Desktop Toshiba LX830
As a one-piece computer it's intended to be used either on its own, with keyboards appearing on its sizeable touch screen, or with wireless keyboard and mouse. The bundled versions are functional and basic but though they're useful, they're certainly not essential and can be tucked away to avoid clutter when they're not in use.
The screen looks quite beautiful. The 23 inches of TruBrite Full HD TFT delivers a deliciously sharp resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels and features impressively high contrast levels, brightness and broad viewing angles. It's a joy to look at basically.
Using it is a different matter though and the touch sensitivity occasionally left something to be desired. The Windows 8 interface all but begs you to reach out and touch it, and after a few minutes, the idea of fiddling around with a mouse really does seem a bit last century. But that doesn't mean everything is quite as intuitive as it should be. You access additional functions by dragging from the edges -- from the right brings up the "charms", including search, settings and the Start page, from the left shows alternative views and programs, and dragging from top or bottom helps you to move around within programs. But though the touchscreen is generally sensitive in use, it could sometimes be a bit sticky when dragging from the sides, needing a few attempts on occasions.
The 4GB multi-core Intel Core i5 processor backed by 4GB RAM proved adept at handling most things we threw at it, though it's not intended as a high-powered gaming machine. It barely makes any noise, which makes it ideal for the living room and didn't get particularly hot either. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 card does a decent if not particularly outstanding job though there is at least a whole 1TB of memory to play with.
Media is key for the LX830 but oddly, the supplied remote control seems designed for Windows Media Center yet is only preloaded with the standard version of Windows 8 -- you'll need to shell out another £49 for the Media Center upgrade.
The Toshiba Places app is onboard though, giving you options to buy movies, music and even ebooks if you really can't find better deals anywhere else.
The onboard speakers are provided by home entertainment specialists Onkyo and deliver enough punch to power a movie, even if you're sitting back from the screen. Movies won't be on Blu-ray though, since there's only a DVD drive on board.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/reviews/gadgets/2012-12/toshiba-lx830
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Desktop
