 HP Omni 200 5380qd might lack a touch screen, but it makes up for it with fast application performance and competent home entertainment capabilities. We might like to see a larger display for this price, but even with only a 21.5-inch LCD, this all-in-one will meet the needs of most mainstream home users content to ignore the touch-screen bandwagon.

The overall design of the Omni 200 suggests inviting simplicity. The matte black plastic chassis features rounded edges and a sturdy-feeling heft. It's not as elegant as an iMac, but the Omni also doesn't feel fragile. Even though you won't be touching the screen directly, the Omni still gives the impression that it can withstand the occasional bumps and general rigors of service in a multiperson usage environment.

While HP isn't the only vendor to stick with a 21.5-inch screen in a midrange all-in-one desktop, the list is certainly smaller than those that offer 23-inch displays in the same price range. Acer, Dell, Gateway, and Lenovo, among other vendors, all have 23-inch touch-screen all-in-ones starting at $800 or so, which leaves HP with only Apple and Sony in the 21.5-inch minority. The smaller screens match the 23-inchers in offering 1,920 x 1,080 display resolution, but if we were shopping for an all-in-one to serve as a den or dorm room entertainment device, we'd still prefer the larger display for better viewing at a distance. 

We don't have a perfect direct comparison for the Omni 200 5380qd among our previously reviewed all-in-ones, but we can take a look at a few near-recent models to see how the HP's value proposition matches up with those of a few older PCs.

The HP's screen might be the smallest of three systems, but its graphics card is the fastest. It also boasts a fast Intel Core i5 CPU, which translates in our benchmark charts below to some of the best all-in-one performance we've ever seen. The 1TB hard drive seems to the de facto universal standard for now, and while we might also like to see a Blu-ray drive in the HP for this price, the Omni's smaller screen would make it hard to distinguish Blu-ray quality over that of standard definition DVDs. HP certainly saves costs with the small, non-touch display, but also seems able to pass those savings on to customers by way of faster computing components.

Given the better-than-average AMD Radeon HD 5570 graphics card in the Omni, we also tried a few recent games on the HP, with great success. We tried Crysis 2 and Metro 2033, two demanding first-person shooters, and both games were quite playable at full resolution and better-than-minimum graphics quality settings. This PC's gaming prowess has its limits, and if you push the graphics quality too high, you will run into choppy frame rates, but we expect that for at least the foreseeable future, the HP Omni 200 will run any game you care to play with acceptable smoothness and image quality.

With no Blu-ray drive, no TV tuner, and no HDMI video input, the HP's other multimedia capabilities aren't much to speak of. You don't even get a secondary display jack or digital audio outputs. It will play HD video from the Web with no problem, but otherwise, this is not the best PC if you're looking to integrate it with other computing or home entertainment hardware. You don't even get digital audio outputs. The only connectivity options include a smattering of USB ports, and a set of 5.1 analog audio jacks. We like to see a bit more connection variety in our all-in-one PCs, but given its under-the-hood capabilities, we're willing to let slide the absence of eSATA, FireWire, or other ports.