HP Pavilion 23 review: HP Pavilion 23

Hewlett-Packard's Pavilion 23 is one of the first 23-inch all-in-one PCs to hit the sub-$700 mark for its starting price. The core specs aren't that remarkable, and HP again proves stingy with HDMI inputs, but you can chalk all of that up to this PC's $699 price tag. I expect that low-cost, 23-inch all-in-ones like this one will be a new battleground among mainstream PC makers. Right now, this HP has the lead, and it's easy to recommend to anyone looking for a basic desktop.

7.2

HP Pavilion 23

The Good

The <b>HP Pavilion 23</b>'s giant, 23-inch display is uncommon in all-in-one PCs under $700.

The Bad

The low price means slow performance and few extras. The lack of an HDMI input hurts the most.

The Bottom Line

HP has made an aggressive move in the budget PC space with this big-screen all-in-one that will serve as an affordable, generally capable home computer.

The design of the Pavilion 23 is neither particularly impressive nor offensive. It's a close replica of the 27-inch HP Omni 27 Quad I reviewed earlier this year, only without the keyboard tray underneath the screen. The black-with-gray-accents design will fit unobtrusively in with any decor. If you're in the "anti" camp of the Great Glossy Screen Wars, you'll be glad to know that while the bezel surrounding the display has a sheen to it, the screen itself is reflection-free. You can also tilt the display back and forth along a modest range of motion via the kickstand on the back.

Unsurprisingly for its price, the Pavilion 23 does not have a touch screen. That's not really an issue for Windows 7, the operating system it ships with, but if you have a Windows 8 upgrade in mind, this system does not provide you with a great way to experience the touch interface in Microsoft's new OS. Your best solution will be an after-market device. Microsoft's Touch Mouse will receive an update to the Windows 8 gesture scheme when the operating system itself ships. You can also look into Logitech's Touch Mouse M600 or its Wireless Touchpad, although Logitech has not yet confirmed whether both devices will also receive Windows 8 gesture updates.

PC vendors have focused on higher-end, 27-inch all-in-one PCs this year, so I haven't reviewed a lower-cost all-in-one since 2011's Acer Aspire Z5771. At the time of its debut that system and the similar Toshiba DX735 retailed for approximately $899. The Toshiba is now down to roughly $849, but depending on the retailer you can find the the Z5771 for under $725. The HP still costs less new, and its price will of course fall the longer it stays on the market.

The AMD chip is a real weakness for the HP in terms of its relative application performance, but considering its lower price and the fact that the AMD chip is competent enough, it's not a crippling sacrifice. The AMD chip does give HP an advantage, though, in terms of its 3D capabilities. The Radeon HD 7540D core built into the A-6 CPU is fast enough to run modern games at full resolution, provided you keep the detail settings low. You can certainly find games that aren't playable on this system, but it handled Skyrim at low settings well enough.

The three systems are otherwise close to identical in terms of core features. The one noticeable absence is an HDMI port on the Pavilion 23. The Acer and Toshiba systems both have one, making them far more versatile in that you can use them as a standalone display for a game console or a cable box. Without the HDMI port, the HP is doomed to a PC-only existence. That won't bother everyone interested in this PC, but an HDMI port is such a useful extra that HP looks stingy leaving it off.

Adobe Photoshop CS5 image-processing test (in seconds)

(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

HP Omni 220 1080QD (2.8GHz Core i7-2600S, fall 2011)
209

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz, Core i5-2400s, fall 2011)

286

Acer Aspire Z5771 (3.3GHz Core i3-2120, fall 2011)

299

Toshiba DX735-D3201 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, fall 2011)

308

HP Pavilion 23-1000z (3.6GHz A6 5400K, summer 2012)

421

Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)

(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

HP Omni 220 1080QD (2.8GHz Core i7-2600S, fall 2011)
94

Acer Aspire Z5771 (3.3GHz Core i3-2120, fall 2011)

