HP Compaq 8200 Elite All-in-One Review: A Superfast PC That Fizzles - griffithboakist

At a Glimpse

Expert's Rating

Pros

Superfast general performance
Integrated 802.11n connectivity

Cons

Limited connection options
Below-average storehouse electrical capacity

Our Verdict

If speed is the name of your game, you won't be disappointed by this business-class, all-in-one system. Only that's whol it really brings to the table.

Nerve-wracking to dig upbound a low-cost, all-in-cardinal, business-class desktop system that doesn't stink is a spot the likes of trying to find a magical lamp in a cave: It's a daunting suggestion, to say the least. And the Horsepower Compaq 8200 Elite each-in-uncomparable desktop doesn't make the task seem any easier. The PC is loyal–ace of the fastest all-in-one desktops we've reliable, in fact. But information technology doesn't offer untold else for its $999 (A of December 19, 2011) price tag. If you assume't heed a slim drop in speed, other business sector-class AIOs give a bit more bang for the buck.

HP Compaq 8200 Elite all-in-one desktop PC

The main source of the Compaq 8200 Elite's speed is its Intel Core i7-2600S processor, which doesn't appear to be all that mighty at first sight. That's because IT trades a take down power profile for a reduced operating clock speed atomic number 3 compared to the to a greater extent mainstream i7-2600, which runs at a regular 3.4GHz. But here's the hole-and-corner: Both chips can Turbo Boost, mechanically overclocking themselves when requisite capable an impressive 3.8GHz. And that's part of the reason wherefore we weren't surprised to see the Compaq 8200 Elite deliver a sea wolf score of 143 on our WorldBench 6 suite of benchmarks.

But that's really the sole bright spot along this all-in-single. The system lacks a touchscreen, which takes part of the taper of owning an all-in-incomparable PC (even for business environments) right out of the equation. And we're to a lesser degree impressed by the system's total repositing capacity, a bare 500GB.

Its integrated graphics frame-up was unable to provide playable frame rates at the desktop's native 1920-by-1080-picture element result on our Unreal Tournament 3 bench mark. When we dialed the resolve down to 1680 by 1050, it generated 19 frames per second; at 1024 by 768 pixels (high settings), it produced a playable rate of 39 fps. Gaming International Relations and Security Network't likely to be an epoch-making considerateness for most users shopping for a business machine, and those results are in line with what we've relate expect from Intel's integrated artwork. But versatility is important: More-complex 3D and tomography tasks will bear from the want of a discrete graphics card.

Although the Compaq 8200 Elite's integrated speakers sound a tad center-weighted, we have no criticisms. But we tin't say the same for the timbre of the picture displayed on this all-in-one's 23-inch screen, which doesn't look quite an as bright or as saturated as the displays of other AIOs we've reliable. IT lacked a predestinate vibrancy to really make movies and images "pop." We likewise thought that the overall picture, but especially text, was the slightest act fuzzy–just adequate for us to bill, but not enough to interfere with common desktop functions.

What could interfere with your business functions is the Compaq 8200 Elite's lack of connectivity options. In curtal, it's all USB: cardinal ports on the system's side succeeding to a multiformat card referee, and four ports along the arrangement's rear. A gigabit ethernet port is the entirely other connection selection you get; as far as networking goes, however, the all-in-one does allow Wireless-N connectivity right out of the corner.

So how does the Compaq 8200 Elite wad up? Though slightly slower and slightly smaller (at a screen size of 21.5 inches), the Lenovo ThinkCentre Butt M91z trades a performance difference of 8 percent for a full touchscreen, identical memory capacity, and support for HDMI (out) and a VGA connection–which allows that system to serve every bit a second monitor, if you and then desire. And you might besides consider the Toshiba DX1215: Therewith Personal computer you get a 20 percent performance drop and a 21.5-inch shield, but in return IT offers 1TB of storage, a beautiful multitouch display, and financial support for some USB 3.0 and HDMI.

In another words, you can slice the every last-in-one desktop pie a variety of slipway, but "speed" is the only savour you'll find in HP's Compaq 8200 Elite all-in-one. We can't defect this AIO for its killer unspecialised performance, but it needs a more counterbalanced (and awesome) put over of features–a touch screen, at undraped minimum.