HP TouchSmart 520

Full HD screen ; Touchscreen interface will appeal to families ; Capacious hard drive ; Decent performance for office tasks

Uninspiring design ; Touchscreen is imprecise ; Poor performance for 3D games

The HP TouchSmart 520 doesn't have the cutting-edge looks to match an ultra-stylish living room, but its high-definition touchscreen will keep the kids happy and it offers enough power for the grown-ups to tackle their office work too.

Despite the slightly blue, dim screen, we recommend the TouchSmart 520. It's decently priced - at £849 inc VAT - and it packs a nice assortment of high-end features, and it makes a decent Blu-ray machine.

Decent size and performance for the price ; Beats Audio does enhance the sound experience

No Bluetooth ; Failure to innovate in the touch space ; Infrared technology means multi-touch is skittish ; Magic Canvas interface is laggy when using touch

The TouchSmart 520 doesn't achieve anything that TouchSmarts before it haven't already. Still, unimpressive touch capability aside, it makes a decent all-in-one touch product worth checking out if the size and price fit your needs.

So it isn’t the flashiest or fastest of PCs, and we’ve still not seen much dedicated touch software that’s genuinely useful on a large desktop, but the HP TouchSmart 520 does enough to impress in key areas. It offers up some competent, sensibly...

Decent size and performance for the price ; Beats Audio does enhance the sound experience

No Bluetooth ; Failure to innovate in the touch space ; Infrared technology means multi-touch is skittish ; Magic Canvas interface is laggy when using touch

The TouchSmart 520 doesn't achieve anything that TouchSmarts before it haven't already. Still, unimpressive touch capability aside, it makes a decent all-in-one touch product worth checking out if the size and price fit your needs.