What do you think about this All in One PC?

[iMi]

What do you guys and gals think about the new HP 27" 4K All in One?

With the following configuration:

• Windows 10 Home
• CPU I i7-7700T Quad Core, Intel Graphics 620 (7th Gen)
• 16 GB DDR4-2133 SDRAM (2 x 8 GB)
• 27" diagonal UHD 4K IPS eDP anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 x 2160)
• SSD 256GB M.2 NVMe + HDD 1TB 7200RPM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 950 (4 GB GDDR5 dedicated)
• 180 W external AC power adapter
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (1x1) and Bluetooth® 4.2 M.2 combo
• Bang & Olufsen (built-in speaker bar)

Price $1822.25 (after discount)

Is it a buy? No? Maybe?

 

[Septembersrain]

My biggest question would be is anything upgradeable on it, like RAM or the size of the SSD?

For that price, it seems like a good deal. I find the Bang & Olufsen speaker bar to be a really nice touch.

Have you played with it in a store or did you find it online?

 

[iMi]

My biggest question would be is anything upgradeable on it, like RAM or the size of the SSD?

For that price, it seems like a good deal. I find the Bang & Olufsen speaker bar to be a really nice touch.

Have you played with it in a store or did you find it online?

I heard about it being shown at the CES this year and then I looked it up online. I decided to order this exact model because it sounds like a great machine. I do have an Xbox One S and love the integration. Plus, I have to use Windows for work. The deciding factor was the fact that I can connect my MacBook (via HDMI in) and use the Envy's screen as monitor which is neat.

The only concern I have is the discrete graphics card. It seems painfully underpowered. HP didn't really know if the integrated graphics and the discrete card would work together or not. The only time I've seen that was on an older MacBook Pro but the user would have to select which graphics card was to be used. So, I don't think they can run concurrently. Well, we'll see how it goes 😛

Oh, and yes. Some components can be upgraded. HD and memory for sure. Not sure about the others. To upgrade from 8GB to 16GB memory DDR4 was just $100. Amazon has the 16GB kit for $100-120. Being an Apple customer for 15 years now it felt strange paying so little for an upgrade 😀

 

[Old Muley]

Does it run OS X? If not, then no.

 

[boast]

Looks pretty solid. Although I personally wouldn't buy it since I'm weary of "all in one" setups if something breaks (something you can still avoid for desktops but not laptops)

 

[Fancuku]

The only concern I have is the discrete graphics card. It seems painfully underpowered.

The GTX 950 is on par with the top of the line card offered in the latest 27" iMac.
$1800 is a decent price. It's a nice machine.

 

[Septembersrain]

I heard about it being shown at the CES this year and then I looked it up online. I decided to order this exact model because it sounds like a great machine. I do have an Xbox One S and love the integration. Plus, I have to use Windows for work. The deciding factor was the fact that I can connect my MacBook (via HDMI in) and use the Envy's screen as monitor which is neat.

The only concern I have is the discrete graphics card. It seems painfully underpowered. HP didn't really know if the integrated graphics and the discrete card would work together or not. The only time I've seen that was on an older MacBook Pro but the user would have to select which graphics card was to be used. So, I don't think they can run concurrently. Well, we'll see how it goes 😛

Oh, and yes. Some components can be upgraded. HD and memory for sure. Not sure about the others. To upgrade from 8GB to 16GB memory DDR4 was just $100. Amazon has the 16GB kit for $100-120. Being an Apple customer for 15 years now it felt strange paying so little for an upgrade 😀

I've never has an Apple computer. It's always just been either Windows, Linux, or a Chromebook.

Interesting about the graphics. Perhaps when you get it, you'll be able to test out if they run simultaneously or not? That would be incredibly useful but as you said, it's probably unlikely. Can you explain to me why a computer would have two different graphic cards?
Is it compatibility?

 

[iMi]

Does it run OS X? If not, then no.

I respect that completely. I've been using Apple exclusively since early 2000's and the Surface Pro 4 is the first Windows machine I bought in well over a decade. I have to say that I like it a lot. I was somewhat forced into buying a dedicated Windows computer - long story that involves a corporate system that simply wouldn't play. Now I kind of like it... a lot.
[doublepost=1485485102][/doublepost]

Looks pretty solid. Although I personally wouldn't buy it since I'm weary of "all in one" setups if something breaks (something you can still avoid for desktops but not laptops)

Funny... I couldn't imagine any other setup. As a teen, I was into building gaming rigs. Somehow I didn't mind wires. Now they are #1 enemy. Ironically I sell extension cords to many retailers in the U.S. Hmmm....
[doublepost=1485485200][/doublepost]

The GTX 950 is on par with the top of the line card offered in the latest 27" iMac.
$1800 is a decent price. It's a nice machine.

