HP TouchSmart 520xt

HP TouchSmart 520xt

HP's TouchSmart 520xt is designed to offer a more affordable alternative to its higher-end TouchSmart 610, but thinly sliced differentiations between models prevent this system from having a real identity of its own. The fact that HP sent us a fully loaded TouchSmart 520xt with a $1,549 price tag doesn't help. On its own, this is a respectable all-in-one with the unique draw of HP's robust TouchSmart software suite. In the larger picture, we can't recommend the TouchSmart 520xt over HP's already successful TouchSmart 610 series. The most significant difference between the two TouchSmarts might be in their design. Where the TouchSmart 610 debuted a display with a wide tilt range, the TouchSmart 520 is a more traditional all-in-one, albeit a new design for HP. You can tilt the display back and forth with relative ease, although it doesn't have the same range of motion as the 610. The 520 also has a tray mounted underneath the display upon which you can rest the wireless mouse and keyboard. The tray helps you keep the work area organized; it's useful enough, but it's not what we'd call a product-defining feature.