Toshiba PX35t-A2306 All-in-One Desktop

Pros HDMI-In. Good performance. Minimal styling. Fits in to most decor.

Cons No Blu-ray. Odd shaped mouse. No 5GHz 802.11 Wi-Fi support. Some pre-loaded software. Bottom Line The Toshiba PX35t-A2306 All-in-One Desktop is a solid choice if you're in the market for a Windows 8 touch PC. However, though sufficient, there's not a lot to elevate it enough above the pack.

By Joel Santo Domingo

The Toshiba PX35t-A2306 All-in-One Desktop ($1,191.99 list) is a solid, well priced Windows 8 touch PC. If you get one, it will serve you well for the five to seven years (or more) that most people hold on to PCs these days. It's better than many, but not quite enough become the next top dog among the mainstream all-in-one desktops.

Design and Features
The PX35t-A2306 is a fairly understated all-in-one desktop, it looks very much like a 23-inch HDTV, and its 1,920 by 1,080 resolution touch screen ensures that you can watch full HD videos in native resolution. The screen takes up most of the front façade, with just enough bezel around the screen to activate off-screen gestures like brining up the Charms menu in Windows 8. This is a more responsive and versatile senor than the IR touch display on the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23-F260XT AIO ($999). There's a silver bar at the bottom of the screen suggesting a speaker bar, but the built-in speakers with DTS sound are bottom firing. Sound from these stereo speakers won't fill a room, but they are adequate for most PC uses. The system is on a stand, which gives the user a spot to stow the keyboard under the screen. The screen has a decent tilt for sitting and standing users, but no height adjustment, and you can't lay the system flat for touch use. The current Editors' Choice Vizio 27-inch All-in-One Touch PC (CA27T-B1) ($1,549) goes the other direction with styling that stands out.

The PX35t-A2306 has an ultrabook-class Intel Core i5-3230M processor, 8GB of system memory, and a 1TB hard drive. With the 8GB of memory and 1TB hard drive, you have enough extra overhead to make sure the average user won't find herself in a situation where she runs out of either for a good five years. Also adding to the longevity are the system's DVD burner and HDMI-in port. The DVD burner will come in handy those rare times you have to re-rip a CD so you can put it on your smartphone, and the HDMI-in port will help extend the utility of the built in display. You can hook a cable box up to the HDMI in port or use it with a laptop or desktop PC once the internal components have inevitably become obsolete.

The PX35t-A2306 comes with a few pre-loaded utilities, including Amazon, Toshiba Book Place. WildTangent games, Stumbleupon, eBay, iHeartRadio, Netflix, Vimeo, Skype, Hulu Plus, a Deal app, Evernote Touch, Norton Internet Security (30-days), News Place, Origin (games store), a trial for Microsoft Office, and a few other Toshiba utilities. While par for the course for a retail system, budget an hour or so to get rid of the ones you don't use, or be prepared to see their tiles every time you boot your PC. The PX35t-A2306 comes with a one-year warranty.

Performance
The PX35t-A2306 exhibits average to above average performance for an all-in-one desktop, thanks to its Core i5-3230M processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of memory, and 7,200rpm drive. It lags the Vizio CA 27T-B1, since the more expensive Vizio has a Core i7 processor and a caching SSD. Likewise, the Asus Transformer AIO (P1801-B037K) ($1,299) and Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Late 2012) ($1,299) both have Nvidia discrete graphics for better 3D performance. That said, overall the PX35t-A2306 has the power to keep most moderately fussy users happy for several years of service life.

The Toshiba PX35t-A2306 is a nice all-in-one desktop. It has enough power and features to keep most users happy for the five to seven years that they would keep the system before considering an upgrade. That said, other systems like the Editors' Choice Vizio CA27T-B1 and Apple iMac have better features and performance that outshine the unassuming Toshiba. Solid, yes, but the PX35t-A2306 doesn't surpass the Vizio CA27T-B1 or Apple iMac 21.5-inch enough to get a higher score, nor the top spot.

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Hands-on: Acer's 24-inch all-in-one Android desktop

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Lenovo reveals the Flex laptop series, a pair of new Yogas, and the Flex 20 all-in-one PC

Lenovo makes more noise at IFA today, announcing two new ThinkPad Yoga models, the Flex thin-and-light series, and the Flex 20 portable all-in-one PC. Each of four new PCs will feature fourth-generation Intel Core processors (aka Haswell), but the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro is the most interesting, thanks to its 13-inch display that delivers an eye-popping resolution of 3200-by-1800-pixels.

The Yoga 2 Pro feature’s the now-familiar dual-hinge design that allows the display to be oriented into four modes: Tent, stand, tablet, and laptop. But unlike previous models, this one will boast a 13-inch multi-touch display with native resolution of 3200 by 1800 pixels. The new chassis is also thinner and lighter than previous models, measuring 0.61 inches thick and weighing 3.06 pounds.

