Search
  • Videos
  • Windows 10
  • 5G
  • Best VPNs
  • Cloud
  • Security
  • AI
  • more
    • TR Premium
    • Working from Home
    • Innovation
    • Best Web Hosting
    • ZDNet Recommends
    • Tonya Hall Show
    • Executive Guides
    • ZDNet Academy
    • See All Topics
    • White Papers
    • Downloads
    • Reviews
    • Galleries
    • Videos
    • TechRepublic Forums
  • Newsletters
  • All Writers
    • Preferences
    • Community
    • Newsletters
    • Log Out
  • Menu
    • Videos
    • Windows 10
    • 5G
    • Best VPNs
    • Cloud
    • Security
    • AI
    • TR Premium
    • Working from Home
    • Innovation
    • Best Web Hosting
    • ZDNet Recommends
    • Tonya Hall Show
    • Executive Guides
    • ZDNet Academy
    • See All Topics
    • White Papers
    • Downloads
    • Reviews
    • Galleries
    • Videos
    • TechRepublic Forums
      • Preferences
      • Community
      • Newsletters
      • Log Out
  • us
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Europe
    • India
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
    • ZDNet around the globe:
    • ZDNet France
    • ZDNet Germany
    • ZDNet Korea
    • ZDNet Japan

InFocus BigTouch review

1 of 4 NEXT PREV
  • InFocus BigTouch

    InFocus BigTouch

    Published: July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT)

    Caption by: Charles McLellan

  • bigtouch-front.jpg

    The BigTouch from projector specialist InFocus is aptly named: it's a big (very big) all-in-one touchscreen PC running Windows 8 Pro — and it'll also touch your wallet in a big way, as it costs £2,999 (ex. VAT; £3,599 inc. VAT) or $4,999 in the US. Aimed at classrooms, hospitals, hotel lobbies, swanky boardrooms and the like, the 55-inch BigTouch has a certain appeal where something more imposing (and less removeable) than a notebook and a projector is required. However, although it's an impressive system in many ways, the price tag will restrict the BigTouch's appeal to more well-heeled organisations for the moment.

    The InFocus BigTouch is basically a moderately-specced PC attached to the back of a very large LCD touchscreen. (Image:Charles McLellan/ZDNet)

    Design
    Did we mention the BigTouch's size? Big hardly does it justice: built around a 55-inch LCD, this gargantuan AIO system measures 134.6cm wide by 82cm high by 14cm deep (53in. x 32.3in. x 5.5in.) and weighs 55kg (122.4lb). It's a challenging lift even for two people.

    The PC unit sits in a slot on the back of the system. (Image:Charles McLellan/ZDNet)

    Design-wise the BigTouch is businesslike, with the screen and PC components mounted in a slate-grey, silver-edged chassis, standing on a pair of large feet that keep the hefty unit reasonably steady. There are six USB 2.0 ports in all, two on the removable PC unit at the back and four on the right-hand side of the monitor. There's also a USB Type B port above the four Type A ports on the right side. Below the USB ports are the controls — seven of them — for the monitor's on-screen menu system, plus the power button. The PC unit housing the CPU, RAM, storage and Wi-Fi modules is secured at the back by a pair of (quite fiddly to remove and replace) screws and has two Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) connectors in addition to its pair of USB ports. Below the removeable unit are the video inputs — HDMI (x2), VGA, component, composite and S-Video, plus RCA stereo audio in and out connectors and 3.5mm audio in and out jacks.

    The 55-inch LCD screen is big, but not particularly high-resolution at 1,920 by 1,080 pixels, which makes for relatively large (0.63mm) pixels that are visible up close, and low pixel density (40ppi). Of course, this screen is designed for communal rather than close viewing, so it's bright, with good (178-degree) viewing angles in both horizontal and vertical planes and has a matte anti-glare finish. Its 5-point touch functionality, provided by four edge-mounted cameras, works smoothly and provides a good platform for interactive presentations or information display applications.

    It's an interesting experience using the BigTouch as a desktop PC, but it's really designed for presentations, or for interactive information display. (Image:Charles McLellan/ZDNet)

    We reviewed the 'basic' BigTouch, but a more expensive variant, which InFocus calls the Mondopad (the company insists on comparing this giant system to a tablet), is available. The Mondopad upgrade adds a 720p HD webcam with an integrated 4-microphone array, a 25W/channel sound bar containing a set of stereo speakers (including tweeters) and a collection of whiteboard and collaboration apps, plus a couple of mobile apps (Mondopad Connect and ControlView).

    Features
    The BigTouch's CPU is a second-generation (2-core/4-thread) Intel Core i5-2520M running at 2.5GHz (up to 3.2GHz in Turbo mode). Graphics are handled by the CPU-integrated HD Graphics 3000 GPU, there's 4GB of DDR3 RAM and the operating system is Windows 8 Pro.

    Storage is provided by a 120GB Intel 520 Series SATA III (6Gbps) solid-state drive with claimed sequential read and write rates of 550MB/s and 500Mb/s respectively. There's no flash card slot, so if you want to add storage capacity you'll have to use a USB stick, network storage or a cloud-based service.

