The touchscreen iMac by HP is here

The HP Touchsmart IQ500.fr is a computer that's entirely integrated into its 22 inch screen - its 22 inch touch screen, that is.  It has just arrived in shops, and we've got one here in our labs which we will test soon and add to our Product Face-offs.

This is a superb computer, whose useful touch-screen interface seems to work well with the platform provided by HP.

An office PC built like a notebook

Nevertheless, power users might well be disappointed, because the computer is mainly built with components designed for notebooks.  It has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (2.16 GHz) with an NVIDIA graphics card (GeForce 9300M).

Everything else is much more “normal”: a 500 GB hard drive is combined with 4 GB of RAM, as well as WiFi b/g/n compatibility.  And as for ports, there's everything you need, with 5 USB, including 2 on the front, an RJ45 and Firewire.  Still, eSata would have been a useful addition.

We did have one nasty surprise as we were unpacking, however.  Although HP has taken care to make an outstanding combined computer/monitor, they have made do with very poor quality peripherals.  They haven't put any effort into making a stylish product, or even physically solid ones.  The keyboard is very loud and the mouse feels cheap.  In our opinion, neither of them belongs next to such an attractive computer.

Oh, and one last thing: the screen itself is truly incredible...