What's on the marketI have been looking for a touch screen All-in-One computer for a while ever since I saw the ASUS EEE Top AIO, but never made up my mind because of the slow single core Atom.
Atom processor is great for the price, but the upgrade ability is just bad with Asus EEE top (15.6") or MSI Wind Top (AE1900 with N270).
MSI AE1900 is actually better choice than EEE Top 1602 as it has optical built-in which is great for kids to play DVD based games. But the memory is not upgradeable which I confirmed by took it apart.
ASUS ET2002 looks nice but touch screen is optional. Without touch, it's already around $700 with Atom Dual core + Ion and 2 GB DDR2. AE1900 has new model with Dual Atom and 2GB, but it priced almost $650 yet doesn't come with wireless Keyboard/Mouse cools down the deal.
For $700+, there are getting close to full speed AIO without the crippled Atom. HP long has Touchsmart AIO with Core2Duo available, but price is easily $1000+ with 20" touch screen. Multi-touch indeed for Windows 7, but if you need something with a little better spec, HP can go up to $1600+ as well. $1000 gets you the basic, no more, no less. Dell's Studio 18 started with $799 only. Sounds nice, but everything with Dell are also extra. Multi-touch is $150+ extra, wifi is extra and even Windows 7 for the multi-touch is extra. Not to mention wireless keyboard/mouse are all extra. The worse with Dell is, the extra $30 for wireless keyboard can get you a whole set of item you are about to upgrade at retail price. For example, if you go with Dell wireless keyboard/mouse for $30 extra, they will not ship the original wired keyboard/mouse, but the wireless only. You might as well buy the wire set, then upgrade it yourself from retail store. This applies to not just keyboard/mouse, but also to memory, hard drive as well. When everything added for what I wanted with Dell, it's already $1000+ yet with only 2GB memory and 320GB hard drive.
Gateway (Acer) announced multi-touch AIO about 2 months ago (ZX6800, 4800). It looks nice on the spec sheet, but I thought it will take forever to get here in Vancouver. I was wrong, it's here on Nov 7, 2009 on Futureshop's flyer for $999. What's even more exciting is the spec of the computer that it included that's unbelievable compare to HP/Dell's offering.
What's in ZX6800-09C
CPU - First and the most, it comes with Intel Core2Quad Q8200 @ 2.33ghz at 45nm.
Memory - When most of the AIO comes with DDR2 2~4GB memory, ZX6800 comes with 4GB DDR3. From the reading of CPU-Z, it has 2 empty slot in the system that I can easily make it 8GB DDDR3 if desired.
Hard Drive - Now it's the interesting part, it comes with 1TB SATA drive. As reported by Engadget, it has optional 64GB SSD on top of the 1TB Hard Drive. What that means, ZX6800 has the reserved 2.5" SATA hard drive space in the housing. When SSD price coming down like this, it's possible to put an extra 2.5" SSD in there to make it even faster for booting Windows.
I have confirmed in the BIOS that it does have an un-used SATA.
Video - This is the only weak part of this AIO. Intel 4500 MHD. My $350 laptop comes with this video. While it's adequate for a small laptop/netbook at 9~11", with ZX6800 beautiful 1920x1800 23" LCD, it's not enough for sure. However, while Gateway designed the ZX6800, the spec can go up to Radeon HD4670 Mobility chip. Therefore, there's a small chance I can find a expansion card just like found on some higher end laptop and upgrade it with it if one day I can't stand the video performance.
LCD - 23" Multi-touch with 1920x1080 resolution. This might not be the biggest touch screen on the market, but it makes HP's Smarttouch (20") and Dell's (18.5") looks really bad. Almost 5" more multi-touch LCD with double or triple the specification of Dell Studio 18, this ZX6800 is a no brainer.
Network - 10/100/1000 RJ45 with WiFi b/g/n as well as bulit-in Bluetooth.
Keybard/Mouse - Both wireless with small usb transmitter.
Others - It comes with 6 USB (2 side, 4 back), 1 eSATA, WebCam, Microphone built-in. Slot loading DVD super-multi optical drive, Earphone Audio plug, external Microphone jack. 1 memory card reader under DVD for reading SD/Pro Duo flash memories. There are also audio jacks in the back that I believe for surround sound speakers. Finally, it comes with 2 small LED lights that points directly at the keyboard which is a very nice touch. It has 3 modes that you can select between lights to keyboard and stands or stands only or to keyboard only.
First impression
Acer bought Gateway a while back. You can see how Gateway website was affected by Acer. They simply made it much worse than how they used to be. There I said it. Although I am a long time Acer user, I am not a fan. Acer is bad with their website design. Now this gets to Gateway as well. They don't have a dedicated website for different countries, which is fine. But they don't even have enough information for their own product on their website. Zx6800-09c is not even found on their website. Zx6800-o1 is the only model there. Now this also applies to their documentation. Most of the computer comes with a big colorful printout helping customers to hook up or turn on their computer/laptop. Gateway did the same, but half-ass style. As a computer guy, I thought I never need to read something like that, but I was wrong. First, the power button is the chrome Gateway plate on the left of the screen. Not like other AIO, there's usually a I/O button. Nice touch, but I got confused and have to read the print out. 2nd is about the wireless Keyboard/Mouse. While I thought it might have a built RF receiver or simply using Bluetooth, this wireless keyboard/mouse come with usb receiver as shown on the big print out. However, it DOES NOT tell you where that USB receiver is. I have to dig the manual for keyboard/mouse to find the receiver is actually hidden inside the mouse battery cover.
More to come.....
