This is one area in which I think the TouchSmart software really shines, combining multiple music sources all in a single touch-based interface. At its most basic, the TouchSmart Music app can discover all of the music on your PC, and lets you easily browse through albums in cover flow, album art or text grid lists. And the software is capable of working with either the same library format used by Windows Media Center or iTunes, so you’ve got a choice if you’re migrating from an existing library.

The TouchSmart Music app can run in the background while other TouchSmart Applications are running, so you can browse pictures, surf the internet, take notes, read recipes or even watch videos while you listen to music. But the really cool thing in the app is the relatively seamless integration with both Pandora and Rhapsody, both of which give you an endless music library.

I’ll start with Pandora, as it’s the simpler of the two interfaces. Just log in with your existing Pandora account (or create a new one), and it pulls in any already existing artist mixes on the right side of the screen. You can choose to play individual artist-inspired Pandora playlist, or jump right to a QuickMix of all of your Pandora artists and related tunes. The left side of the Pandora interface features artist bios, related artist info, and is the one place you’ll see advertising in the TouchSmart interface. I kept getting ads for Wendy’s cheeseburgers, but your mileage may vary. And now I’m hungry.

On the right side of the interface, you can thumb up/thumb down and skip music. One cool thing with HP’s Pandora is that you can put the Music app in the background, and all the artist info, ads, etc, go away and all you get is a small playback control in the upper-right corner of your screen with track and artist info. Of course, you’ll occasionally hear ads on Pandora, but what do you want for free?

Rhapsody, the all-you-can-eat subscription music smorgasbord is also nicely integrated into TouchSmart Music. The Rhapsody store is available as an additional link in the header of the Music app, and with the appropriate subscription (currently $12.99 USD/month), you can surf and listen to all the music you’d ever want as if it were just part of your personal library. You can easily create playlists by just dragging the tunes you want from the left side of the screen to the right using your fingertip.

I had a couple of random issues with the Rhapsody service in which the album art turned up blank, but that seemed to be a transient issue, and is no longer happening. Other than that, the Rhapsody component worked flawlessly, and also supports background playback so you can do other things while the music plays. I also really like the Playlist Central area, which is great for discovering new music based on editorially-selected playlists.

One other unique feature in all the TouchSmart Music apps is the touch-based search. Just write the name of the artist, album, song or keyword with your fingertip, et voila!…

About the only thing not to like about TouchSmart Music is the fact that you can’t co-mingle playlists across your media library, Pandora and Rhapsody, but I’d definitely file that on the “nice to have” list. As is the case with video and Live TV, you can alternatively use the bundled Windows Media Center apps, but unlike Live TV, I couldn’t see any significant advantage over using the TouchSmart Music app unless you have a Zune membership. Personally, having the Pandora integration is what really made me a believer. I think I have Pandora running on some device of mine hours a day lately.

As I mentioned in the first part of this article, the TouchSmart has a completely admirable built-in audio system that’s more than sufficient for use in a small room. It won’t blow you away if you’re a serious audiophile, but if you don’t want to clutter your room with lots of wires and speakers, you definitely can get by without extra hardware. And there’s always the audio out ports if you want to use an external sound system.

Since this is the final article in my three-part review of the TouchSmart 600, let me bring it all in for a landing. Overall, I’ve been very impressed with this hardware/software combo from HP. The all-in-one form factor is great for bedrooms, offices, and larger kitchens, and if you don’t want to have both a TV and a computer in those rooms, it’s a no-brainer. With a built-in digital HD tuner, 1080p video resolution, and robust media playback and management capabilities, you could definitely live with one of these as a standalone entertainment system. And the HDMI port on the side is a real bonus, since you can hook up a gaming console or satellite receiver and use it like an HDTV too.

There are definitely areas for improvement in the TouchSmart software,  specifically in the area of Live TV, where the playback and channel-surfing experience isn’t as smooth as Windows Media Center. However, there’s enough meat in the TouchSmart app suite – especially with the addition of Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and Rhapsody – to make it a compelling interface for day-to-day operation. And lest we forget that there’s an entire (reasonably) powerful Windows 7 PC packed in this box as well. You can surf the web, run productivity apps, play games, and do everything I’ve described in this series – all in a single slim box that actually looks quite nice sitting on your desktop. And while the touchscreen interface might not really be necessary (with the mouse, keyboard and included remote control), it still is pretty cool, especially for the media playback apps.

If you do decide you want to get your mitts on one of these, you can find the TouchSmart 600 over at Amazon with prices ranging starting around $1100 (USD) depending on configuration.

Or you could just enter our TouchSmart contest, and win one for yourself

So to refresh your memory, the TouchSmart 600 features a large 23-inch 1080p BriteView LCD screen, which can also double as an HDTV. For movie playback, the system has a built-in Slot-loading Blu-ray player, which can also burn DVDs.

