Asus All-in-One PC ET2700INKS review: Asus All-in-One PC ET2700INKS

Hewlett-Packard debuted the first 27-inch Windows all-in-one earlier this year. Now Asus follows suit with its ET2700I. Like HP, Asus charges a reasonable premium for its large display, asking $1,399 for a system that might otherwise cost around $1,000 with the same components and a 24-inch LCD. None of these 27-inchers has the same high resolution as Apple's large iMacs, making them a better fit as home entertainment PCs than productivity workstations. Should you choose the Asus system over the HP? If overall performance and budget gaming capability are important to you, yes.

7.0

Asus All-in-One PC ET2700INKS

The Good

The <b>Asus ET2700INKS</b> is unique for its 27-inch display, a fast Core i7 GPU, and a discrete Nvidia graphics chip.

The Bad

Like other 27-inch Windows all-in-ones, the Asus' 1080p resolution hurts its appeal next to the higher-resolution 27-inch iMac.

The Bottom Line

The Asus ET2700INKS will meet the needs of anyone searching for a fast, large-screen all-in-one for mainstream home entertainment and general-purpose productivity.

Asus offers a few different versions of the 27-inch ET2700I. This one, the ET2700INKS, is the most expensive, thanks to its Core i7 CPU, a discrete Nvidia graphics card, a Blu-ray drive, and a standalone subwoofer unit that plugs into the side of the system.

I haven't seen an all-in-one with a breakout subwoofer before. It seems like a reasonable way to differentiate the system, but the effort is marred by underpowered hardware. Asus sends power and the audio signal to the sub via a single audio cable. The unit provides a slight boost to the bass output, but even at max volume and with all of the various software effects enabled, the audio isn't what you would call room-filling. At the higher volume levels, the output also lost some integrity.

Cheap subwoofer aside, the 27-inch screen is the highlight of the ET2700I. The resolution tops out at 1,920x1,080 pixels. That's plenty for most home users, and movies, games, and other media content will look great. You might be disappointed if you want a giant screen to cram full of open windows for multitasking. Professional digital-image editors and others will also likely prefer the 27-inch iMac's denser 2,560x1,440-pixel resolution.

Also note that the ET2700I does not have a touch screen. Multiple PC vendors have told me that getting touch on a 27-inch display is prohibitively expensive. That didn't stop Lenovo and others from exhibiting touch-enabled 27-inchers at this year's CES, but whether those systems will actually come to market here in the United States is another question.

It's worth noting that without touch-sceen technology, upgrading the ET2700I to Windows 8 later this year might feel rather pointless. How that might factor in to your present-day buying decision depends on what you think of Microsoft's ability to spur the development of compelling touch applications. For this system today, I expect most potential buyers won't find the lack of touch a deal killer.

Comparing the Asus ET2700I with the HP Omni 27 shows that while the HP system is less expensive, the Asus unit has more powerful components. The Core i7 chip in the Asus (second-generation Sandy Bridge Core i7, not the new, third-gen Ivy Bridge version) is a quad-core CPU with Hyper-Threading, which means in times of need you get four additional processing threads simulated on top of the four physical CPU cores. The Core i5 has no Hyper-Threading, making it only a pure quad-core CPU.

The bigger edge for the Asus system is its GeForce GT540M graphics chip. That budget graphics chip won't run every PC game out there at full 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution, but it will handle most of them reasonably well. The HP's embedded Intel HD 1000 chip most certainly won't.

Those two features alone justify the Asus' $150 price premium over the HP system, which argues for the ET2700INKS as a fair deal. Whether you need that extra performance depends on how you intend to use the system. If you're primarily interested in a large-screen all-in-one for non-gaming media consumption, the HP Omni 27 should be sufficiently powerful.

Cinebench
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Rendering multiple CPUs

Rendering single CPU

Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 (3.4GHz Core i7, June 2011)

5.97 

1.45 

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz Core i5, November 2011)

4.91 

1.25 

HP TouchSmart 620 (3.1GHz Core i5, October 2011)

4.91 

1.25 

Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz Core i5, May 2011)

4.88 

1.3 

Asus ET2700I (2.8GHz Core i7, April 2012)

4.81 

1.21 

HP Omni 27 Quad (2.5GHz Core i5, February 2012)

4.15 

1.26 

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (2.5GHz Core i5, May 2011)

3.96 

1.25 

The Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 presented the only real difficulty for the Asus in our performance tests. The Lenovo cost $1,279 at the time of its review, although it's available for $1,199 today. As you can see from its test results, it's faster than the Asus system across the board. The Lenovo system also has a faster graphics card, and a 3D-capable display. The only downside is that it has a 23-inch display.

The result of these comparisons is a series of situational recommendations. Want a large-screen Windows all-in-one for passive media consumption? Get the HP. Want a big screen as well as strong CPU performance and some basic gaming capability? Then the Asus makes sense. Don't care so much about the screen size, but still want speed? I'll point you to the Lenovo.

Other than that, these three all-in-ones are remarkably similar. Asus offers most of what you'll find on the other two in terms of connectivity. You get an HDMI input, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, and an SD card slot. You also get some unexpected extras, like a VGA input to let you use the monitor as a display for older laptops, and eSATA for appropriately equipped external storage devices. The volume and video signal-swapping buttons on the display are also convenient.

Asus backs the ET2700I with a yearlong parts-and-labor warranty, as well as 24-7 phone support. It also seems to have streamlined its Web site to add at least the basics of online support. You can find chat, RMA information, driver downloads, and other help all on a single support page.

Conclusion

The Asus ET2700I is an appropriately expensive all-in-one given its fast components and 27-inch display. It would make an excellent system in a bedroom, dorm room, or other small setting where it can be used for both productivity and entertainment. Don't expect much from its audio output, and more committed PC gamers will want to look to the Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 instead, but for more forgiving games and even some light-duty multimedia-editing functions, the Asus ET2700I will serve admirably.

System configurations:

Apple iMac 27-inch
Apple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7; 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 (second generation); 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB ATI Radeon HD 6970M graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Asus ET2700I (Core i7, April 2012)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-2600S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Dell Inspiron One 2320
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2400S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce 525M graphics card; 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP Omni 27 Quad
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2400S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 64MB Intel HD Graphics 1000 (embedded); 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP TouchSmart 620
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-2400; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6670A graphics card; 1.5TB 5,400rpm hard drive

Lenovo IdeaCentre B520
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-2600; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 2GB Nvidia GeForce GT 555 graphics card; 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive