It’s been a while since Techcitement had an HP unit in house. The Z1 Workstation impressed us last year. That was a workstation though, which is a different animal from your typical desktop. Today though, Techcitement tackles the newest system sent to us: the ProOne 600 G1. Is there anything about it that separates it from the sea of all-in-ones?
First Impressions
Where the Z1 was a heavy chunk of industrial design, the ProOne 600 G1 (which we will refer to as a G1 from now on) is slightly lighter. It’s also slightly less eye-catching. Not that the G1 is exactly ugly. Had we not set eyes on the Z1, we’d probably be fine with it. The G1 also has less range of motion to the hinge than the Z1 does.
One positive thing the G1 takes from the Z1 is the ease of access to the insides. Normally, all-in-ones are a nightmare to upgrade. The G1, on the other hand, has two latches on a back cover that slides right off, giving you quick and easy access to its innards.
In all its naked glory.
And what glorious innards they are. We’ll save actual specs for later, but what we’ll say for now is that there’s an open memory slot and a miniPCIe port. This unit shipped with an SSD, but the drive cage can also easily fit a standard 3.5″ traditional hard disk drive. The ability to access your computer’s insides and update as desired is a rarity and huge plus for an AIO.
Another rarity that shows up on this device are the two PS/2 ports. For those wondering what an old Sony game console has to do with this, we refer to the old-school dedicated keyboard/mouse ports found on the G1. You don’t really see these nowadays, so I reached out to HP and was informed that the reason for the PS/2 inclusion is that the G1 is a business machine. Because of that user-type specificity, one of the industries most likely to want the G1 is the fiscal world, where USB ports are generally locked down for security reasons.
Remember these?
Not that the G1 has a shortage of ports. There are two USB 2.0 ports as well as four USB 3.0, a DisplayPort adapter, Ethernet, memory card reader, audio, and (generating feelings of nostalgia) a RS-232 serial port. The latter is again for the fiscal crowd, where dongles are sometimes used for security reasons. A nice touch is the actual inclusion of a media drive; our unit had a DVDMulti writer, but Blu-ray is an option. Throw in NFC and a 2 MP webcam (which can be not included or manually shuttered closed for the tinfoil crowd), and you have a machine that blends older and newer tech quite nicely.
The Software
This review unit came with Windows 8 (easily updated to 8.1). Those who don’t feel enamored of Microsoft’s latest OS will be happy to hear that Windows 7 (Professional or Home) is available, as well as SUSE Linux and FreeDOS 2.0. I have a hard time believing the last one in huge demand, but you can get it if you so desire.
Bad memories of high school just came flooding back.
HP has bundled a few apps in, including the cute “HP Quick Start”, which brings the traditional Start menu back to Windows 8 and does so rather well. There’s also Cyberlink MediaSuite, which acts as an interface for your media, but that’s something Windows 8 already did a fine job of doing. My favorite bit has to be the built-in hotspot to let you share your G1’s internet connection with your smartphone or tablet. While there are a limited number of scenarios, and we’re not sure we want to recommend using your PC as a router on a regular basis, it’s certainly a nice touch.
Performance
The G1 comes in a few flavors. Our unit has a fourth generation i5 Haswell chip. As expected, the chip performs like a champ. Start up is near instantaneous. Between the decent (and fairly quiet) fan HP threw in and the new chip’s heat/power management, the G1 never becomes too hot to handle.
The default graphics chip is an integrated Intel chip. Instead, HP gave us an AMD Radeon HD 765oA for this review unit. While well-reviewed, it’s not the best chip for hardcore gamers. But then, if you’re a hardcore gamer, why are you buying this machine?
Said graphics chip powers an impressive 21.5″ IPS display. The anti-glare coating is nice, and the 1920 x 1080 HD video is even nicer. What we’re trying to say here is you may want to spring for that Blu-ray player.
The Strengths
The G1 has a lot going for it. Current chipset, end-user access, good graphics, and a wide selection of ports.
Did we mention you can take the back off?
The Weaknesses
You know that great HD screen? It’s missing a little something: a touch interface. If you’re going to use Windows 7 or Linux, the system is fine. Simply put, Windows 8 without touch isn’t an enjoyable experience.
It’s 2014; portrait mode doesn’t thrill us anymore.
We hate to ding a computer for aesthetics, but in an era where Samsung and Lenovo put serious money into how a PC looks, the HP ProOne 600 G1 comes off as dull. It’s especially confusing when HP has snazzy all-in-one desktops like the ENVY line. Basic grey plastic is grand for the corporate buyer, but any kind of inroad to the home market these days requires a tad more zing. That’s especially true when you get to the price.
Pricing & Availability
You’ll pay a pretty penny if you buy the G1 direct from HP, Amazon, or elsewhere. We couldn’t even get our model, with the dedicated graphics card, via HP’s website, as an option when we tried, and it still comes in at over a $1,000 with an integrated graphics card.
Wrap Up
There’s quite a bit to like about the G1. An expandable all-in-one is always going to get our attention. Not all that attention is good though. We could forgive the boring design if it at least had a touchscreen and undercut the flashy models in price. As it stands, we can’t recommend the ProOne 600 G1 to the general home user.
Even really boring home users.
Except not everyone is the general home user. If you’re in an environment where you need an all-in-one for space reasons and you desire the ability to easily swap and update parts, don’t let the price scare you away from closely checking out the G1. It’s certainly easier for an IT staff to work with than most competing AIOs we could name. That might be enough to make it worth the price.
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