The Yoga 2 Pro, also pictured above, features a backlit keyboard.

Processor choices will range up to a Core i7 with integrated graphics, coupled with up to 8GB of DDR3 memory. Storage options consist of 128, 256, or 512GB SSDs, and I/O ports include one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, micro HDMI, and an SD/MMC card reader.

The Yoga 2 Pro will be available in October at prices starting at $1100.

The ThinkPad Yoga delivers all the presentation flexibility of the consumer-oriented Yoga in an IT-friendly form factor.

Many corporate IT departments eschew Lenovo’s consumer-oriented IdeaPad product line, a policy that left a lot of suits disappointed that they couldn’t pack the earlier IdeaPad Yoga 11S or Yoga 13 in their briefcases.

That barrier should disappear with the ThinkPad Yoga, a rugged convertible featuring a magnesium-alloy shell, a 12.5-inch Gorilla Glass touchscreen, and a “lift-and-lock” keyboard that automatically retracts the keyboard to present a flush surface when the notebook is placed in tablet mode.

The ThinkPad Yoga will be available with Intel Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7 CPUs and up to 8GB of DDR3/1600 memory. In spite of its 0.74-inch thickness, the machine will be outfitted with a 1TB hard drive as standard equipment, with a 256GB SSD as an available option. The ThinkPad version of the Yoga will be limited to 1920 by 1080 resolution, but it will be available with an optional Wacom pen digitizer. It will also get a better collection of I/O ports, including two USB 3.0 ports and a four-in-one card reader in addition to mini HDMI.

The ThinkPad Yoga will be available in November at prices starting at $949.

It’s easy to mistake the Lenovo Flex, available in 14- and 15-inch configurations, for the Yoga series, but there’s a key difference. The display on the Flex series pivots only 300 degrees. You can position it to face forward to watch a movie or make it easier to use the touchscreen, but you can’t pivot it into tablet mode.

No, that's not a Yoga. It's the Lenovo Flex 14 (unlike it's more limber cousin, its display can pivot only 300 degrees).

The Flex 15’s display delivers full 1920 by 1080 resolution, but the 14-inch model is limited to 1366 by 768 pixels. Discrete Nvidia mobile graphics will be offered as options. Both models will be available with up to Intel Core i7 CPUs and up to 8GB of memory. Storage comes in the form of mechanical hard drives (up to 500GB for the Flex 14, and up to 1TB for the Flex 15), with 16GB SSD cache drives as available options. The Flex line will also be thicker and heavier than the Yoga series, with the 15-inch model measuring 0.87 inches thick and weighing 5.07 pounds.

The Lenovo Flex series will be available later this month at prices starting at $630.

I was quite taken with Lenovo’s 27-inch IdeaCentre Horizon portable all-in-one, but carting a 19-pound computer around the house isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The Flex 20 scales that concept down to a 19.5-inch touchscreen display, shaving more than 10 pounds in the process. Unfortunately, the Flex 20 also scales the resolution down: to 1600 by 900 pixels. On the bright side, it’s compatible with the joysticks, strikers, and e-dice that Lenovo developed for the Horizon.

You might think of the Lenovo Flex 20 as a scaled-down IdeaCentre Horizon 27.

The Flex 20 will be available with up to a Core i7 processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and a 500GB hybrid hard drive with an 8GB SSD cache. I/O ports are limited to two USB 3.0 ports and a headset jack. The all-in-one will have an integrated 720p webcam and stereo speakers. Lenovo says it should be capable of running on battery power for up to three hours.

The Flex 20 will be available later this month at prices starting at $900.

Michael manages PCWorld's hardware product reviews and contributes to TechHive's coverage of home-control systems and sound bars.
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Dell Inspiron One 20 Touch review: An attractive budget all-in-one with unsatisfying peripherals and sound

Dell Inspiron One 20 Touch $699.00 The Dell Inspiron One is a sturdy, non-nonsense all-in-one. But Dell's ho-hum component choices deliver equally ho-hum benchmark performance.

I’m a big fan of Dell’s Inspiron One lineup of all-in-one PCs. These computers manage to be gorgeous, sturdy, and versatile while remaining relatively budget friendly. The Inspiron One 20 reviewed here has a smaller display than the Toshiba, but it costs more than $300 cheaper ($699 as of 8/29/13). It’s equipped with an Intel Core i3-3240T processor; 4GB of DDR3/1600 memory; and a 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive. It also has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, and a 20-inch capacitive touchscreen.

Design-wise, the Inspiron One 20 Touch is tough to beat, though the Toshiba PX35t-A2210 has a slightly more premium look. This all-black AIO features an edge-to-edge glass screen, which gives it a bezel-less appearance and also makes for easy swiping when performing common Windows 8 gestures (such as swiping from the side to pull up the charms bar). The minimalist bezel sports a small, mirrored Dell logo at the bottom and a built-in webcam at the top. The system’s speakers are just below the screen. There are no buttons or ports on the front of the One 20 Touch, these are all relegated to the system’s sides and back.

