Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 All-in-One review: Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 All-in-One

Toshiba stopped making consumer desktops for the U.S. market almost 10 years ago, but if the new Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 is any indication, it appears Toshiba has found some viable economics in the all-in-one market. This 21.5-inch, $935 system is not quite as fast as others in this price range, but it has a clean look and some useful features, including touch input and the ability to work as a display for HDMI-based video sources. We're still waiting for an all-in-one vendor to hit upon the perfect combination of value and functionality at this price, but for its first consumer desktop in a decade, Toshiba has made a game attempt. We recommend it to anyone looking for a midrange Windows all-in-one with touch input and external device integration.

7.0

Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 All-in-One

The Good

The <b>Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22</b> features respectable performance for a $1,000 all-in-one, along with the versatility provided by its HDMI input.

The Bad

We'd rather have more robust components than the touch input, and we've also seen larger screens in this price range.

The Bottom Line

After a 10-year absence from the consumer desktop market, Toshiba makes a confident return with the DX1210-ST4N22, which offers an appealing combination of price, performance, and functionality.

Toshiba has opted for a simple design for its new all-in-one, relying on a clean, glossy black bezel with silver-gray trim along the bottom edge. The right side of the chassis has dedicated buttons for volume, screen brightness, screen power, and input select, a more logical set of controls than you usually see on competing all-in-ones.

In a side-by-side component comparison with the HP Omni 200-5380qd, a recent HP all-in-one, the Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 doesn't look like the best deal going, but the HP Omni does not support touch input, and it also lacks an HDMI input. We would gladly trade touch in the Toshiba for a Blu-ray drive, a discrete graphics card, or a faster CPU, but the HDMI input makes this system twice as useful as the HP Omni. Not every dorm room or den needs a touch screen, but the fact that you can use the Toshiba as a display for other devices is a major space-saving plus that largely offsets any problems with its remaining features.

CineBench 11.5 scores
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Rendering multiple CPUs

Rendering single CPU

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (2.5GHz Core i5 2400, Spring 2011)

3.96 

1.25 

HP Omni 200 5380qd (2.8GHz Core i5 760, Spring 2011)

3.93 

1.11 

Dell Inspiron One 2305 (2.4GHz Phenom II X4 610e, Winter 2010)

2.71 

0.69 

Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22 (2.3GHz Core i5 2410, Summer 2011)

2.59 

1.12 

While 21.5-inch screens like the Toshiba's are common in this price range, you can also get 23-inch displays in sub-$1,000 all-in-ones like the Dell Inspiron One 2305. Since the Inspiron One 2305 also has an HDMI input it might seem to have the overall advantage, but you can see from our performance tests that the Toshiba scored significantly faster than the AMD-powered Inspiron in almost every test. None of these Windows all-in-ones is meant for demanding HD video editing, and although the Toshiba's Core i5 4010 chip has a relatively robust embedded graphics core, it can barely handle the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and only then at its lower image-quality settings. Still, the Toshiba DX1210 is acceptably fast for its price, and its versatility makes up for what it lacks in raw performance.

In addition to its HDMI input, this Toshiba all-in-one boasts a pair of USB 3.0 inputs, still a relatively uncommon connectivity feature. You also get four slower USB 2.0 jacks, as well as an extra, enclosed USB 2.0 jack that neatly houses the wireless mouse and keyboard receiver. Other inputs include two analog audio jacks and an Ethernet adapter. We might like to see digital audio outs, but otherwise, we can only think of a few other ports we'd really like to add to this system.

Unlike on most other touch-based all-in-ones, you won't find a big application suite designed to round out the DX1210-ST4N22's touch support. Toshiba includes some useful apps that lend themselves to touch input, including Toshiba's Book Place e-book store and reader, and ReelTime, a carousel interface that displays large, touch-friendly icons of your document and program history. This approach is more understated than that of other touch-input peddlers, and does a good job of making use of touch input without overselling the concept.

Juice box
Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22	Average watts per hour
Off (watts)	0.95
Sleep (watts)	1.13
Idle (watts)	32.54
Load (watts)	76.27
Raw (annual kWh)	138.25
Energy Star-compliant	Yes
Annual power consumption cost (@$0.1135/kWh)	$15.69

The Toshiba's power consumption is among the best in its class of $1,000 all-in-ones, which we attribute to the impressive efficiency of Intel's second-generation Core i5 CPUs. Next to the slower, more power-greedy AMD-based Dell Inspiron One, the Toshiba is a paragon of environmental friendliness.

Standard warranty coverage for the Toshiba DX1210 includes one year of parts and labor. You also get 24-7 toll-free phone support, as well as a variety of diagnostic software and services on Toshiba's Web site and on the system itself.

Conclusion
Although Toshiba's been out of the desktop game for about a decade, the DX1210-ST4N22 demonstrates that it still knows how to build a quality desktop system. We might prefer the DX1210-ST4N22 with a few tweaks, but overall Toshiba has achieved an appealing balance between performance and functionality with this system, and for a reasonable price.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (2.5GHz, Summer 2011)
Apple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7; 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 2400; 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 512MB AMD Radeon HD 6750 graphics card; 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive

Dell Inspiron One 2305
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.4GHz AMD Phenom II X4 610e; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5470 graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

HP Omni 200 5380qd
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i5 760; 6GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB AMD Radeon HD 5570; 1TB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

Toshiba DX1210-ST4N22
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 4010; 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 64MB Embedded Intel HD Graphics 3000; 1TB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive