HP Envy Recline TouchSmart PCs, coming this month, can lie down on the job

You have to wonder, just a little, how many bendable, flexible touch-screen all-in-one computers PC manufacturers are going to make. The new HP Envy Recline 23 and 27-inch all-in-one PCs announced today certainly look fully featured, and present admirable attention to the ergonomics of angles, but HP has had other touch-screen PCs debut this year. Will this be the definitive tilt-and-swivel touch-screen PC from HP?

Unlike tabletop PCs that fully detach and have their own internal batteries, the Envy Recline TouchSmart 23 and 27 are larger, heavier full PCs meant to stay on a table. Their weight -- 26.7 and 32.1 pounds, respectively, based on HP's spec sheets -- are significantly greater than the 8- to 15-pound range of many tabletop PCs. The multi-angle hinged metal armature allows for a lot of flexibility, even down to a nearly flat mode.

The Envy Recline TouchSmart comes in both Beats and non-Beats editions, in 23 and 27 inches. All systems include 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Nvidia graphics, up to 16GB of RAM, and 1TB hybrid, standard or solid-state hard drives.

The Recline TouchSmart 23 will be available September 11 for $1,349 with a fourth-gen Intel Core i7 processor, 12GB of RAM, and a two-year warranty; a retail version coming in late September will have a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a one-year warranty for $999. Besides the Intel CPU options, the Recline TouchSmarts have Nvidia GeForce GT 730A graphics, and a 1,920x1,080-pixel IPS display.

A Beats Audio Special Edition will be available in October, starting at $1,028. It doesn't seem like you get much more to the equation, however, other than a different color scheme and "premium Beats audio."

The 27-inch version, also available September 11, will start at $1,399, also with a 1,920x1,080-pixel display and similar internal specs.

Overall, the Recline looks like a very versatile desktop...but it's hard to ignore how dense it seems.