Dell's Inspiron One 20 Touch boasts a great design, but its performance leaves a bit to be desired.

The One 20 Touch’s great-looking design is slightly marred by its below-average peripherals. The system comes with a wired mouse and keyboard, both of which are utterly basic (though mostly comfortable to use). The keyboard offers very light tactile feedback, which can make accurate typing difficult. The mouse is large but comfortable, and offers an average input experience.

As for performance, the Inspiron One 20 Touch is good, but not great. It will get you through schoolwork and basic entertainment, such as streaming HD movies and playing music, but it won’t handle PC games or media-editing software very well. This Inspiron scores a very average 109 on WorldBench 8.1, which means it’s just nine percent faster than our Acer baseline model . Compared with the other AIOs in this roundup, the One 20 Touch is solidly in the middle – it comes in fourth, but it’s just one point below our third-ranked HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23 (110).

PCWorld's Desktop Worldbench 8.1 benchmark suite measures performance with a number of productivity, creation, and entertainment programs.

In our graphics tests, the One 20 Touch performed as expected: It managed a playable, if far from excellent, 30.7 frames per second on our Dirt Showdown test, and but only 14.8 fps with the more demanding BioShock Infinite (with both games, resolution was set to 1024 by 768 pixels, and image quality was set to Low). In other words, it can handle low-end PC games at an acceptable frame rate, but it’s about as far from a gaming powerhouse as a Commodore 64. HD video looks just okay—there’s quite a bit of artifacting and foreign objects in scenes with a medium amount of motion—and skin tones have a tendency to look burnt and oversaturated. Audio is also somewhat disappointing: The speakers aren’t very loud, and music lacks depth, even when all the software enhancements are turned on.

This chart indicates how well each all-in-one PC performed with a variety of media editing and encoding tasks. If this is an important consideration for your,the PCs with the shorter bars are your best choices. 

The Dell Inspiron One 20 Touch is a nice starter machine for those who like the Inspiron One look and feel. The touchscreen remains one of the better touchscreens that I’ve used, with smooth, accurate touch and a nice glidey feel to the glossy display. I especially like the adjustable stand, the minimalist design, and the overall sturdiness of the chassis. But it has its issues, including cheap, basic peripherals; mediocre performance; and weak speakers.

Editor's note: This all-in-one was reviewed as part of a roundup for back-to-school season. You can read that story, along with reviews of the five all-in-ones we compared it to, here.

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Lenovo C540 Touch review: An excellent budget all-in-one that delivers on performance

Lenovo’s C540 Touch is one of the two best all-in-ones in this roundup. And while I have no significant complaints about the quality of its multitouch display, the manner in which the glass is recessed behind the bezel is disconcerting when you’re sweeping your finger in from the edge to call up the Windows 8 charms bar. The display measures 23 inches diagonally—just like the Acer, HP, and Toshiba models—but it’s mounted to a stand rather than being incorporated into a monolithic frame.

Lenovo pairs the Intel Core i3-3240 CPU with 8GB of DDR3/1600 memory—more than any of the other machines we looked at—and it packs a 1TB, 7200 rpm hard drive inside its somewhat thick chassis. All-in-ones are notoriously difficult to upgrade, so having lots of memory onboard to start is a major benefit.

PCWorld's Desktop Worldbench 8.1 benchmark suite measures performance with a number of productivity, creation, and entertainment programs.

The C540 Touch’s Desktop Worldbench 8.1 score of 129 identifies it as nearly 30-percent faster than our Core i5-powered reference machine, Acer’s Aspire A5600U-UB13 , and just a whisker behind the Toshiba PX35t-A2210. The Lenovo has a faster CPU, which helped it deliver very good media editing and encoding scores, but its weak Intel HD Graphics 2500 integrated GPU left it running in the back of the pack on our gaming benchmarks, producing just 16.1 frames per second with BioShock Infinite, even with the game running at resolution of just 1024 by 768 pixels and with its visual quality set to Low. The Toshiba, which features an Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated GPU, produced this game at a much quicker 26.6 frames per second. Neither experience is ideal, but at least the Toshiba won’t leave you looking at a slideshow.

The recessed display on Lenovo's C540 Touch is a little weird for a touchscreen computer.

Although Lenovo doesn’t have any big-name speaker manufacturers to boast of, the C540 Touch produces surprisingly good sound from its down-firing speakers. Lenovo is rather stingy with the USB 3.0 ports, providing just two on the left side of the display (along with mic and headphone jacks). Four USB 2.0 ports, hardwired gigabit ethernet, and an HDMI input are located in the back. You’ll use two of those rear USB ports to plug in Lenovo’s mouse and keyboard. The mouse is a two-button, bargain-basement cheapie; but the keyboard, while also exceedingly basic, delivers excellent tactile feedback.