I put the Blu-ray player through its paces with a copy of The Dark Knight, which really looks beautiful on the wide, bright screen of the TouchSmart. The interface for movie playback is clean and simple, and lets you use the touchscreen to control the play, pause, volume and scrub controls for your discs. I also like the little visual chapter indicators on the scrub bar. I did find one minor annoyance with movie playback – when you press any on-screen control, a floating D-pad controller comes up in a separate floating window, and you have to close it separately – it doesn’t fade out like the rest of the controls. I also couldn’t figure out a way to get the advanced menu features on my Blu-ray discs to play, so if that’s important to you, you should research this further. And why the app is called “MediaSmart DVD”, even though it plays Blu-ray discs is anyone’s guess. No biggie. Still, it looks great, and if you’re looking for content to show off the screen, this is it.

The other day, I tried the TouchSmart with both over-the-air HD broadcasts and a direct HDMI connection from my PS3. But once you pop in a native 1080p Blu-ray disc, you’ll really see this thing shine. There’s really no comparison in image quality to any other video format besides a digital 1080p file.

In addition to physical media playback, the TouchSmart software also includes applications for Hulu and Netflix. Both of these apps work great, and the TouchSmart Hulu app offers a cleaner interface than the standard web-based version. It also offers touch-based controls which make it easy to select content and scrub through scenes with just your fingertip. There’s also a nice little image thumbnail that pops in as you scrub through the scene to help you navigate. It takes a second to refresh, but once you get a hang of it, it’s pretty slick.

By comparison, the Netflix app is pretty austere. It looks very nice, and offers smooth playback of standard-def content in your Instant Queue. I still wish that Netflix would allow you to modify their instant queue in their viewing apps though. For now, you still have to surf to Netflix.com or use one of the myriad Netflix phone apps to edit your queue.

The Netflix app does have a clean, simple cover-flow like interface for selecting movies using their DVD box art, and when a movie is playing back you can scrub with your finger and see preview stills to guide you through your movie.

Video playback on both Netflix and Hulu were smooth over my 802.11n wireless network on my 6mbps DSL connection. However, I didn’t see any streamed content beyond SD resolution on these services. At least not by my naked eye. That said, the TouchSmart handles HD streamed content from sites like YouTube without a hitch – just not in the TouchSmart interface.

I didn’t get a chance to check out surround playback during movies, but the TouchSmart does offer a SPDIF optical output which should provide your surround system with what it needs to engulf you with big movie sound. The speakers inside the TouchSmart are more than capable of projecting sound in a small room, such as a bedroom or den though.

If you were just looking for a Blu-ray player and a 23-inch LCD monitor, you could probably score both of those for less than $500 total. But remember, the TouchSmart 600 is a true multi-purpose computing and home entertainment device. You can surf the web, play digital media files, listen to Internet radio (more on this in my next post), play your game consoles, and do everything else you’re used to doing with a Windows 7 PC in one box. Not too shabby in my book.

In my next post, I’ll be telling you how the TouchSmart handles your digital music collection and my conclusions on the system. Stop back by later this week to find out more. And don’t forget, if you read all of the articles, you’ve got chance to win a TouchSmart 600 too.

Since this is the first post in the series, I thought I’d take a minute to walk you through the TouchSmart 600′s hardware. The particular configuration I had my hands on was the 600-1055. The system features a beautiful 23-inch widescreen display, powered by NextWindow’s optical multitouch technology. Since the display uses an infrared touch technology, it can only handle two points of input, but that’s enough for manipulating simple media interfaces and handling gestures like flicks, pinch and zoom with aplomb. The system also has a high quality sound system built in, and the audio is certainly as good as anything you’d find built into a good television these days. It’s no substitute for a full surround rig, but it’s fine for a small room. And of course, there is an SPDIF optical output if you really do want to hook the TouchSmart to a proper surround system.

Under the hood, there’s a serviceable Core 2 Duo P7450, running a 2.13GHz, and the system has 4GB of RAM and a speedy 7200RPM 750GB SATA hard drive, perfect for recording television programs and handling other media utility work – right in the sweet spot for this machine. The system ships with Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition, so they didn’t skimp on the OS, either.

My first objective with the TouchSmart was to see how well it would work as a TV/DVR. The timing for this couldn’t have been better, as my brand new 58-inch Samsung plasma died and we had no TV in our living room for the last month (eeegads!) So while I wouldn’t normally recommend using a 23-inch display as your primary television, it worked for us in a pinch. The TouchSmart’s display size is definitely better suited to a bedroom, or maybe an office or den. It’s just a little large for most kitchens, but they do offer a 20-inch model as well.

So, back to the TV/DVR thing. There are a few ways to slice and dice this on the TouchSmart, and that’s part of the beauty of this thing. You can watch live television using the computer’s built in Digital ATSC tuner, and using either the included TouchSmart software or Windows Media Center, you can view live programs, and record them for later playback. I personally preferred the Windows Media software for this, as it works with the bundled remote control, and was a bit zippier than the TouchSmart interface. That said, the TouchSmart version does work well if you plan on primarily the touch screen for input, so maybe it would be good in a small room where you will be right by the screen all the time.

