Continuing with our reviews on space-saving All-in-one desktop PCs, today we have the HP Pavilion MS214in, which is a middle tier model that seems to be better than the NetOns. Let's put it through its paces to see what it can deliver.

Design and Build

The HP MS214in has the same design as most HP laptops and desktops. The combination of glossy black with silver has become a trademark of HP now, and makes it looks quite elegant. The design of the stand is similar to that of the Apple iMac. It isn't carved out of metal, but the build of the plastic body is pretty decent.
The 18.5-inch widescreen has a resolution of 1366 x 768 and the display portrays colors quite well. HD movie looked pretty good on it but we felt that the maximum brightness was a bit too low for our liking. This is especially evident when you're sitting in a sunny room. A speaker strip placed right below the LCD panel emits fairly audible sound with decent clarity. A webcam above the screen delivers decent clarity and a speedy frame-rate.
The peripheral ports are placed conveniently at the sides. On the left, we got two USB ports, a card reader and headphone/microphone jacks. On the right, we have a tray-loading DVD writer and buttons to increase or decrease brightness. There isn't a button to turn the display off though, which is slightly disappointing. The rest of the ports, including a LAN, four USB, and an S/PDIF are placed at the back.
Another sore point that needs to be mentioned is that, unlike most all-in-one PCs we've seen, the HP Pavilion is powered by a chunky adapter that adds to table clutter. We'd rather have liked it to be integrated into the body so that a single power cable would run to the electric socket.
Unlike the HP Touch-smart 300, this model comes with a wired keyboard/mouse set. The keyboard provides an average tactility but the mouse is quite comfortable to hold and operate.

Performance

The HP MS214in is powered by a dual-core AMD Athlon X2 that runs at 1.5 GHz. That, along with the 2 gigs of RAM and a 7200 rpm drive, keeps Windows 7 Home Basic running at a fair pace. But the Home Basic version doesn't have Windows 7s full Aero UI that apart from looking fancy also improves usability.
The ATI Radeon HD 3200 is an entry-level dated graphics chip. It's better than Intel's onboard GMA4500 graphics, but definitely not suitable for running modern games at their fullest settings. This was evident when we ran the Street Fighter IV benchmark. At max settings, it belted an un-playable 11.7 frames per second. Thus, games that are a couple of years old can run smoothly with toned down settings.
The power-draw of this PC while idling ranged between 42 to 44 watts. On full load, it shot up by just 10 watts, drawing a steady 55W. It consumes almost half power as compared to its elder Touchsmart 300 cousin. That's comparatively low power consumption for an entire PC. This is possible thanks to the power-efficient Athlon 3250e processor. Another reason could be the lower-than-usual max brightness.
Due to the older AMD chipset used, it has only support for Wi-Fi 802.11 b and g. This could be a problem if you're using an 802.11n router, as you wouldn't get the faster connectivity that 802.11n standard supports.

Price and Verdict

The HP Pavilion All-in-One MS214in Desktop is priced at an MRP of Rs. 37,000 + taxes. Since this is a niche segment device, such pricing can be expected. An entry-level Lenovo IdeaCenter A600 (30112VQ) model also costs the same. But it comes with a faster 2 GHz Intel dual-core processor, a bright 21.5-inch full HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) display and a 500GB hard drive. It'll be a good choice if you want to watch a lot of HD content. The only sore point is its Intel X4500 graphics, but it's not like you will be able to play heavy-duty games on the HP either.
There aren't any major flaws that should stop you from buying the HP Pavilion All-in-One. But there's nothing great about this PC as well. And as said above, the Lenovo A600 gives you more value for your money.

Specifications