It’s tough to say which all-in-one is best, the Toshiba TX35t-A2210 or the Lenovo C540 Touch. The Toshiba looks more attractive and performs better with games, but the Lenovo’s more-powerful CPU and additional memory delivers better performances on our audio-encoding, video-encoding, and image-editing benchmarks. Their Worldbench scores, meanwhile, leave them essentially tied.

Editor's note: This all-in-one was reviewed as part of a roundup for back-to-school season. You can read that story, along with reviews of the five all-in-ones we compared it to, here.

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
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Toshiba PX35t review: This budget all-in-one is quick, stylish and a great choice for the student

Toshiba PX35t-A2210 $930.00 The Toshiba PX35t-A2210 is a relatively powerful all-in-one desktop machine. While it is more expensive than the rest of this field, it delivers the performance and features to back up its price tag.

If looks are your top priority, Toshiba’s PX35t-A2210 ($930 as of 8/30/13) will surely woo you with its slim, attractive design. This 23-inch AIO sports a glossy full HD touchscreen, modern-looking wireless peripherals, and a third-generation Intel Core i3-3120M processor. It also boasts 6GB of DDR3/1600 RAM, built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and a roomy 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive.

There's plenty to like about Toshiba's PX35t-A2210, but its sharply angular mouse isn't one of them.

But looks aren’t everything, and the PX35t-A2210 isn’t just a pretty centerpiece for your desk, it’s also a good all-around performer, delivering a Desktop Worldbench 8.1 score of 131. That means it’s nearly one-third faster than our baseline machine, the Acer Aspire A5600U-UB13 . You won’t mistake the PX35t-A2210 for a top-of-the-line gaming machine, but it’ll do just fine managing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations; surfing the Web and checking email; and streaming HD clips from Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube.

The PX35t-A2210 relies on the Intel HD 4000 Graphics processor integrated into its CPU, rather than a discrete graphics card, but it can still handle many graphics-related tasks without falling over and dying. It outperformed the rest of the field with our BioShock Infinite benchmark, for instance, delivering the game at 26.6 frames per second (albeit with resolution of just 1024 by 768 pixels and image quality at Low). It took a first-place finish with Dirt Showdown, too, delivering the game at 47 frames per second (here again, with resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels and image quality set to low). This PC won’t have any problem with less visually intense games, such as MMORPGs. Simpler photo- and video-editing tasks won’t be an issue, either.

The Desktop Worldbench 8.1 chart is repeated here, so you don't have to have to go back to the previous page to see an overall performance snapshot.

Toshiba outfitted the PX35t-A2210 with a glossy 23-inch multitouch screen with native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. It’s a very good display, but it’s not perfect. While it’s extremely bright, and images look crisp and clear on it, colors look a little dull and whites have a yellowish tint. It’s also not the most accurate touchscreen I’ve used. There were several moments in my testing when I accidentally hit the link below the one I was trying to tap. Multitouch gestures are smooth and seamless, but the glass has an ever-so-slightly tacky feeling to it, which can make gliding across its surface a little tough. But it’s a much better input device than the PX35t-A2210’s mouse, which is a modern-looking angular thing that felt uncomfortable and sharp in my hand. The keyboard, meanwhile, delivers shallow tactile feedback but accurate typing.

The Toshiba PX35t-A2210 is attractive, usable, and relatively powerful. It’s a great choice for college students looking to balance work and play, since it performs basic administrative tasks with ease and can also play streaming HD video without a hitch. It has excellent Harman/Kardon speakers (with a Sleep and Music feature that lets you play your digital media player through them), and an ample collection of other I/O ports: Four USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, and one HDMI input (so you can plug in a cable/satellite set-top box or a videogame console).

Editor's note: This all-in-one was reviewed as part of a roundup for back-to-school season. You can read that story, along with reviews of the five all-in-ones we compared it to, here.

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HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23-f260xt review: This clunky-looking budget all-in-one will save you money and space

HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23-f260xt $800.00 HP resurrected the all-in-one concept many years ago, but there's nothing particularly great about this model. Here's hoping the company shakes the industry up again soon.

I love the sturdy, rectangular stands on the Toshiba and Dell all-in-ones, but I must admit they’re not exactly space efficient. HP’s Pavilion TouchSmart 23, which costs $800 as of 8/29/13, might not be the most attractive AIO of the bunch, but its signature picture-frame design certainly helps it take up less desktop real estate, which is always a plus if you’re trying to fit a 23-inch TouchScreen AIO on a cramped dorm-room desk.

The HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23’s design is functional, if not very sexy. The system has a glossy 23-inch touchscreen, which is surrounded by a slim bezel under edge-to-edge glass. Around this bezel is another bezel that’s thicker and fabricated from matte-black plastic. A silver metal frame is wrapped around this, extending past the bottom of the screen (where the speakers are located) to rest on your desktop. The entire system is propped up via an easel-like stand, which is sturdy, space-efficient, and easy to adjust.

HP's Pavilion TouchSmart is a well-built all-in-one, but a middle-of-the-road performer.

