HP Omni 27 Quad

Hewlett-Packard's Omni 27 doesn't match Apple's highest-end iMac in display resolution, but for anyone interested in using a Windows all-in-one as an entertainment hub, you will immediately appreciate the benefits of the Omni 27's large 1,920x1,080-pixel screen.

With Windows 8 and other 27-inch all-in-ones on the horizon, you might be wise to put off any new PC purchase. Also consider that HP is asking $1,249 for the Omni 27, a rather high premium given the middling components surrounding its display.

If I were in the market today for a large-screen all-in-one to stick in a den, a dorm room, or any other place I might want both a computer and a large screen, the HP Omni 27 is the best Windows-based pick right now in terms of screen size. The patient and the value-conscious should wait for the 27-inch all-in-one market to develop later this year.

It will be interesting to see how all-in-one segmentation evolves once 27-inch screens become more common. So far, every Windows vendor but Sony regularly comes in under $1,699, the price of Apple's most affordable 27-inch iMac. Will 27-inch screens change that equation?

It's reasonable that HP, Lenovo, or Samsung might charge more for a 27-inch all-in-one than for their existing 23-inch models. But if that $1,699 ceiling remains (presumably imposed by big-box retailers like Best Buy), then 27-inchers may take over the $1,000-to-$1,400 territory, pushing prices on 23-inch models down even further into prices below $1,000, and potentially driving prices down even further on 21.5-inch and 20-inch models. It's not inconceivable that those smaller-screen all-in-ones might disappear altogether.

Regardless of future developments, if you buy this HP now, you'll get to enjoy all the wonders of large-screen computing. I was taken with the first 27-inch iMac; sitting in front of the Omni 27 engenders a similar feeling of expansiveness. It's hard not to get drawn in simply by the size of the display.

Still, the Omni 27's wide-open spaces are not as finely resolved as those of the 27-inch iMac. The HP's 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution looks great, but the iMac's 2,560x1,440-pixel screen offers more room to organize different application windows, and provides better overall image fidelity for photo editors, designers, and other visually oriented professionals. For general consumers, the Omni 27's 1080p-equivalent resolution will be enough. Professionals should still look to Apple for a standalone high-resolution monitor.

Unlike the 27-inch all-in-ones due out from Lenovo, Samsung, and others later this year, the Omni 27 does not have a touch screen. That hasn't stopped HP from including its Magic Canvas software from its TouchSmart all-in-one line.

The benefits of Magic Canvas aren't that apparent without touch input. It gives you a virtually wider desktop screen, to which you can pin application and document shortcuts. I suppose that's useful if you really hate launching applications or opening file folders, but as long as you're still using a mouse, without touch input, it seems like an invitation to icon clutter more than anything else. Magic Canvas does no real harm here, since you can simply turn it off and ignore it, but it isn't much of a selling point.

Far more important for this system is its HDMI input. Unlike every other PC vendor selling all-in-ones, HP has decided to monetize the HDMI input, charging you an extra $50 to add what it calls the "HDMI Game Console" in its online configurator. This is a misnomer. It's simply an option for a generic HDMI input, and a set of controls that lets you swap the Omni's display to whatever HDMI-compatible video source device you might have connected to it, be it a game console, a cable box, or something else.

With the 27-inch screen, this HDMI input is particularly useful, since it lets you use the Omni 27 as a true home entertainment hub. The option is accounted for in the $1,249 price of our review unit. Just know that where HP charges extra for it, other all-in-one vendors often include HDMI-in as a standard feature, along with a variety of other video-ins and -outs that let you use the Omni 27 as a second monitor. Lenovo's IdeaCentre B520, for example, has HDMI-in, HDMI-out, and composite video-in.

The IdeaCentre B520 actually creates an interesting contrast with the Omni 27 in terms of overall value. As you can see above, the Lenovo system costs about the same price as the HP, but has vastly better computing components. Where the Lenovo is a credible gaming- and performance-oriented all-in-one thanks to its Core i7 CPU and 2GB midrange Nvidia graphics card, the HP and its Core i5 chip and embedded graphics will have difficulty running current-generation PC games, especially at full resolution.

In effect, this comparison illustrates that HP is charging roughly $300 for the privilege of its large display. I wouldn't expect HP to give away such a large screen for free, but understand that you don't get as much computer here as you'll get from 23-inchers in the same price range. Again, I'm interested to see how all of this pricing and configuration calculus will shake out once more 27-inch all-in-ones hit the market later this year.

Cinebench 11.5
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Rendering multiple CPUs

Rendering single CPU

Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 (3.4GHz Core i7, June 2011)

5.97 

1.45 

Sony Vaio L-Series (2GHz Core i7, April 2011)

5.33 

1.24 

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz Core i5, November 2011)

4.91 

1.25 

HP TouchSmart 620 (3.1GHz Core i5, October 2011)

4.91 

1.25 

Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz Core i5, May 2011)

4.88 

1.3 

HP Omni 27 Quad (2.5GHz Core i5, February 2012)

4.15 

1.26 

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (2.5GHz Core i5, May 2011)

3.96 

1.25 

Our performance testing shows the extent to which the Omni 27 lags behind other $1,000-plus all-in-ones. Aside from a decent outing on Photoshop CS 5, HP's new all-in-one comes in at or near the bottom on every test. As long as you don't try to play games or execute demanding processing tasks, you shouldn't really mind this PC's relatively slow speeds, but if performance is a priority for you, you should look past the large screen to another system.

Fortunately, the Omni 27 is capable enough to handle virtually any media playback task. In conjunction with the large screen, the slot-loading Blu-ray player offers a crisp image that looks great even at a distance. The audio output also gets loud enough to cross a room without losing its integrity. Like most higher-end HP systems, the Omni 27 comes with the inconsequential Beats Audio software.

For other ports, the Omni 27 has a pair of USB 3.0 jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a few audio outs, and an Ethernet port. USB 3.0 is welcome, but as stated earlier, the absence of video ports other than the HDMI input hurts.

HP includes a basic one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the Omni 220. You also get 24-7 toll-free phone support and a variety of support resources are available on HP's Web site, as well as on the system itself.

Conclusion
The HP Omni 27 is unique among Windows-based all-in-ones for its large display. Other than that, this is only an average computer, with middling features for its price tag. The screen might be enough for some, but with other vendors' 27-inch all-in-ones due in a few months, waiting for the field to develop is the most value-conscious strategy.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:
Apple iMac 27-inch
Apple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7; 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 (second generation); 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB ATI Radeon HD 6970M graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Dell Inspiron One 2320
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2400S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce 525M graphics card; 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP Omni 27 Quad
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2400S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 64MB Intel HD Graphics 1000 (embedded); 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP TouchSmart 620
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-2400; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6670A graphics card; 1.5TB 5,400rpm hard drive

Lenovo IdeaCentre B520
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-2600; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 555 graphics card; 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Sony Vaio L-Series
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2GHz Intel Core i7-2360QM; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M; 2TB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive