PC sales have slipped considerably over the last few years, but the humble desktop and all-in-one computers are poised to make a comeback this year, thanks in part to Microsoft’s pending release of Windows 10.
For the back-to-school season, HP is firing on all cylinders with new all-in-one Pavilion PCs and colorful Pavilion Tower PCs running Windows 8.1. HP also has a high-resolution Ultra High Definition (UHD) 4K monitor it wants you to pick up.
As part of a new partnership, all of HP's PCs will feature Bang & Olfusen's B&O Play audio -- sound specifically tuned for each type of machine. HP's updated Pavilion laptops were the first PCs to include B&O Play-tuned sound and now its desktops are getting the same treatment.
Pavilion all-in-one PCs
First up is the Pavilion all-in-one (AIO) PC, which comes in three display sizes: 21.5-, 23- and 27-inch. All of them have a full HD 1080p resolution IPS display and pretty good viewing angles.
The AIOs come in a variety of different configurations, including fourth-generation Intel Celeron; Core i3, i5 and i7; or AMD A5, A8 and A10 processors.
You'll be able to pick from Intel Integrated graphics or discrete AMD Radeon R7 A330 or A4360 graphics. The AIOs can be configured with up to 3 terabytes (TB) of storage.
In addition to B&O Play audio, the AIOs also have myriad ports: two USB 3.0 ports and a memory card slot conveniently tucked under the "chin" of the screen. Around back are four USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet port and an HDMI-out for connecting to a secondary screen.
The latter used to be an HDMI-in port, which allowed you to use the AIO display as a screen for, say, a game console or Blu-ray player. HP said HDMI-out is a feature customers requested more, but I disagree; college students who live in closet-sized dorms and don't have space for both a TV and AIO would appreciate the feature.
The Pavilion AIOs will be available on June 28 in the U.S. starting at $649.99 for a 21.5-inch model.
Modernizing the desktop tower
Like its colorful Pavilion laptops, HP's Pavilion Towers sport a bold new "vertical oriented" design, four different colors (blue, red, silver and white) and B&O Play audio.
The Tower PCs can be customized with the same Intel Celeron, Core i3- i7, and AMD A4-A10 processors as HP's AIO PCs. Graphics-wise, the Tower machines can be configured with low-end Intel Integrated graphics or NVIDIA GTX 745 discrete graphics chips.
Naturally, as rectangular boxes, the Tower PCs have many ports: four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, DVI, VGA and a 7-in-1 memory card reader.
The Pavilion Tower PCs will be available on June 26 in the U.S. starting at $449.99.
4K screen for everyone
Lastly, in keeping up with the 4K trend, HP's releasing the Spectre Studio Display, a 32-inch monitor with a 3,840 x 2,160 resolution (UHD 4K). The screen has a 178-degree viewing angle and upscaling technology to convert HD, full HD and QuadHD content into 4K.
In addition to lots of pixels, the display also has powerful sound: 6-watt dual front-facing speakers and two rear passive radiators.
The 4K display comes with an HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 1.4 port with MHL, and a USB port.
I got some eyes-on time with the 4K display a few weeks back and it's quite sharp. The upscaling is impressive, too; a 720p resolution video that was upscaled to 4K looked really crisp even from two feet away.
Picture-in-picture (PiP) allows you to overlay one video channel on top of another in the corner, and picture-by-picture (PbP) displays two video channels side-by-side, both of which are pretty cool.
The Spectre Studio Display will be available on May 24 in the U.S. starting at $999.99.