    Networking is taken care of by two Gigabit Ethernet ports and dual-band (2.4GHz/5GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi.

    Performance & power consumption
    The BigTouch's Windows Experience Index (WEI) of 5.5 (out of 7.9) is determined by the lowest-performing subsystem, which is Graphics (Desktop graphics performance). The remaining scores, in ascending order, are Memory (RAM) (Memory operations per second) with 5.9, Gaming Graphics (3D business and gaming graphics performance) with 6.2, Processor (Calculations per second) with 7.2 and Primary hard disk (Disk data transfer rate) with 7.6:

    Using the demanding synthetic Cinebench 11.5 benchmark, we find similar OpenGL scores from the BigTouch with integrated HD Graphics 4000 and Dell's OptiPlex 9010 AIO also with integrated Intel graphics — in this case the HD Graphics 2500. The OptiPlex's faster (3.0GHz) third-generation Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM give it the edge over the BigTouch in the CPU test:

    We measured the performance of the 120GB Intel SSD using the ATTO disk benchmark, which reported reads at up to 269.5MB/s and writes at 140MB/s. That's well short of Intel's headline 550MB/s and 500MB/s speeds, but still enough to earn the BigTouch a 7.2/7.9 WEI subscore for Primary hard disk:

    Although the BigTouch's specification isn't exactly earth-shattering, a 55in. LCD is going to chew through a fair amount of power — especially if you ramp up the brightness. To discover just how much, we measured power consumption using a Voltcraft VC940 Plus voltmeter under a variety of idle/load and screen brightness combinations:

    With the screen brightness at 50 percent, power consumption is high but not excessive at 177W under load (running Cinebench 11.5 in this case). However, the wattage increases dramatically if you turn the brightness up full — 311W when idling and 331W when under load.

    Conclusion
    The largest and heaviest all-in-one PC we've ever seen, the BigTouch may find a niche in some presentation, classroom or signage situations. Its specification is hardly cutting edge (although adequate for the tasks likely to be asked of it) and it consumes a lot of power with the brightness cranked up. However, the price is almost as eye-watering as the system when you try to lift it. In many situations, a laptop and a mid-range projector will prove a more cost-effective solution.

    Published: July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT)

    Caption by: Charles McLellan

  • InFocus BigTouch

    InFocus BigTouch

    Published: July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT)

    Caption by: Charles McLellan

  • InFocus BigTouch

    InFocus BigTouch

    Published: July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT)

    Caption by: Charles McLellan

1 of 4 NEXT PREV
Charles McLellan

By Charles McLellan | July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT) | Topic: PCs

  • InFocus BigTouch
  • bigtouch-front.jpg
  • InFocus BigTouch
  • InFocus BigTouch

The largest and heaviest all-in-one PC we've ever seen, the BigTouch may find a niche in some presentation, classroom or signage situations. However, the price is almost as eye-watering as the system when you try to lift it.

Read More Read Less

InFocus BigTouch

Published: July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT)

Caption by: Charles McLellan

1 of 4 NEXT PREV

Related Topics:

PCs CXO Hardware Laptops Reviews
Charles McLellan

By Charles McLellan | July 9, 2013 -- 14:11 GMT (07:11 PDT) | Topic: PCs

Show Comments
LOG IN TO COMMENT
  • My Profile
  • Log Out
| Community Guidelines

Join Discussion

Add Your Comment
Add Your Comment

Related Galleries

  • 1 of 3
  • YubiKey 5C NFC: The world’s first security key to feature dual USB-C and NFC connections

    The YubiKey 5C NFC can be used across a broad range of platforms -- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS and Linux -- and on any mobile device, laptop, or desktop computer that supports USB-C ...

  • Parallels Toolbox 4 for Windows and Mac

    New features include Break Time, Unit Convertor, and Enhanced Search.

  • Best Raspberry Pi alternatives (Best of 2019)

    Looking for single board computers? Here is a fantastic selection of single board computers suitable for a variety of projects, from basic homebrew builds all the way to advanced ...

  • iPhone, iPad, and Mac buyer's guide: July 2019 edition

    Here's a tour of what's fresh and what's not so fresh in the Apple Store.

  • Best Raspberry Pi alternatives (July 2019 edition)

    Fantastic selection of single board computers suitable for a variety of projects, from basic homebrew builds all the way to advanced applications such as automation, and even AI ...

  • Build your own $20,000 Windows 10 workstation

    Got a few tens of thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket? Here is a high-performance Windows 10 workstation that will be able to chew through any job you throw at it. ...

  • Apple products you should and shouldn't buy: June 2019 edition

    Apple products are expensive, so it makes sense to avoid buying anything that's nearing the end of its lifecycle, or when you can buy something of equivalent quality from another vendor. ...

ZDNet
Connect with us

© 2021 ZDNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Privacy Policy | Cookie Settings | Advertise | Terms of Use

  • Topics
  • Galleries
  • Videos
  • Sponsored Narratives
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About ZDNet
  • Meet The Team
  • All Authors
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Reprint Policy
  • Manage | Log Out
  • Join | Log In
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Site Assistance
  • ZDNet Academy
  • TechRepublic Forums