HP Pro All-in-One MS218 Review

Okay, IT managers, it's true-confessions time: How many of your company's employees are still sitting in front of CRTs rather than flat-panel monitors? How many are still running Windows XP? Would you consider budgeting $699 apiece to outfit each of them with a new desktop, a new LCD monitor, and Windows 7 all at once? How about a new desktop and monitor all in one, like Apple's iMac?

Imagine an iMac in black plastic instead of aluminum, and you'll have a fair idea of the HP Pro All-in-One MS218 Business PC. Read HardwareCentral's review of the HP Pavilion MS214 consumer PC, and you'll have an even better idea.

The MS218 is the same 18.5-inch widescreen LCD monitor, with the same AMD Athlon X2 computer squeezed into its shell, as the MS214. It's priced at $699 to its twin's $600 because its warranty, unlike the civilian model's, includes a year of on-site service and because it's outfitted with Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) instead of Win 7 Home Premium. The business operating system brings extra office-networking chops and (via a download from Microsoft) support for the virtualization solution Windows XP Mode for compatibility with older or in-house applications.

HP also encourages another download -- a free 60-day trial of HP Virtual Rooms, a videoconferencing platform that's rather more professional than the superimposed cartoon effects and goofy image distortions offered by the preinstalled MediaSmart webcam software for consumer chats. The rest of MediaSmart is a handsome alternative to Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center for enjoying music, photos, and videos, but could just as well have been omitted considering this PC's intended use in corporate cubicles.

The Pro All-in-One won't take too much space in those cubicles, occupying about 8 by 18.5 inches of desk space not counting the keyboard and mouse. Its power supply, a notebook-style external brick, draws 120 watts; according to HP, it's 87 percent efficient, qualifying the system for Energy Star 5.0.

The 14-pound system swivels easily on its base and the screen readily tilts to your preferred angle, though there's no height adjustment. We think the display's 18.5-inch size and 1,366 by 768 resolution are close to minimum in this age of fabulous 20-, 22-, and 24-inch monitors, but the screen is sunny and sharp, with vivid colors. Brightness controls are on the screen's right edge, alongside the eject button for the (tray-loading, not swanky iMac-style slot-loading) LightScribe DVD±RW drive.

Two USB 2.0 ports; headphone and microphone jacks; and a six-format (SD/SDHC/xD/MMC/MS/MS Pro) flash-card reader are accessible on the screen's left edge. Four more USB ports, an audio-out jack, and a 10/100BaseT Ethernet port are at the rear, next to the AC adapter plug.

If your office offers 802.11b/g wireless networking, you won't need the Ethernet jack. If you have WiFi and invest in a cordless keyboard and mouse combo, you can enjoy the HP as a stylish just-one-cord (power) solution. As is, the MS218 surrenders a pair of USB ports to a conventional corded keyboard and optical mouse. Both are comfortable, generic items, with a firm typing feel and smooth scroll wheel, respectively.

Behind the Screen

The HP's CPU is an AMD Athlon X2 3250e -- a 1.5GHz dual-core processor with dual 512K Level 2 caches -- accompanied by 2GB of DDR2 memory and a 250GB Seagate hard disk. An ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics controller borrows 256MB of system memory.

None of the above are blazing performance parts (although the Seagate's 7,200 rather than 5,400 rpm is nice), but they add up to a tolerably perky and responsive PC for office applications. The graphics adapter drags the Windows Performance Index down to a mere 3.2 on the operating system's 7.9-point scale, but the system racks up PCMark Vantage and 3DMark06 scores of 2,698 and 1,136, respectively, and renders Cinebench R10's sample scene in just over five and a half minutes -- half as fast as a high-end desktop, but three times as fast as a lowly nettop. If you have an art department full of Photoshop fanatics, this is not the machine for them; if you have a workgroup of workaday Word and Excel users, they'll be fine.

And, except for wishing for 4GB rather than 2GB of standard RAM, we think the MS218 is fine, too. It looks sharp (especially with a cordless keyboard and mouse) on a desk or in a reception area or kiosk, and it's an effective way to bring staffers into both the flat-screen and Windows 7 eras in one move.