104

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz, Core i5-2400s, fall 2011)

110

Toshiba DX735-D3201 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, fall 2011)

117

HP Pavilion 23-1000z (3.6GHz A6 5400K, summer 2012)

148

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)

(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

HP Omni 220 1080QD (2.8GHz Core i7-2600S, fall 2011)
307

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz, Core i5-2400s, fall 2011)

362

Acer Aspire Z5771 (3.3GHz Core i3-2120, fall 2011)

386

Toshiba DX735-D3201 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, fall 2011)

451

HP Pavilion 23-1000z (3.6GHz A6 5400K, summer 2012)

578

Cinebench 11.5

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

HP Omni 220 1080QD (2.8GHz Core i7-2600S, fall 2011)
5.681.51

Acer Aspire Z5771 (3.3GHz Core i3-2120, fall 2011)

3.151.31

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (2.5GHz, Core i5-2400s, fall 2011)

3.091.16

Toshiba DX735-D3201 (2.4GHz Core i5-2430M, fall 2011)

2.661.14

HP Pavilion 23-1000z (3.6GHz A6 5400K, summer 2012)

1.460.94

The HP is so inexpensive that it's difficult to find suitable comparison systems to use in our performance charts. The simple fact is that AMD's CPU architecture has fallen behind Intel's in recent years in terms of raw application performance. The advantage is that AMD-based PCs tend to be cheaper. General browsing, document navigation, passive media consumption, and even some light-duty image and video editing and light-duty 3D gaming are all within the capabilities of this PC, but if performance is at all a concern, you will want to look for a different, faster computer.

As mentioned earlier, the lack of an HDMI port also hurts the Pavilion 23's overall appeal. It offers a respectable assortment of other connectivity options, though. You get four USB 2.0 ports on the back, along with an Ethernet jack and an audio output. On the left edge, there's an SD Card reader, and headphone and microphone jacks, and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. The latter feels unexpected, although it's also perhaps a signal that USB 3.0 has hit the mainstream.

Otherwise the Pavilion 23 offers few surprises. There is a Webcam built into the bezel, as with pretty much every all-in-one desktop, but the system itself has no hardware volume or display control buttons. For volume controls at least, you'll need to look to the included wired keyboard, where you'll also find some basic media control keys mapped onto the function row as an alternate function.

HP includes a basic one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the Pavilion 23. You also get 24-7 toll-free phone support, and a variety of support resources are available on HP's Web site, as well as on the system itself.

Conclusion
The HP Pavilion 23 has one primary strength -- it offers a 23-inch, 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution all-in-one PC for under $699. Its primary feature set is unremarkable, and you will get as much performance from this system as you have a right to expect given its price. I don't expect that you will start to see remarkable deals trickle down to this price point, but I do expect to see more budget, big-screen all-in-ones, and it will be interesting to see how they can differentiate themselves. For now, HP is the lead contender in the price segment, and as long as you're willing to endure the accompanying slow performance, this PC will serve you well as a day-to-day computer.

All performance testing conducted by Joseph Kaminski. Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:
Acer Aspire Z5571 (fall 2011)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.3GHz Intel Core i3-2120; 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 64MB Intel HD Graphics 1000 embedded graphics chip; 1TB 5,400rpm hard drive

Dell Inspiron One 2320 (fall 2011)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.8GHz Intel Core i5-2400S; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce 525M graphics card; 2TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP Pavilion 23-1000z (summer 2012)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 3.6GHz AMD A-6 5400K; 4GB 1,600MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 512MB AMD Radeon HD 7540D embedded graphics chip; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

HP Omni 220-1080qd (fall 2011)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (SP1); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-2600S; 6GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6450A graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Toshiba DX735-D3201 (fall 2011)
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-2430M; 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 64MB Embedded Intel HD Graphics 3000; 1TB 7,200rpm Seagate hard drive