The biggest issue with this design is that it’s just not very attractive. While the Toshiba and the Dell look like they’re floating in midair, the TouchSmart 23 just looks clunky. And don’t even get me started on the bezel-within-a-bezel look.

Design issues aside, the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23 is a solidly average performer, with a Intel Core i3-3220T processor; 6GB of DDR3/1600 memory; and 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive working together to deliver a Desktop Worldbench 8.1 score of 110. Like the other systems in this roundup, the TouchSmart 23 is good for schoolwork and basic entertainment, but not great for graphics-intensive editing or high-resolution gaming. In our Dirt Showdown graphics test (1024 by 768 pixels, image quality at Low), the TouchSmart 23 managed a barely playable 32.5 frames per second. Its BioShock Infinite performance, at the same settings, was worse: just 15.9 frames per second.

None of the all-in-ones delivered great gaming performances, but some machines were definitely better than others.

The TouchSmart 23 display resolution is the typical 1920 by 1080 resolution. It looks good: Images and text are crisp and colors are accurate, but I couldn’t shake the perception that video looked dull on this machine. Perhaps I’m used to looking at oversaturated, strangely vibrant screens, but the TouchSmart 23 just seemed to lack oomph. It is, on the other hand, a very good touchscreen, with smooth, accurate touch and a slick, sensitive surface.

The system also boasts a very usable wired USB keyboard, with flat, island-style keys, excellent feedback, and a comfortable feel. It’s a bit loud, but had no problem typing quickly and accurately on it. The mouse, which is also a wired USB model, felt just a little less comfortable. Its shiny, curved form factor isn’t very ergonomically designed, and it felt a bit awkward in my hand.

PCWorld's Desktop Worldbench 8.1 benchmark suite measures performance with a number of productivity, creation, and entertainment programs.

HP’s Pavilion TouchSmart 23 is a sturdy-looking computer with a slim, space-saving design. Although it lacks the minimalist sexiness that many other AIOs boast, it’s a solid performer with decent peripherals, a good port selection (including two USB 3.0 ports), and acceptable performance.

Editor's note: This all-in-one was reviewed as part of a roundup for back-to-school season. You can read that story, along with reviews of the five all-in-ones we compared it to, here.

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Acer Aspire Z3-605-UR22 review: An all-in-one with a sleek look and slow performance

If you like HP’s picture frame design, but you’d prefer something a bit more polished, the Acer Aspire Z3-605-UR22 ($900 as of 8/29/13) is another AIO with a space-saving chassis. The Z3-605 sports an Intel i3-3227U processor; 4GB of DDR3/1600 RAM; and a 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive. It has integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, a 23-inch touchscreen with a native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, and a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Acer had the best budget notebook in our earlier roundup, but its inexpensive all-in-one offering leaves us cold.

The Aspire Z3-605-UR22 has a frame design similar to the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23, with a glossy edge-to-edge glass display surrounded by a frame that extends past the bottom of the screen to rest on your desktop. The screen is propped up by an easel-like stand that’s very easy to adjust thanks to a spring-loaded hinge.

Unlike the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23, the Aspire only has one slim bezel under glass. This gives the machine a much more minimalist and streamlined look, though it is slightly disrupted by the system’s convenience ports. Instead of being located neatly on the side of the machine or out of sight on the rear panel, the Z3-605’s convenience ports—a card reader, a USB 3.0 port, and headphone and microphone jacks—are located right up front, just below the display. The placement sounds convenient, until you plug in an external drive or a headset and end up with cables draped over your keyboard.

Performance-wise, the Aspire is the weakest AIO of this bunch. It scored just 89 in our Desktop WorldBench 8.1 test, which means it’s 11 percent slower than our baseline (which happens to be its sibling, Acer’s Aspire A5600U-UB13). That also puts it 20 points behind the second-to-last contender, Dell’s Inspiron One 20. The Aspire won’t have any problem with basic productivity apps, and it will stream HD video, but you might have trouble when you try to multitask.

PCWorld's Desktop Worldbench 8.1 benchmark suite measures performance with a number of productivity, creation, and entertainment programs.

The Aspire Z3-605-UR22 also delivered an appallingly low score with our suite of media editing and encoding tests (it finished last, and by a very wide margin), so we were surprised that it performed as well as it did in our gaming tests. This AIO managed to produce Dirt Showdown at 33.2 frames per second, and BioShock Infinite at 21.0 frames per second (both games set to a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, with visual quality set to Low). It’s no gaming powerhouse, but it performed better than most of the PCs in this roundup.

The Aspire Z3-605 does have one of the better-looking touchscreens in our roundup. Its glossy 23-inch touchscreen offers 10-finger multitouch with smooth, accurate gestures; bright, vibrant colors; and crisp, clear text. The only minor issues I saw during my testing was some minor artifacting—even in still or nearly-still images—and softening of details in photos and film. In some shots, people looked a bit featureless and oversaturated.

All-in-one PCs just make more sense—even if your dorm room will never ever be featured in an issue of Architectural Digest.

The Z3-605 has very nice wireless peripherals. Its keyboard is soft and noiseless but still comfortable and easy to type on, and its mouse is just the right size and ergonomically curved to fit your hand. While these peripherals aren’t as striking as the Toshiba’s silver-accented ones, they are far more usable and comfortable.

Editor's note: This all-in-one was reviewed as part of a roundup for back-to-school season. You can read that story, along with reviews of the five all-in-ones we compared it to, here.

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
More by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

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5 budget all-in-one PCs for college students: We name the best values

Laptops are awesome. They’re convenient, portable, and relatively powerful: the perfect combination for college. But sometimes you just want the comfort of a display, a full-sized keyboard and mouse, and speakers that don’t make every singer sound like a screaming banshee.

Well, you have two choices: You can get a traditional desktop computer and a stand-alone display and speakers, or you can buy an all-in-one that integrates the computer, display, and speakers into a single chassis. A desktop might cost a little less (don’t forget to factor in the price of a display and speakers), but it won’t move well. All those internal components can be jarred loose in transit, creating major troubleshooting headaches every time you set it up in your next domicile. And if you’re a typical college kid, you’ll be moving—again and again—for the next several years.

Do you really have room for a box this size, plus a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and a pair of speakers? If the answer is yes, do you want to cart all that stuff with you every time you move?

Fortunately, all-in-ones have become more powerful and dropped in price over the past several years. The five all-in-ones we’ve gathered here are perfect for college students: They have large touchscreens, good speakers, solid media editing and encoding capabilities, and big hard drives. Those are features you’ll be thankful for when finals—and parties—come around.

All-in-one PCs just make more sense—even if your dorm room will never ever be featured in an issue of Architectural Digest.

Each of these computers can easily handle productivity tasks—word processing, number crunching, and Web surfing—without breaking a sweat, but they can also deliver excellent audio and video experiences when you’re ready to relax. Yes, there are more powerful AIOs on the market, and the ones we’ve picked might not be the best choice for graphic design or media-production majors, but any one of them will help you manage your school work and watch Netflix.

Acer Aspire A5600U-UB13
(Reference)HP Pavilion TouchSmart
23-f260xt

I used several criteria to evaluate these all-in-ones, including benchmark performance, multimedia experience, storage capacity, touchscreen quality, overall attractiveness, and price. Each model is based on a third-generation Intel Core processor, but no two have the same CPU. PCWorld uses a Core i5-powered Acer Aspire A5600U-UB13 as its desktop PC performance baseline.

It’s true that the cloud offers almost limitless storage, but wouldn’t you feel more comfortable keeping your school projects, photos, and videos close at hand, just in case? Keep a backup in the cloud, by all means, but all of these machines provide plenty of local storage. Each of the computers I evaluated came with a 1TB, 7200 rpm hard drive. An SSD—or at least an SSD cache—would deliver even better performance, but that’s a feature you won’t find in this price range.

Acer Aspire A5600U-UB13
(Reference)HP Pavilion TouchSmart
23-f260xt

As with budget notebooks, budget all-in-ones have limited graphics capabilities. None of the AIOs in this roundup, for instance, has a discrete video card, which means none of them excel at graphics-heavy tasks such as video editing and hard-core gaming. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to play any games, but you will need to make some resolution and image-quality concessions.

All five of these computers have big, bright, 20- to 23-inch touchscreens. Some are better than others, but none of them are poor. You’ll have no problem watching movies, juggling multiple windows, and tapping your way through Windows 8 on any of them.

Your computer will inevitably become the focal point of your dorm room, so industrial design is an important consideration. Unfortunately, some PC-makers have become so obsessed with looks that they’ve sacrificed usability. The sleek, ultra-modern keyboards and mice that come with some of these systems are beautiful to look at, but not all that comfortable to use. I also encountered I/O ports in locations that were difficult to access.

Each of these all-in-ones has its strengths and weaknesses. Some are prettier, some are more powerful, but each has something unique to offer. Once you’ve decided where your priorities lie, you’ll have a gorgeous AIO sitting on your desk in no time.

If you like HP’s picture frame design, but you’d prefer something a bit more polished, the Acer Aspire Z3-605-UR22 ($900 as of 8/29/13) is another AIO with a space-saving chassis. The Z3-605 sports an Intel i3-3227U processor; 4GB of DDR3/1600 RAM; and a 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive. It has integrated Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, a 23-inch touchscreen with a native resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, and a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Acer had the best budget notebook in our earlier roundup, but its inexpensive all-in-one offering leaves us cold.

The Aspire Z3-605-UR22 has a frame design similar to the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23, with a glossy edge-to-edge glass display surrounded by a frame that extends past the bottom of the screen to rest on your desktop. The screen is propped up by an easel-like stand that’s very easy to adjust thanks to a spring-loaded hinge.

