Reviews

Apple's new high-end 27-inch iMacs (late 2009) are the first all-in-one PCs to use Intel's latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. We can tell you it was worth the wait.

Here we look at the stock Core i5 27-inch iMac, tested using Boot Camp and 64-bit Windows 7. The $2000 system (as of December 8, 2009) ranks as the second-fastest all-in-one PC we've seen, beaten only by the $2200 iMac (27-inch/Core i7).

Apple's new high-end 27-inch iMacs--released late 2009--are the first all-in-one PCs to use Intel's latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. We can tell you it was worth the wait.

Here we look at the 27-inch iMac with the built-to-order 2.8GHz Core i7 option, tested using Boot Camp and 64-bit Windows 7. Though pricey, this $2200 system (as of December 8, 2009) turned out to be the fastest all-in-one PC we've tested to date.

The Gateway One ZX6810-01 ($1400 as of December 8, 2009) packs a punishing amount of gaming prowess and extras into its 23-inch frame. Its 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 graphics are the best we've seen from an all-in-one outside of the pricier Apple iMacs, and like its similar-looking $900 Acer Aspire Z5610 cousin, that big screen is multitouch-enabled and runs Windows 7.

The ZX6810-01 also includes an HDTV tuner and a remote control--bonuses we've seen on the 23-inch HP TouchSmart 600xt ($1460), the 21.5-inch Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 ($1149), and the 24-inch Sony Vaio VPCL117FX/B ($2000) as well. But those systems also include Blu-ray drives--the Gateway doesn't. Instead, it runs rings around them at gaming (and has a DVD writer).

Like the Vaio LV180J all-in-one that it replaces, the new Vaio L117FX/B has great performance, a Blu-ray drive, an HDTV tuner, a media center remote control, and a gorgeous 24-inch display. But this time around, Sony has included a multitouch screen, Windows 7, and a design that's sleek and modern.

The Vaio L117FX/B starts at $1300; we tested a high-end, $2000 (as of December 8, 2009) configuration. At that price, you could score a standard tower desktop that has greater performance and upgradability, but such is the nature of all-in-one PCs.

MSI's Wind Top AE2010 ($650, as of December 8, 2009) is one of our favorite new budget all-in-one PCs. It has a 20-inch single-touch display, Windows 7, and 4GB of memory; it ditches the Atom CPU for a 1.5GHz Athlon X2 Dual-Core 3250e processor; and it is among the best-performing budget all-in-one PCs (20-inches or smaller) we've seen. But we've got a few concerns, too.

The display's glossy coating creates an annoying reflection of yourself whenever a scene goes dark, and it makes the darker contrasts of a movie or game less rich than you would otherwise see. You also lose detail in darker scenes, as the screen itself has a kind of gray quality to it if you're setting up the system in a room with average lighting. The AE2010's saturation is good, but not great--scenes are colorful enough to appear fine; however, competing all-in-one systems offer more vibrant looks. The AE2010's built-in speakers are a bit worse than those found on your average laptop--not exactly a strong point when you're looking to bust out the movies and the popcorn.

Acer's Aspire Z5610 is kind of like a budget version of the Gateway One ZX6810-01. Both have 23-inch, 1080p-capable multitouch displays and top-notch general performance, but the $900 Acer (price as of December 8, 2009) lacks the $1400 Gateway's gaming grunt--as well as extras like a TV tuner and a media center remote control. Still, the Z5610 offers a lot for its cost.

Besides its big high-def screen, the goodies include a 2.6GHz Intel dual-core processor that delivered an impressive score of 101 in our WorldBench 6 benchmark suite. This score compares extremely well with those of the $2000 Sony Vaio L117FX/B (a 24-inch multitouch) and the aforementioned Gateway One ZX6810-01, which both earned 105 in WorldBench 6. Those results were beaten only by the new Core i7- and Core i5-based 27-inch Apple iMacs, the category-leading speedsters. Tested using 64-bit Windows 7 and Boot Camp, the $2200 Apple iMac (27-inch / Core i7) scored 128 to the $2000 iMac (27-inch / Core i5)'s result of 123. Blazing.

Asus helped kick off the whole all-in-one PC resurgence with its 15.6-inch Eee Top ET1602; now it has come back with a $600 (as of December 8, 2009) 20-inch version that's the first all-in-one we've seen with nVidia Ion graphics. But here's the problem: the ET2002's dual-core Atom N330 processor, 2GB of RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium operating system scored only 37 in WorldBench 6--less than the original ET1602 (41), and certainly slower than HP's Pavilion MS214, an identically priced, 18.5-inch Windows 7 all-in-one with a 37 percent higher score (59).

Both systems turned in equally unplayable results for gaming, with the ET2002 delivering a paltry 10 frames per second on a scaled-down version of our Unreal Tournament 3 benchmark (1024-by-768 resolution, high quality). Ion graphics don't help much with gaming, but will help with smooth HD flash video playback.

If you’ve had your fill of flat-screen HDTVs with shiny black bezels, check out the Vizio VL470M ($1300 as of 12/10/09). Moderately priced for a 47-inch, 1080p LCD TV with a 120Hz refresh rate, the VL470M sports a classy-looking matte bezel that sets it apart from the crowd--and it’s no slacker in the image-quality department, either.

Judges gave the VL470M--one of Vizio’s higher-end sets--above-average scores across the board in PC World Labs testing, placing it toward the top of the 46- and 47-inch HDTVs we've tested (only the Samsung LN46B750 earned a better performance score). Judges gave the VL470M particularly high marks for its color and skin tones, and it performed extremely well in our demanding motion benchmarks and panning tests. This is a set on which you'd enjoy watching the Super Bowl and other fast-action programming.

The 47-inch Vizio SV470M LCD TV ($1300 as of December 10, 2009) is a midrange offering in its size class, priced the same as the Vizio VL470M (another 1080p, 120Hz 47-inch HDTV) but with fewer features (it lacks support for multimedia playback). The SV470M is also a magnified version of the previously reviewed Vizio SV420M (they share documentation)--but bigger isn’t necessarily better: In our juried image quality tests, the SV470 scored somewhat below its smaller sibling.

In fact, the SV470 earned one of the lowest ratings for image quality in its test group--but that's mainly because the group as a whole performed very well. In a more diverse group that included some very poor performers, the SV420M scored a shade above average. The SV470M didn't get notably poor marks for any particular picture-quality attribute, but it didn't earn any high marks either, except on the motion benchmark and panning tests, where the set scored very well.