OT: HP takes on Apple's iMac

Cliff Etzel wrote on 2/17/2012, 2:58 PM

The New HP Z1 Workstation class All In One looks to be direct competition to the iMac - and then some. Finally a small footprint workstation class All In One with a dedicated nVidia Quadro Graphics card and Xeon Quad core processor and up to 32GB RAM

I do believe I've found my replacement desktop I need to upgrade later this year. Here's to hoping SCS truly fixes Vegas Pro as a result of the survey and this computer will be it's new home in my edit suite.

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rmack350 wrote on 2/18/2012, 3:44 PM

According to the specs page it has a subpar 400 watt power supply and does not say if it can be replaced with a more powerful one. I know it can be replaced for servicing but a more powerful one?

You're not really buying that kind of a product. From a product engineer's point of view this unit comes with a power supply that will support anything they plan to offer, but probably not everything you might try to install. They're selling a finished product. If that works for you then this might be a good choice.

As for the display port output, I'm absolutely sure it supports any monitor that'll accept DisplayPort, or anything that you can use an adapter for. DisplayPort isn't proprietary (although Thunderbolt over DisplayPort might be, but this doesn't support that anyway). Yes, HP lists their own displays as compatible but that's probably just them wanting to sell you a screen. And if you bought this thing for it's looks then you might want displays with a similar look.

I'd really like to see an ExpressCard slot or two in these. That seems like an omission.

As for things getting replaced speedily...What we've done with our HP servers is pay for an on site service contract. The parts arrive by courier in the morning, the tech arrives and installs them before we even think about lunch (in the best of possible worlds, of course).

If you're an ad agency or some other business where appearances matter then this sort of thing might be a good choice. Also might be a good choice in other industrial and medical environments. Labs might want the power without the cables strewn everywhere. If you're some shmo with a messy desk in the basement (most of us judging by the pictures) then it doesn't much matter.

The fast/slow opening case...from a service perspective this was the thing that really thrilled me. *Everything* is easily accessible. No disassembly to get down to the screen. I love the idea.

Rob

Former user wrote on 2/19/2012, 1:14 AM

I've never minded this style of system, but I've also never bought one (though I have used them).

The up-side for, say, Vegas users: if it could be a certified Vegas-approved system, I'd be game. That said, service issues could be problematic, so I hope HP has some really good warranty on that thing.

In a really serious environment, keep your files on a network server (or something external, even a drobo), and then have two systems (if only).

deusx wrote on 2/19/2012, 11:22 AM

http://www.nextcomputing.com/products/portable-workstations/nextdimension-pro That's an all in one and a portable workstation.

iMacs are toys, so are PC versions of that. It' OK for kids or general consuming of whatever it is you consume via your pc, but it's not a serious workstation.

Make sure you watch the video demo ( and it has 1920 x 1200 , not 1080 resolution screen )

Laurence wrote on 2/19/2012, 3:41 PM

>iMacs are toys, so are PC versions of that. It' OK for kids or general consuming of whatever it is you consume via your pc, but it's not a serious .

So I've been editing with a toy!? Mr. Bloom as well? Well at least I'm in good company! ;-)

rmack350 wrote on 2/19/2012, 3:48 PM

Yawn.

A passenger car is okay for commuting in comfort but it's not a serious forklift.

I think the key here is to buy the computer that fills your needs rather than someone else's.

Rob

amendegw wrote on 2/19/2012, 3:53 PM

btw: What ever happened to "Coursedesign"? He'd be right in the middle of this discussion.

...Jerry

deusx wrote on 2/19/2012, 10:05 PM

Technology has progressed to the point where you can edit on just about anything and with any NLE. That doesn't mean that some PCs still aren't much better than others.

iMac is a toy, it's screen gamut is not suitable for "professional" editing of any kind, videos or photos. The reason people can get away with it is because everybody else uses screens with crap/innacurate color reproduction that it hardly matters any more and we have a generation of idiots who are perfectly happy watching shows and movies on their iPads or even iPhones; in other words they have no sense of quality nor do they have any taste at all.