The GTX 950 yes. The problem is that I believe they are actually shipping GTX 950M. This machine has to have a mobile graphics card. I'm about 100% confident given the design. If that's the case, it will be underpowered. What do you think?

 

[Fancuku]

The specs you copied from HP's website say it's a regular 950 with 4GB of video memory. The 950M only has 2GB of memory.

 

[iMi]

I've never has an Apple computer. It's always just been either Windows, Linux, or a Chromebook.

Interesting about the graphics. Perhaps when you get it, you'll be able to test out if they run simultaneously or not? That would be incredibly useful but as you said, it's probably unlikely. Can you explain to me why a computer would have two different graphic cards?
Is it compatibility?

The 7th Gen Core i7 7700 has the Intel Graphics 620 built in, so it simply comes with the processor. On smaller laptops that would be it. On this particular model, they have added a dedicated graphics card. I personally suspect the graphics on the process will be disabled by default. The machine will run just the NVidia card.

Two reasons (and this is just my opinion, not an expert. Hopefully someone who really understands these things will chime in). First, I would imaging that the only time when running the 620 would be advantageous if you wanted to preserve power. This isn't a portable, battery powered device, so that is negligible. Second, the only time dual graphics would seem to serve a purpose is if there was a second monitor that could be driven by the second graphics card. This has a built in display - although it does have HDMI 2.0 out. Maybe the second chip activates with a display connected? Who knows. HP certainly doesn't.

So, unless there is a process that allows the two cards to run concurrently, I see no way they would. Although I remember on MacBook Pros in the past the user could select a graphics card to run. Not sure how things work now. Anyone who knows better and can explain this or shed some light on the topic, please do so. I'm a marketing consultant 😛 I can tell you all about the lack of a cohesive branding message in the HP purchasing experience, but that's about it.
[doublepost=1485485835][/doublepost]

The specs you copied from HP's website say it's a regular 950 with 4GB of video memory. The 950M only has 2GB of memory.

Well, that would be fantastic then. The funny thing is that they really couldn't confirm. No, seriously. One page said 950M and the other said 950 and the sales rep said "maybe a typo?" and I said "which one" and she said "...let me check my resources" LOL

Edit to say the HP lady was super attentive, otherwise knowledgeable, very friendly and offered a discount to close the deal. She said the 4K configuration just came up. Followed up the next day. Seriously fantastic service.

 

[Fancuku]

I don't have experience with HP but I have had Dell laptops with nVidia cards and they had the Optimus feature which worked like it does with the Macbook Pros, automatic switching when needed.

 

[iMi]

I don't have experience with HP but I have had Dell laptops with nVidia cards and they had the Optimus feature which worked like it does with the Macbook Pros, automatic switching when needed.

Thanks for so much for the info. I'll report back on what it actually does once the machine is delivered in mid-February.

 

[maflynn]

Is it a buy? No? Maybe?

What's your intended use.

The configuration looks good, but without your intended use, its hard to recommend anything. My apologies if I missed that in the thread.

 

[Fishrrman]

If it can't run the Mac OS, not interested…!

 

[calderini]

It could probably run OSX. Nothing about the specs scream "unhackable". (With the Maxwell Nvidia card being a "plus" in that regard)

 

[sman789]

The 7th Gen Core i7 7700 has the Intel Graphics 620 built in, so it simply comes with the processor. On smaller laptops that would be it. On this particular model, they have added a dedicated graphics card. I personally suspect the graphics on the process will be disabled by default. The machine will run just the NVidia card.

Two reasons (and this is just my opinion, not an expert. Hopefully someone who really understands these things will chime in). First, I would imaging that the only time when running the 620 would be advantageous if you wanted to preserve power. This isn't a portable, battery powered device, so that is negligible. Second, the only time dual graphics would seem to serve a purpose is if there was a second monitor that could be driven by the second graphics card. This has a built in display - although it does have HDMI 2.0 out. Maybe the second chip activates with a display connected? Who knows. HP certainly doesn't.

So, unless there is a process that allows the two cards to run concurrently, I see no way they would. Although I remember on MacBook Pros in the past the user could select a graphics card to run. Not sure how things work now. Anyone who knows better and can explain this or shed some light on the topic, please do so. I'm a marketing consultant 😛 I can tell you all about the lack of a cohesive branding message in the HP purchasing experience, but that's about it.
[doublepost=1485485835][/doublepost]

Well, that would be fantastic then. The funny thing is that they really couldn't confirm. No, seriously. One page said 950M and the other said 950 and the sales rep said "maybe a typo?" and I said "which one" and she said "...let me check my resources" LOL

Edit to say the HP lady was super attentive, otherwise knowledgeable, very friendly and offered a discount to close the deal. She said the 4K configuration just came up. Followed up the next day. Seriously fantastic service.

I think the discrete card will always be on and the 620 is just sitting there because it's part of the CPU. This is the best case scenario as well since there's no "lag" switching from one gpu to the other, even if that "lag" is only milliseconds. If you buy a GTX 950 it looks like they come with 2 HDMI ports as well as others. The back of the HP has just the two HDMI ports.


I currently has a PC with an AMD CPU with built in graphics. I added a discrete card and in the BIOS you select the GPU you want to use. You CAN still use the CPU graphics card display outputs, so there was 6 video outs (2 VGA, 2 DVI, 2 HDMI, oh my word).

Are you looking at this HP strictly for its design. I know it's an old adage but you can built it better yourself for cheaper.

 

[iMi]

What's your intended use.

The configuration looks good, but without your intended use, its hard to recommend anything. My apologies if I missed that in the thread.

Good point. There are a couple of prerequisites that the machine has to meet. It has to be an all-in-one and it has to look good - at least close to the elegance and simplicity one would find with an Apple product.

It has to also meet the needs for basic gaming (Civilization V, SimCity, etc.). Most serious gaming happens on the Xbox One or the PS4 these days. It has to have enough power to handle large spreadsheets, large presentations, some creative work involving graphics, photo editing and some video editing.

Some future-proofing is welcome. I'd like this thing to last at least 3 years.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations!
[doublepost=1485565213][/doublepost]

I think the discrete card will always be on and the 620 is just sitting there because it's part of the CPU. This is the best case scenario as well since there's no "lag" switching from one gpu to the other, even if that "lag" is only milliseconds. If you buy a GTX 950 it looks like they come with 2 HDMI ports as well as others. The back of the HP has just the two HDMI ports.
View attachment 685831

I currently has a PC with an AMD CPU with built in graphics. I added a discrete card and in the BIOS you select the GPU you want to use. You CAN still use the CPU graphics card display outputs, so there was 6 video outs (2 VGA, 2 DVI, 2 HDMI, oh my word).

Are you looking at this HP strictly for its design. I know it's an old adage but you can built it better yourself for cheaper.

The all-in-one form factor is a must. This is an office computer and the desk is facing the room, so minimum wires are a must and an eye-pleasing design would be welcome as well. Something that's classy. I agree with you on the setup you've outlined. I believe you are correct.

 

[Keebler]

Nope. Never.

Why? It's got Windows.

I don't mean that to come across with the hate it probably does.
I've had 1 PC in my home office for the last 4 years - the rest are Macs.
Some of the garbage is the same. After all this time! Nothing's changed.

BUT, I will say this - it's not on 10, it has 7. But of course all my Windows friends say that 7 was very stable and 10 is pretty good. So maybe...just maybe, 10 is the be all and end all?

Our other business has all Pcs and the problems are just unacceptable.
I was in there today working on something completely not computer related and a task manager service just stopped working for a critical feature. For no reason. On a brand new PC (well, 2 weeks old). New software installs. So I get on the horn with tech support and after 1.5 hours, it's fixed. I ask why or how did this happen? No answer. "just something in the registry". Calculate whatever you charge per hour and whammo...huge waste of time.

and that right there....is the problem.....the registry.

3 days ago, another employee called. Same thing. She tried my step by step instructions with no luck.
I gave up and said, "Windows is so stupid that I bet if you just shut down your PC overnight and come back tomorrow, it will work".

Yup...worked a-ok. No rhyme or reason for the problem. Nothing done to fix it. How dumb is that?!? At least there should be a concrete reason! lol

I try to give Windows a chance and it just fails. Maybe it's Karma right back at me? I don't know, but it's so disappointing that many of the reasons why I left Windows haven't changed.

My Windows friends battle me. They tell me that they can fix the problems or that if the computer isn't for business, what's the big deal?

In both, or ANY and all cases, my time is precious and when I'm working, spending time on dumb things is losing me money.

Whether one knows how to avoid or fix something isn't the issue (no wonder tech support people love Windows - it keeps them employed!)

It's the principle that the issues even exist in the first place. Just think about that for a sec...

Maybe I'm becoming too old (mid 40s), but I don't waste my time on BS anymore lol

Now, that's not saying Mac OS is perfect. But my Macs rarely give me grief for no reason.
I would change the entire PC fleet in our office, but the users are too ingrained in the Windows world.

They don't know what they're missing!

Sorry for the rant, but that's why I wouldn't buy that new PC.

This has been therapy for me! LOL

 

[iMi]

Nope. Never.

Why? It's got Windows.

I don't mean that to come across with the hate it probably does.
I've had 1 PC in my home office for the last 4 years - the rest are Macs.
Some of the garbage is the same. After all this time! Nothing's changed.

BUT, I will say this - it's not on 10, it has 7. But of course all my Windows friends say that 7 was very stable and 10 is pretty good. So maybe...just maybe, 10 is the be all and end all?

Our other business has all Pcs and the problems are just unacceptable.
I was in there today working on something completely not computer related and a task manager service just stopped working for a critical feature. For no reason. On a brand new PC (well, 2 weeks old). New software installs. So I get on the horn with tech support and after 1.5 hours, it's fixed. I ask why or how did this happen? No answer. "just something in the registry". Calculate whatever you charge per hour and whammo...huge waste of time.

and that right there....is the problem.....the registry.

3 days ago, another employee called. Same thing. She tried my step by step instructions with no luck.
I gave up and said, "Windows is so stupid that I bet if you just shut down your PC overnight and come back tomorrow, it will work".

Yup...worked a-ok. No rhyme or reason for the problem. Nothing done to fix it. How dumb is that?!? At least there should be a concrete reason! lol

I try to give Windows a chance and it just fails. Maybe it's Karma right back at me? I don't know, but it's so disappointing that many of the reasons why I left Windows haven't changed.

My Windows friends battle me. They tell me that they can fix the problems or that if the computer isn't for business, what's the big deal?

In both, or ANY and all cases, my time is precious and when I'm working, spending time on dumb things is losing me money.

Whether one knows how to avoid or fix something isn't the issue (no wonder tech support people love Windows - it keeps them employed!)

It's the principle that the issues even exist in the first place. Just think about that for a sec...

Maybe I'm becoming too old (mid 40s), but I don't waste my time on BS anymore lol

Now, that's not saying Mac OS is perfect. But my Macs rarely give me grief for no reason.
I would change the entire PC fleet in our office, but the users are too ingrained in the Windows world.

They don't know what they're missing!

Sorry for the rant, but that's why I wouldn't buy that new PC.

This has been therapy for me! LOL

I cracked up a few times reading it. See, we too love Windows. My wife is a behavioral hospital administrator. So, when people go nuts because of the Windows registry issues then come to her!

In all seriousness. Here's the thing - I've had the Surface with Windows 10 for several months now. I use it everyday. Zero issues. None. Nothing. It's been basically - perfect. It's very odd to use the word "perfect" along with "Windows" but it's true. I love OS X and will not be giving it up anytime soon, but I also need and want Windows. First, I need it for work at times (and no, Booth Camp didn't work for me). Second, I love Xbox streaming and Steam. Plus at times I work with large spreadsheets that seem to work far more reliably on the Windows side (especially when Macros are involved). So, Windows 10 has been pretty good. I really like it.

By the way... I've had OS X since inception (Tiger, I believe was the first one) and I've had issues along the way. Do you remember the WiFi problems that span a better part of two or three generations? I do. It drove me up the wall. Yes, OS X is far more reliable historically but it has had many, many issues along the way. And today it seems both OSs are on par. At least that's been my experience (haven't used anything else on the Windows side since XP. I hear Vista was something of a devil's spawn).

Here's the setup by the way... The Envy comes with a gorgeous 4K display. It has HDMI in and allows itself to be used as a display and I'll be connecting my MacBook to it. Then push a button and I'm back to a dedicated Windows machine. I think this is going to work pretty well. Maybe... hopefully. LOL
[doublepost=1485579418][/doublepost]Something else just occurred to me. Many believe that the secret sauce behind Apple's success with OS X is the fact that the company controls the hardware and software. The argument is that Apple can better manage and integrate the software and avoid stability issues.

Maybe Surface is the same way. Maybe it's an exception and the fact that Microsoft makes both the OS and the hardware plays a role in how stable the system has been for me? Who knows... it's a thought.

 

[maflynn]

It has to also meet the needs for basic gaming (Civilization V, SimCity, etc.). Most serious gaming happens on the Xbox One or the PS4 these days. It has to have enough power to handle large spreadsheets, large presentations, some creative work involving graphics, photo editing and some video editing.

That machine with the GTX 950 should handle basic gaming. Just about any machine now a days can handle large spreadsheets and it should do ok with photo editing.

 

[theluggage]

The only concern I have is the discrete graphics card. It seems painfully underpowered.

If you care about GPU power and are happy with Windows - get a mini tower system that can take full-sized graphics cards (or even some smaller Mini-ITX systems that can take many PCIe graphics cards). They will always outperform laptops and ultra-slim all-in-ones (& can be upgraded).

Currently, Mac users don't have that option, which is one reason for all the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

However, if you're not into the latest first-person shooters or doing pro video/graphics, you probably don't need to worry.

 

[Unami]

no. it's still a hp consumer product - expect it to be full of bloatware and have some things not functioning due to the bad quality of that bloatware or wonky drivers. then you'll call hp tech-support who will blame microsoft, after which you'll call microsoft tech-support who will blame hp.

played this game with a friend's brand-new hp-pc last year. solution in this case: make a clean install of windows right after you've got it.

or maybe they cut corners and it has some cheap part that's guaranteed to break right after the warranty runs out. or it has just some bottleneck in the hardware design and is not half as fast, as it looks on paper (it's already not looking that fast with the "T" cpu). sorry if i sound negative, but i have yet to see one consumer-pc by hp that does not turn out to be garbage in the end (business pcs and workstations are o.k., though)

 

[iMi]

no. it's still a hp consumer product - expect it to be full of bloatware and have some things not functioning due to the bad quality of that bloatware or wonky drivers. then you'll call hp tech-support who will blame microsoft, after which you'll call microsoft tech-support who will blame hp.

played this game with a friend's brand-new hp-pc last year. solution in this case: make a clean install of windows right after you've got it.

or maybe they cut corners and it has some cheap part that's guaranteed to break right after the warranty runs out. or it has just some bottleneck in the hardware design and is not half as fast, as it looks on paper (it's already not looking that fast with the "T" cpu). sorry if i sound negative, but i have yet to see one consumer-pc by hp that does not turn out to be garbage in the end (business pcs and workstations are o.k., though)

Interesting feedback. I have 30 days to return it for 100% refund. Plus HP is doing a promotion for the 3 year in home service (similar to Applecare) where you get 100% of the $160 it costs back at the end of the 3 year period if you don't use the service. That's interesting.

Either way it will be covered.

Another idea I had was to just get a 4K monitor and use it with the Macbook and the Surface interchangeably depending on my needs. You mentioned the "T" CPU. To be honest, I don't really know what these distinctions mean. Could you please shed some light on this for me?

 

[Fancuku]

The T CPU is mostly used in small factor desktops and pretty much in all high end all-in-ones. You have nothing to worry about. At the most the T CPU is 10% slower than the regular desktop CPU.

The good thing about the 3-year warranty is that they come and service the computer at your home. No need to send it out and wait w week or two.

 

[iMi]

The T CPU is mostly used in small factor desktops and pretty much in all high end all-in-ones. You have nothing to worry about. At the most the T CPU is 10% slower than the regular desktop CPU.

The good thing about the 3-year warranty is that they come and service the computer at your home. No need to send it out and wait w week or two.

Ok, so not much difference. It does sound pretty good on paper but we all know how things can turn out with things that sound good on paper.

Yeah. I agree about the warranty. AppleCare does include this by the way but they discourage the use of this service. when I had to have an iMac serviced some years back, they first told me it wasn't available. Then I read it to them directly from their T&Cs and they transferred me. Then they said that while it is available, it would not be advisable that I have it repaired at home. Conditions aren't ideal unlike the "lab like setting" at the apple store. I was strongly encouraged to bring it into the store. Meh, they made some good points. Plus AppleCare has in the past done something that completely blew me away and so they earned my trust and business for life. 😀

But yes... I was the idiot walking around the mall with a 27 inch computer for half an hour to get to the Apple store. Yup.