One of the major reasons to get one these systems is for backup. The WHS client software can automatically backup your client data every night and you can even perform a bare-metal restore in can of total drive failure on a workstation. New to this version (and so far, outside of Apple’s Time Capsule, unique to HP) is the ability for the MSS to act as a Time Machine target for Mac clients allowing them to automatically back themselves up over the network.

If the system starts to get full (Windows clients get status messages), you can just pop in another drive and the server automatically add it to the drive cloud. Windows Home Server uses a software based file duplication system to make sure your data is safe. Adding drives, even mismatched sizes, just add to the pool of storage. Already filled up the bays? You have two choices here: add another drive externally via one of the 4 USB ports and/or 1 eSATA port, or take one of the smaller drives offline via the console and replace it with a larger drive. The system will automatically clear the old drive of data, making sure it is safe, and then rebalance after the new drive is added.

For the Windows-only home network, this system is a godsend. Backups can be performed even from sleeping workstations, and WHS anti-virus programs (like Avast Antivirus for WHS) can even monitor the state of the Avast clients on the network. In mixed networks (Mac & PC) the server talks to both clients reasonably well and allows for easy file sharing.

HP tacks on a few extra goodies such as automatic online backup of the WHS server data (caveat emptor: this system uses Amazon’s S3 storage cloud services to house the data and can get very expensive if you are a media professional using this system for storing your work. I stored my RAW files from a ballet I shot (close to 2,000 images) and the transfer costs for that month would have been over $230!), an iTunes server that really works, automatic video conversion and a host of others.

You can also add third-party server applications. I chose to add Frey Technologies’ SageTV server for WHS which allows you to record TV shows from your cable/satellite box and play them back on any PC/Mac on the network (with the client installed), remotely over the internet (with the streaming client installed), or on the living room TV with an extender client.

While the feature set and expandability are very impressive, I found a couple of shortcomings to this system.

First, for all it does, the system is a bit underpowered. Video conversion bogs the system down and if you install 3rd party apps (like SageTV) it will get bogged down even more. This requires you pick and choose what features you activate on the server. If you upgrade the SageTV to capture HD content, this server is woefully underpowered to stream the data. The files are recorded just fine and can be played locally, but streaming HD content results in skipping video. [Editor's Note: the newly released EX495 is powered by a dual-core Pentium and is likely more capable of streaming HD content.] Please note that if you capture in SD format, the system is more than adequate.

Second, the eSATA port does not support port multiplier enclosures and thus you are limited to 1 eSATA drive. This was the deal-breaker for me as I was planning on using a Weibetech external eSATA enclosure to add 4 more drives to my system.

Third, using this system as a Time Machine target requires that you pre-allocate all of the space used for TM at once. Also, the amount of space cannot exceed the size of any single drive. Don’t set it to duplicate that data or you will have no storage left.

Aside from that, the server is a solid piece of work. Extremely quiet and, if configured corectly, very capable of serving the needs of a home network very handily. I highly recommend it.

Quite frankly, the whole touch screen on a computer up until now seemed impractical to me. I may have just changed my mind, sort of. When you open up the HP Touchsmart IQ816 PC box, the feeling is of excitement. For this unit is not only slick in design, but rugged and well built. Slightly heavy (35.28 lbs approx), but nothing the well designed adjustable rear stand can’t handle.

Very reminiscent of an Apple iMac, the computer feels a whole lot different than your typical all in one PC’s. Very elegant and modern lines.

The TouchSmart IQ816 runs on a Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1 GHz with 4 GB of RAM, and a 750GB hard drive. The Built in Display is a 25.5-inch flat panel display capable of 1920 x 1200 resolution. Want to know more? Lets get to the spec’s first….

Product: HP Touchsmart IQ816 PC
Author: Jose Perez
Published on: December 8th 2008
Product cost: Range $1,949.99 – $2,099.99
Manufacturer: HP
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Specifications}

• 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T8100 with 3MB L2 Cache
• 4GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2x2048MB)
• 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 9600 M GS HD graphics module with 512MB dedicated video memory and support for Blu-ray, and Microsoft DirectX 10
• Slot-load Blu-ray player and SuperMulti DVD burner
• Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n with built-in WLAN antenna and Integrated Bluetooth
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, dims in inches: 26.04" (W) x 5.47" (L/D) x 19.63" (H) approx., 35.28 lbs approx. 

{mospagebreak title=Pros and Cons}

Pros:

• CPU Performance
• Video Display/Card
• Storage
• TouchScreen

This computer has plenty of CPU and video card horsepower to drive multimedia and graphics oriented applications, as well as for moderate gaming purposes. The 25.5 inch Display is just stunning. There is plenty of storage room with the included 750 GB hard drive. Most importantly though, is the new touch interaction with the screen. At first it seemed like it would only come in handy with the pre-built UI menu system. However, after dropping back into the regular operating system, I was pleased at how well single tapping, double tapping and dragging worked, most of the time (more on that below).

Cons:

• TouchScreen

Yes I know, it’s both a Pro and a Con. As well as the touch screen works, like all bleeding edge technologies, it’s not perfect. So I will compare this to the best touch experience I have tried to date, yes the "iPhone". Very much like the iPhone, the HP’s display screen swipes and touch/selects.  That said, I found the screen swipes not to be as responsive sometimes. There is also some lack of smoothness on the screen. It may just need a better glass treatment. Or quite simply, an inherent problem to swiping and touch on such a wide landscape. Finally, and this is probably a problem that touchscreen technology will face in general. The legacy applications, like older windows games bundled with the computer, were not accurately accepting the touch commands.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusions}

The overall initial feeling with this unit, was a pleasant experience. Out of the box it was easy to setup, with minimal connections. The mouse and keyboard designs flowed nicely with the main display unit. The stunning 25.5 inch touch screen display looks fantastic, and handles the touch features for the most part very well.There is a colored HP ambient light under the display that lets you set a mood, and better visibilty of the keyboard in the dark.

Included as well is a media remote for the embedded Microsoft Windows Media Center services. For around $2000.00, the HP Touchsmart IQ816 PC, provides plenty of storage and ram, as well as a rich multimedia touch environment, with a small footprint to boot. In my opinion, a good deal.