Its hardware is also weak compared to what you can buy elsewhere for about the same price ( that's the case with all macs ).

One of my laptops costs $1000 less than a standard 15" mac book pro. It has a faster hard drive, 16 GB or ram and Adobe RGB screen ( other specs are the same ). You can see a difference between black values of ( 0,0,0 ) and (1,1,1 ) , something you can't see on the iMac, a mac book pro or 99% of consumer screens and if you export a JPG due to compression that (0,0,0 ) black may become (1,1,1) and it will look like crap if it's supposed to blend with the black background. Of course you'll never notice it if you're doing your work on an iMac. Lucky for you neither will most of the world due to crap screens they use, but somebody with a good monitor will look at it and go "WTF is this supposed to be?".

That HP doesn't look bad, but their best laptop with IPS screen and quadros is about $5000, so I have some doubts about this one starting at just $1900. Either it's not quite the same or you need to add a lot of options and up the price to get to that level.

>>>What ever happened to "Coursedesign"? He'd be right in the middle of this discussion.<<<

He joined a monastery after finding out that all this time he had been supporting a company that was making iPhone screens out of crystallized Chinese children's tears. But it's too late, god doesn't forgive stuff like that ( just ask Steve ).

Laurence wrote on 2/19/2012, 11:20 PM

>iMac is a toy, it's screen gamut is not suitable for "professional" editing of any kind, videos or photos.

I couldn't disagree more. A fast i7 with 4 cores, two 1920x1080 displays, 16 GB RAM, several terrabytes of 7200 RPM workspace is a screaming system that can whip through editing projects with ease. The idea that it needs to be in a large geeky looking box in order to be a serious tool is ridiculous. Sort of like saying that is better than .

deusx wrote on 2/20/2012, 1:12 AM

No, it has nothing to do with any of that. It's a simple fact. iMac's built in screen covers only 70% of NTCS color gamut. That is a toy.

You can add i747 jumbo jet processors and 7200000000rpm drives, you're basically editing and correcting colors like a blind bat on crack. In other words, you have no idea what the real colors are, but like I said since everybody else is happy with substandard displays it doesn't really matter. Everybody sees different colors, but as long as it's shiny and crispy and has cats in it who gives a &%$%.

If you want to tell me that nowadays it's acceptable to edit on toys then I agree with you, but there are serious machines with accurate color reproduction out there and they often cost less than these toys.

I got 4 cores running at 2.4 ghz, 7200 rpm drives, 16gb of RAM, 1920 x 1080 screen with 95% of NTSC gamut covered and it's a laptop that cost $1000 less than a comparably equipped Mac book pro with only 8GB of RAM and a crappy screen. And most importantly it will run Vegas, Fusion, Softimage, none of which will install on that Apple crap OS.

Anyway. I'm still in favor of getting a separate wide gamut monitor or a good laptop with a wide gamut screen. If you've got the money HP elitebook with dreamcolor display is the way to go. Portable, fast and color accurate. If you don't feel like spending close to 5K find a Clevo reseller who offers wide gamut screen options and you're set to go for around $2k or less for 15" versions.

Laurence wrote on 2/20/2012, 8:52 AM

Not bad for a couple of DSLRs and a toy computer:

http://vimeo.com/35715156

deusx wrote on 2/20/2012, 10:13 PM

What's the iMac have to do with any of this? Quality came from cameras and lenses. It could have been edited on anything, even a toy computer. All I'm saying is if seeing all of the colors and seeing them accurately matters to you, you need a better screen than that. If good enough is good enough then I guess it doesn't matter.

If that Lenovo you mentioned is one of those workstations with Auo matte screen then you may already have a wide gamut screen and that should look better, or definitely be more accurate ( sometimes the truth hurts and looks ugly too ) than the iMac screen. Lenovo w520 has the 95% NTCS gamut screen.