A new angle on desktops with curved-screen Samsung Ativ One 7

If you're looking for something a little different in an all-in-one desktop, the new Ativ One 7 Curved desktop is the first all-in-one we've seen with a curved screen.

Giving a display a concave shape is an idea starting to show up in some of the biggest of big-screen televisions, most notable in Samsung's HU9000 series of UHD sets. There, it's widely considered a gimmick that doesn't make for a radical leap in TV design, although the idea does have its defenders.

Whether it's a feature you'd need or not, taking the television's curve and bringing it to a PC shows Samsung is making good on its promise to share technology throughout the massive company's different divisions.

On the plus side, a gently curved display, such as on Samsung's 4K TVs and this computer, can create a more immersive experience for the viewer, and the shape can also cut down on screen glare. In our brief eyes-on time with the system, it seemed like a standard upscale 27-inch all-in-one, with a slight angle to its screen that you'd stop consciously noticing after a few minutes. Unlike the 4K curved televisions, the resolution here is a standard 1,920x1,080.

The internal components are similar to many other 2015 computers. While Samsung hasn't officially said so yet, the Core i5 processor in this model will most probably be part of Intel's Broadwell platform, which is the fifth generation of Core i-series processors. The hard drive is a standard 1TB HDD, no SSD options available for now, and like many large screen all-in-ones, it includes an HDMI input, so you can use the display with a game console, set-top box, tablet or other device.

The Ativ One 7 Curved will be available in the first quarter of 2015, for $1,299. International pricing and availability was not available yet.