I recorded several programs in both the foreground and background, and didn’t run into any problems with playback quality, even for 720p and 1080i HD broadcasts. Oddly enough, I did run into some stutter on HD content in the TouchSmart app during live TV though, but it’s possible some sort of background task (maybe anti-virus or system updates) was hogging resources. This only occurred once or twice in my experience. The recording worked fine, even in the background while other tasks were going on, although since there’s only a single tuner, you won’t be able to record two programs at the same time like you can with some DVRs. However, I couldn’t figure out a way to pause or scrub that program while the program was recording using the TouchSmart software. It works fine with a live program that you’re not currently recording, though, so go figure.

That all said, I felt that the program guide interface for the Windows Media side of the house was much easier to read from a distance and found more APG program data than the TouchSmart version managed to muster. That said, the system includes both interfaces, so its your choice. Here’s the TouchSmart running Windows Media Center Live TV for comparison:

In addition to over-the-air television, the TouchSmart software includes apps for Netflix and Hulu, both of which performed admirably, and featured touch-enhanced interfaces with bigger buttons, and nice scrub bars for jumping through content. I’ll be covering the DVD/Blu-Ray and streaming video capabilities in more detail in my next post.

But what if you’ve got a satellite or fiber-optic receiver? With most desktop PCs, you’d be out of luck. There’s an S-Video input and an IR blaster output if you want to use a set-top tuner with Windows Media Center. And while you can’t use the built-in media or touchscreen software to watch from one of these devices in high-def, the TouchSmart has a handy HDMI input on the side, which lets you flip out of computer mode, and use it just like a regular HDTV.

I tried it with both my DirecTV HD DVR and my Sony PlayStation 3, and it worked great with both. My only issue with this input is that there’s no decent cable management for it, whereas all the other ports on the computer are neatly tucked behind a cover, this cable ends up sticking out of the side of the display. That said, It’s a minor complaint. More computers need to include this feature. There’s also a component RCA and stereo audio input there too, but I’m not really looking forward to watching crappy old video signals on a beautiful 1920 x 1080 LCD, are you? On the other hand, God of War III looks mighty nice.

Overall, I’d say the TouchSmart 600 is a fine performer for watching and recording television programs, and there are numerous choices for how you get your digital content into the system. I wouldn’t say it’s an ideal living room system because of the relatively small screen size, for a bedroom or office, it’s perfect. And while the TouchSmart software itself may not be as refined as Windows Media Center for TV viewing, the hardware is quite capable, and it’s your choice which interface to use.

Over the next few days, I’ll be talking about my experiences with movies and streamed content, as well as music and audio on the system. Be sure to swing by again for more details. And if you’re really attentive, you’ve got a chance to win a TouchSmart 600 for yourself.

How’d you like to get your hands on a brand spankin’ new HP TouchSmart 600 computer for free? Well, all you’ve got to do is keep an eye on Technabob for the next week for your chance to win.

Over the next week, I’ll be posting three more articles documenting my experience living with the HP TouchSmart 600 as an all-in-one media/entertainment PC. All you need to do for a chance to win is to read all three articles, post a comment on each one for a chance at the loot.

The folks at HP were kind enough to loan me a TouchSmart 600 for the last couple of weeks, and they’re providing the prize for one lucky Technabob reader too. The TouchSmart 600-1055 we’re giving away features a glorious 23-inch widescreen 1080p display, and has built-in Blu-Ray player too. The system has a 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 CPU, 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, and an NVIDIA Geforce GT230M graphics chipset. It’s also loaded up with an over-the-air digital HDTV tuner, and even has an HDMI input for connecting your video game systems. The system also includes HP’s touch-based TouchSmart suite of media and home productivity apps, as well as Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition.

I won’t give away all the system and software details until I post my articles later this week, but I think anyone who gets their grubby little mitts on one of these will be very happy with the prize.

See, the TouchSmart doesn’t actually detect pressure, but uses NextWindow’s infrared optical sensor technology to determine the position of your fingers. With a little experimentation, I discovered that pretty much anything that doesn’t scratch the screen can be used as a stylus.

While there’s no decent paint application that ships with the TouchSmart, you should definitely plunk down $25 bucks for a copy of Ambient Design’s ArtRage, a truly amazing low-cost natural media art application. The combination of ArtRage and a cheap $2 acrylic paintbrush is all you need to paint on screen. Check out my [cheesy] home video clip to see what all the fuss is about:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[View Video Clip in HD]

While I’ve played with graphic tablets and touchscreen finger-painting before, there’s nothing quite like using a real brush. At this point, there’s no way to detect the pressure or angle of the bristles, but at least one person has already put together a proof-of-concept for detecting brush width on the TouchSmart. Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before that logic finds its way into a paint application.

So if you have a TouchSmart and even a single artistic bone in your body, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy of ArtRage, a couple of cheap paintbrushes, and get to painting. Maybe you’ll be the next Renoir or Picasso. Just be sure not to put any actual paint on your brush.