Unlike the HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23, the Aspire only has one slim bezel under glass. This gives the machine a much more minimalist and streamlined look, though it is slightly disrupted by the system’s convenience ports. Instead of being located neatly on the side of the machine or out of sight on the rear panel, the Z3-605’s convenience ports—a card reader, a USB 3.0 port, and headphone and microphone jacks—are located right up front, just below the display. The placement sounds convenient, until you plug in an external drive or a headset and end up with cables draped over your keyboard.

Performance-wise, the Aspire is the weakest AIO of this bunch. It scored just 89 in our Desktop WorldBench 8.1 test, which means it’s 11 percent slower than our baseline (which happens to be its sibling, Acer’s Aspire A5600U-UB13). That also puts it 20 points behind the second-to-last contender, Dell’s Inspiron One 20. The Aspire won’t have any problem with basic productivity apps, and it will stream HD video, but you might have trouble when you try to multitask.

PCWorld's Desktop Worldbench 8.1 benchmark suite measures performance with a number of productivity, creation, and entertainment programs.

The Aspire Z3-605-UR22 also delivered an appallingly low score with our suite of media editing and encoding tests (it finished last, and by a very wide margin), so we were surprised that it performed as well as it did in our gaming tests. This AIO managed to produce Dirt Showdown at 33.2 frames per second, and BioShock Infinite at 21.0 frames per second (both games set to a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, with visual quality set to Low). It’s no gaming powerhouse, but it performed better than most of the PCs in this roundup.

The Aspire Z3-605 does have one of the better-looking touchscreens in our roundup. Its glossy 23-inch touchscreen offers 10-finger multitouch with smooth, accurate gestures; bright, vibrant colors; and crisp, clear text. The only minor issues I saw during my testing was some minor artifacting—even in still or nearly-still images—and softening of details in photos and film. In some shots, people looked a bit featureless and oversaturated.

The Z3-605 has very nice wireless peripherals. Its keyboard is soft and noiseless but still comfortable and easy to type on, and its mouse is just the right size and ergonomically curved to fit your hand. While these peripherals aren’t as striking as the Toshiba’s silver-accented ones, they are far more usable and comfortable.

Pros

Comfortable mouse and keyboardSlim, space-saving designQuick startup time

Cons

Weak performanceOversaturated displayPoor price/performance ratio  

Bottom line

Acer's Aspire Z3-605-UR22 is an attractive machine, but its performance leaves us wanting.

Rating

2 stars

I’m a big fan of Dell’s Inspiron One lineup of all-in-one PCs. These computers manage to be gorgeous, sturdy, and versatile while remaining relatively budget friendly. The Inspiron One 20 reviewed here has a smaller display than the Toshiba, but it costs more than $300 cheaper ($699 as of 8/29/13). It’s equipped with an Intel Core i3-3240T processor; 4GB of DDR3/1600 memory; and a 1TB, 7200rpm hard drive. It also has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters, and a 20-inch capacitive touchscreen.

Design-wise, the Inspiron One 20 Touch is tough to beat, though the Toshiba PX35t-A2210 has a slightly more premium look. This all-black AIO features an edge-to-edge glass screen, which gives it a bezel-less appearance and also makes for easy swiping when performing common Windows 8 gestures (such as swiping from the side to pull up the charms bar). The minimalist bezel sports a small, mirrored Dell logo at the bottom and a built-in webcam at the top. The system’s speakers are just below the screen. There are no buttons or ports on the front of the One 20 Touch, these are all relegated to the system’s sides and back.

Dell's Inspiron One 20 Touch boasts a great design, but its performance leaves a bit to be desired.

The One 20 Touch’s great-looking design is slightly marred by its below-average peripherals. The system comes with a wired mouse and keyboard, both of which are utterly basic (though mostly comfortable to use). The keyboard offers very light tactile feedback, which can make accurate typing difficult. The mouse is large but comfortable, and offers an average input experience.

As for performance, the Inspiron One 20 Touch is good, but not great. It will get you through schoolwork and basic entertainment, such as streaming HD movies and playing music, but it won’t handle PC games or media-editing software very well. This Inspiron scores a very average 109 on WorldBench 8.1, which means it’s just nine percent faster than our Acer baseline model . Compared with the other AIOs in this roundup, the One 20 Touch is solidly in the middle – it comes in fourth, but it’s just one point below our third-ranked HP Pavilion TouchSmart 23 (110).

In our graphics tests, the One 20 Touch performed as expected: It managed a playable, if far from excellent, 30.7 frames per second on our Dirt Showdown test, and but only 14.8 fps with the more demanding BioShock Infinite (with both games, resolution was set to 1024 by 768 pixels, and image quality was set to Low). In other words, it can handle low-end PC games at an acceptable frame rate, but it’s about as far from a gaming powerhouse as a Commodore 64. HD video looks just okay—there’s quite a bit of artifacting and foreign objects in scenes with a medium amount of motion—and skin tones have a tendency to look burnt and oversaturated. Audio is also somewhat disappointing: The speakers aren’t very loud, and music lacks depth, even when all the software enhancements are turned on.

