Gadgetory

what do you think of when you hear the word PC chances are you might think of a beige box that sits under an equally beige monitor or if you're a gamer you might think of a crazy contraption that's got neon lights and liquid cooling but as we've seen with laptops recently the PC doesn't have to be ugly boring or without any design at all like laptops the all in one has gone through a renaissance with new designs that are both attractive and functional and offer new ways to use the machine now more or less started with Microsoft Surface studio last year it's a 28 inch all-in-one computer that can convert into a drafting table for digital artists it's stunning to look at and it really changes your perceptions of what both a PC can look like and what it can do when Microsoft isn't the only company rolling out these new head-turning all-in-one designs and if you are in a digital artist the three thousand dollar plus surface studio probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense for you even if it does look beautiful both HP and Dell have announced new computers this year that have designs that would make even the most die-hard Apple fans take notice they also have unique hardware features whether it's an ultra wide display or crazy multi speaker sound system this is Dells new XPS 27 all-in-one it packs a sharp vibrant 4k display that also covers 100% of Adobe's RGB color space which if you're a designer you know is important to have for accurate colors the XPS 27 is a lot like an iMac and that all of its computer parts are crammed behind the display now below the screen is Dells unique Hardware feature a 10 speaker sound bar that's powered by 250 watt amplifiers our unit has a 6th generation Core i7 processor 16 gigabytes of RAM 512 gigabyte SSD and AMD sr9 and 470 X graphics card it sells for about $2,800 but even if you get the entry-level model that costs $1500 you still get a 4k display and the 10 speaker sound system and most of the specs you need for everyday stuff the 34 inch curved HP Envy all-in-one is a completely different beast it's got a massive 34 inch curved display that virtually floats above its base now it's not 4k it's got 38 40 by 1440 pixels the rest and it's not a touchscreen but it's got a matte finish and it's really pleasant to look at and the curved design just envelops you with Windows games videos or whatever now curved televisions kind of suck a curb monitor is awesome because you're always sitting in the sweet spot HP put all the computer parts in the Envy's base this model costs about two thousand dollars and it has a seventh generation Core i7 processor sixteen gigabytes of RAM a 256 gigabyte SSD and a one terabyte hard drive and an AMD Radeon rx 460 graphics card the base also has is four speakers that fire up at you and on top of it is a touch control for volume and play and pause on the back and the sides are loads of ports including HDMI in and out there's even a spot to wirelessly charge your smartphone now one of the coolest things of the HP is the windows hello webcam which you can hide from the NSA when you're not using it both of these machines are fine for everyday tasks and computing they boot up quickly and responsive to use they also have a powerful desktop processor so they're good for photo editing and multitasking but neither of them are really great for gaming if you do want a game occasionally I would go with the HP it's lower resolution screen a more capable graphics card worked better in our tests and despite both HP and Dell boasting about the sound systems on these neither of them sound all that great and they really lack bass I'd add a subwoofer to either of them also amusing despite the fact that these machines cost fifteen hundred dollars and sometimes a lot more they come with some of the worst mice and keyboards I've ever used seriously Dell and HP stop putting this garbage in with your computers it sucks but despite those flaws these new computers from Dell HP and Microsoft prove that the PC doesn't have to be boring or ugly or doesn't have any design and in fact it can look really cool on your desk and I kind of want this one because it looks awesome which if you're a designer you know is important to have for accurate colors it's also a touchscreen so you can interact with your fingers on it interact why don't you give that second line up right you the whole thing over again that's it yeah boom boy good