HP Omni 27-1015t

By Brian Westover

If you're an avid movie watcher or video hobbyist, you probably already know about the video-friendly all-in-one desktop PC, the HP Omni 27. With the release of Intel's third-generation processing platform the Omni has gotten a hardware refresh. The new HP Omni 27-1015t offers faster processing and a double the hard drive capacity. Unfortunately, it drops the Blu-ray drive that came with the previous iteration. It's a move that hobbles the appeal of this all-in-one desktop, and wastes the potential of its 27-inch HD display. But in terms of other features and performance, the Omni 27-1015t is still a solid system.

Design & Features
Outwardly identical to the Editors' Choice HP Omni 27 , the Omni 27-1015t features the same edge-to-edge glass covered 27-inch display, complete with true 1080p resolution (1,920 by 1,080). It's large enough?and sharp enough?to use as your primary television screen, with HDMI input giving the all-in-one monitor capability for another PC or game console. Though beautiful, the display lacks touch-screen functionality, as we've seen in the similarly-priced Sony VAIO L24 (SVL24114FXB) (though, it should be said, the Sony desktop's display is smaller at 24 inches). The Omni 27-1015t comes with impressive audio: Beats Audio provides crisp, clear sound, and an optional subwoofer for those who want their bass to really thump. It's a combination made in movie lover's dreams. That's why we were dismayed to see that this configuration?unlike the Omni 27?comes standard with a DVD drive only, not Blu-ray. Upgrading to Blu-ray is only $100, but with this display, at this price point, it should probably come standard.

Included with the Omni 27-1015t is a wireless keyboard and mouse. The keyboard has chiclet-style keys and runs on two AAA batteries, offering reasonably comfortable typing from up to 30 feet away?ideal for anyone wanting to use this as both PC and TV. The included wireless mouse has an ambidextrous design and tight, controlled clicking. While personal preference may lead some to pick up different peripherals, the included keyboard and mouse are better than most bundled accessories.

On the right of the system you'll find a slot-loading DVD+-RW recorder, along with several menu buttons and an HDMI-in port for connecting a TV tuner or gaming console. On the left, two USB 3.0 ports offer speedy connections for hard drives, along with jacks for headphones and microphone, and a card reader slot (SD,MS, xD). On the back of the system, you'll find four USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet port, and jacks for speakers and subwoofer.

Inside, the Omni 27-1015t packs 2TB of hard drive storage, double that of most mid-price all-in-ones, like the Apple iMac 27-inch (Thunderbolt) or Asus ET2700INKS-B062C , which both offer 1TB drives. You will find a fair amount of extras preinstalled on the system, like HP Games, Rara Music (a paid music service), Office 2010 Starter, and a generous 15-month trial of Norton Internet Security. You'll also get added toolbars in Internet Explorer (from Bing and Norton), desktop links to Ebay and Amazon, and HP branded utilities like HP Download Store, and HP Magic Canvas?a touch-optimized interface that simply feels inconvenient on a non-touch-screen device.

Performance
The biggest updates to the Omni 27-1015t are internal, as the all-in-one boasts a 3.0GHz Intel Core i5-3550S dual-core processor, part of Intel's third-generation platform. Thanks to the new processor and 8GB of RAM, the Omni 27-1015t offers improved performance across the board, leading the category in several tests, such as PCMark 7 (3201 points) and Handbrake (1:09) and only being narrowly edged out in Photoshop (3:03) and CineBench (5.42) by the Asus ET2700INKS-B062C (Photoshop 2:58, CineBench 5.60), which boasts a Core i7 CPU.

Compared with others in the midrange all-in-one desktop category, the Omni 27-1015t offers improved performance and plenty of great features for the price, but drops some of our favorite features seen in the Editors' Choice Omni 27, namely the standard Blu-ray optical drive. The newer HP Omni 27-1015t does offer a large 2TB drive to compensate, making it a great deal for the price, but it doesn't quite replace its predecessor as the Editors' Choice.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the HP Omni 27-1015t with several other desktops side by side.

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