This chart indicates how well each all-in-one PC performed with a variety of media editing and encoding tasks. If this is an important consideration for your,the PCs with the shorter bars are your best choices. 

The Dell Inspiron One 20 Touch is a nice starter machine for those who like the Inspiron One look and feel. The touchscreen remains one of the better touchscreens that I’ve used, with smooth, accurate touch and a nice glidey feel to the glossy display. I especially like the adjustable stand, the minimalist design, and the overall sturdiness of the chassis. But it has its issues, including cheap, basic peripherals; mediocre performance; and weak speakers.

Pros

Attractive, sturdy designAccurate, smooth touchscreenMinimalist bezel/face

Cons

Mediocre performanceLow-volume speakers with little depthVery basic, wired peripherals

Bottom line

The Dell Inspiron One is a sturdy, no-nonsense all-in-one. But Dell's ho-hum component choices deliver equally ho-hum benchmark performance.

Rating

3.5 stars

On the next page: Reviews of HP's Pavilion TouchSmart 23, Lenovo's C540 Touch, and Toshiba's PX35t-A2210

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
More by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

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HP Envy Rove: A movable (if underpowered) all-in-one PC

HP Envy Rove $980.00 Home users who like the idea of being able to lug a computer to different rooms and want something bigger than a laptop will find the Envy Rove useful as long as heavy-duty computing isn’t involved.

Is the HP Envy Rove a supersized tablet or a portable all-in-one desktop? You can make an argument for either case, but at the end of the day, the Rove’s 12-pound-plus weight precludes serious consideration as a portable in the traditional sense of the word.

Rather, HP's designers view this Windows 8 Home–based system as an all-in-one desktop that users can haul around the house as needed—hence the name, Rove. Its sturdy hinged prop-up stand works as a handle. And because the Rove can operate for nearly 3 hours on internal battery power (one of its tabletlike features), you don’t necessarily have to bring along its power cord. You can even lay the machine flat to use its 20-inch multitouch display as a gaming platform, something HP encourages by bundling several games that take advantage of multitouch support.

HPThe HP Envy Rove's spring-loaded hinge lets you set it to almost any angle.

The Envy Rove isn’t the first system we’ve seen that straddles the desktop-tablet divide. The Sony Tap 20, which we reviewed last year, boasts strikingly similar specs, starting with the 20-inch touchscreen display. And like the Tap 20, the Envy Rove is based on Intel's mobile technology, although HP opted for a less powerful CPU—the Core i3-4010u, which along with the Envy Rove’s skimpy 4GB of RAM probably accounts for the machine’s dismal performance on our benchmarks. Its WorldBench score of 78 is pretty poor for any system, but especially when compared against conventional desktops you might be considering. Even the Sony Tap 20 did a lot better (it earned a score of 95), thanks to an older but higher-end CPU and an additional 4GB of system RAM.

The HP Envy Rove's Intel Core i3 processor limits its performance.

On the other hand, you don’t really need great number-crunching power in a general-purpose home computer, and the Envy Rove is perfectly up to the tasks it’s more likely to face: managing email, checking Facebook, watching YouTube videos, and calling friends on Skype. True, the 1600-by-900 resolution doesn’t look especially fine on the 20-inch screen, but its colors are crisp and bright, and the integrated 720p webcam produces acceptable if unremarkable video. Beats-branded audio from speakers embedded in the bottom of the display is also decent.

HP provides a wireless mouse and keyboard that exemplify the quality level you’d expect from a midrange notebook: They’re certainly usable, but they have no particular design finesse. Still, I was happy not to have to deal with cables for these peripherals. I also commend HP for providing the latest in fast Wi-Fi (802.11ac, which is backward-compatible with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz legacy standards).

The Core i3 processor in the HP Envy Rove delivers better battery life than the Core i7 in Sony's Tap 20.

Connectivity options are basic: You get three USB 3.0 ports (two on the left side, one on the right), a headphone/mic jack and volume-control rocker on the right side, and an SD Card slot. If you want to plug in to a wired network, you must use a USB-to-ethernet dongle. You’ll find no built-in optical drive, either. The system has a button for changing the display orientation, but setting up the Envy Rove in portrait mode would block some ports.

HP does give you plenty of storage space for the games and multimedia that the Envy Rove is clearly designed to accommodate: The system holds a 1TB hybrid drive (a small solid-state portion helps with speedy boot time).

The HP Envy Rove is neither outrageously expensive nor a fabulous deal: At this writing, it’s listed at $980 with an instant $100 rebate. That’s more than I’d like to pay for a system with mediocre performance numbers, but the Envy Rove isn’t about performance. It’s about an unusual design for households in search of a PC that’s larger than a laptop but not quite as heavy as a conventional desktop.

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