LAS VEGAS -- Hewlett-Packard has designed a new all-in-one desktop that's intended to appeal to IT departments as well as employees.
The HP EliteOne 800 Series has a 23-inch screen that is only 50 mm wide and comes in a touchscreen or non-touchscreen version. It was unveiled Monday at HP's user conference here.
The final product has what HP calls an "industrial design" that is sleek, angular and a deep black in a way that makes the screen colors seem very rich.
Users "are just demanding aesthetic devices," said Dan Forlenza, HP vice president and general manager, commercial PCs.
Apple has owned the tech aesthetic for years, but HP has had to deal with other considerations, and that includes producing devices that also keep IT departments happy.
The EliteOne attempts to combine both needs. Tucked away in the rear of the unit are legacy ports, including a PS/2 connector, serial and VGA ports, along with their more modern replacements.
The unit's back can be removed quickly via thumb latches and without tools, offering access to memory, disk drive and other components.
There is still demand for legacy ports in enterprises, said Forlenza. For instance, some organizations with tight security may bar access to USB ports and rely, instead, on a PS/2 connector to hook up a mouse.
The system is Microsoft Lync certified, and the webcam includes a slide to give assurance the unit is off, a feature that Forlenza said is an important consideration among users. The system also includes Intel's latest chip, the Haswell series.
Although the PC market is declining overall, Forlenza said the all-in-one market has been growing at 18%. The EliteOne is a business machine and won't be on the retail market. Its price starts at $1,299 for the touch version, and $1,099 for the non-touch version.
This article, HP's new PC combines sleek design with legacy ports, was originally published at Computerworld.com.
Patrick Thibodeau covers cloud computing and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @DCgov or subscribe to Patrick's RSS feed . His e-mail address is pthibodeau@computerworld.com.
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