Australian Touchsmarts stripped of features?

[kfurnell]

I've just bought a 600-1170a in Australia and am really quite dissapointed. One of the main reasons for buying this device was reviews (including on Australian sites) describing the 600's video input, which would allow me to use it to replace a TV hooked up to a Wii. I have now discovered that Australian models inexplicably don't have the game input ... or the ambient lighting, or Blutetooth, or even the Recipe Box application so often mentioned in reviews!

I suppose I may have been naive to assume that a very consumer-oriented PC would have uniform features. After all, if anything the Touchsmart is more expensive here than elsewhere in the world. I did notice a label on the box listing the unit as having "Option:ABG" (which you could reasonably guess to be ambient lighting, bluetooth and game input).

Having since scanned the detailed specifications on the HP site, I can see that there is no mention of the HDMI/composite video input that is mentioned when looking at models from other countries. However the specs aren't entirely accurate either (e.g. they show there being 7 USB ports, and the graphics card having 1.5GB of dedicated memory).

Anyway with that off my chest; I don't suppose there's any way of getting the game inputs fitted after the event is there?

Failing that I need to try and jerry-rig something through the S-Video in (I don't need HD thankfully). The trouble with this is that the supplied applications seem to make use of a long buffer (which creates an unusable 1-2 second delay after Wii movements. Is there an application I can download that will provide a faster feed from the tuner card?

[Haribolman]

That was an excellent post and a pleasure to read. You deserve to get a good answer because you obviously put great effort into a well presented scenario and question. Would be great if more people could do the same!

And it was interesting to see that Hp has updated their Oz website. When I bought my 300-1060a, their website only listed one model! (And it wasn't the one I bought!) I am also annoyed that the reviewer supplied information that was not entirely accurate. Perhaps you could email them and let them know their review unit was obviously not a "true" Oz spec unit.

Best of luck solving your problem. I am unable to help, but I can say I'm really enjoying my Touchsmart. I don't really miss the recipe box because I don't use the Touchsmart software anyway! And I installed a Belkin USB Bluetooth dongle that is small enough to remain installed and has brilliant range. I would have loved ambient lighting too, and have even toyed with the idea of installing an LED strip in the space where the light should be and powering it from one of the USB ports, but I don't think there's enough power to do it that way.

[kfurnell]

I'm not fussed by the lack of Recipe Box either, which is good because otherwise I could become really annoyed by being pestered by alerts to download updated training videos ... for something I don't have!

The unexpected absence of the a direct video input is the main aggravation for me. I don't suppose there's any HP tech-types lurking here that might know whether this is an option board that could, theoretically at least, be added?

Otherwise I need to get hold of some better software for the AVerMedia A323 Hybrid Mini-card used in this machine. Unfortunately this is not a model listed on the AVerMedia site. Does anyone know of a compatible card, or another source of manufacturer's software?