Photos: Dell Studio One 19 hands-on

Women: if they're not complaining, they're baking a smashing pie. And that's one of many sexist kitchen-centric gags you won't be hearing from us today, no sir. For our topic is Dell's Studio One 19 -- a 19-inch touchscreen all-in-one, best suited for the modern kitchen -- and its recent adventure with our fingers on its face in Paris.

Initially released only in Japan, Dell's answer to the Asus Eee Top has become available to UK kitchens recently, for upwards of £649, and its capacitive touchscreen actually surprised us. For one thing, it worked, and in the world of cheap touchscreen devices, that's a sizeable achievement on its own. But also it supports elements of multitouch technology -- such as pinching a browser window to zoom in and out -- which also did what they were supposed to. Amazing.

The machine itself comes with some decent specs. It'll max out with a 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, Nvidia GeForce 9400 graphics, a Blu-ray disc drive and a 500GB hard disk. And that'll cost you a very acceptable £1,049, including VAT and delivery. Sounds good, one thinks.

That is, until one glances at the US version. For the equivalent of £200 less, you'll get a quad-core CPU and a 750GB hard disk instead, and still keep the Blu-ray drive. Yeah, shaftings hurt. Go ahead, bookmark CNET UK -- we're always complaining about money. Also the N97.

We concede, however, that with a 16:9-format screen capable of displaying 720p video natively from a Blu-ray drive, and no need to even buy a keyboard, it still ain't a bad deal. It's just better if you're American. Again. Hands-on photos over the page.