Touchsmart PC

The meat and potatoes of the Touchsmart PC is the Touchsmart UI which overlays Windows Vista. Apps are neatly arranged in two rows; the often used ones are larger tiles on top with secondary apps below. You can rearrange them however you like. Most of the apps are right at home with your finger. Photos, videos, and music are all intuitively controlled by taps, swipes and flicks. It’s apps that require keyboard input that visibly break the whole Minority Report-esque experience. Some apps take you out of the Touchsmart UI into Windows but intelligently return when you close out of them. Good thing otherwise that quirk would be a totally annoyance. Speaking of the Windows desktop, the touch interface works there too. Tho not as intuitive, you can open/close and move windows around. The touchscreen isn’t a capacitive touchscreen. Instead it uses camera technology to accurately pinpoint the position of your finger(s). Be it design or cost - the decision is a mistake. Sometimes it doesn’t register my finger and other times it’s hypersensitive. The key to successfully using it is to go slow and pace yourself. This isn’t the iPhone where you can wildly flick your fingers. This takes precise taps and swipes to control and manipulate.