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HP Z1 All-in-One Workstation - The Stylish & Upgradeable Workhorse

By Kenny Yeo - 12 Jul 2012

Conclusion

Matching Style with Substance

The HP Z1 forges new ground by being the first AIO workstation in the market. Overall, we think it’s a neat concept and it carries it off with style and suitably decent performance.

As we’ve mentioned from the start, our DIY system was meant to serve as a reference point for the HP Z1 and not a direct apples to apples comparison. And if we look back at the results, the HP Z1 managed to hold its own on most accounts, despite the slightly lower-clocked processor. So on the performance front, it’s safe to say that the HP Z1 has got it mostly covered.

Bear in mind however that looking at the performance and design of the HP Z1, it's a system that is best used for light rendering tasks and graphics work. For users looking for more taxing workloads such as render farms and high performance computing should stick to traditional desktop workstations. Furthermore, these higher-end desktop workstations have support for multiple processors and have massive expansion possibilities with add-on processing cards, which the HP Z1 can't compete against.

Nevertheless, the HP Z1 crams a lot of performance into its relatively compact form factor and the ability to upgrade is a real novelty where AIOs are concerned. Granted, HP recommends that all upgrades should be performed by a qualified HP technician and some components, such as the graphics cards for instance (which uses the MXM form factor), are not readily available off the shelf, but the Z1 is still technically upgradeable. Previously with AIOs, you're pretty much stuck with whatever specifications it came with unless you were adventurous, determined and maybe even creative enough to conduct your own DIY operation.

The HP Z1 AIO Workstation is one great-looking system with decent performance, but it comes at a pretty high price.

Moving on to price, there's no denying that the HP Z1 is pretty exorbitant. If you spec a Z1 with our specifications, the cost you’re looking at will be close to US$5000. A similarly specced desktop system with mix-and-match components, a 27-inch IPS panel and an uber-expensive NVIDIA Quadro 4000 desktop graphics card will only run up to around US$2400 - that’s half the price! Even if you spec up a traditional desktop HP Z420-class workstation to comparable levels, that system will still be considerably cheaper than the Z1 - around US$3700. No matter what, be prepared to pay a premium for the Z1.

However, like we said, this is not an apples to apples comparison and although the DIY system does represent significant savings and bang-for-buck, it doesn’t come in a sleek and sexy AIO form factor that the HP Z1 does. In the same way how companies like Google and Apple take great pains and costs to beautify the workplace in a bid to boost creativity and productivity; the same could be same for the HP Z1, where an aesthetically-pleasing system could provide similar intangible benefits at the workplace. With a compact footprint and a large screen, space savings and improved productivity are some of its key selling points - especially for a workstation class product. Don't forget that the price you pay also includes warranty and support, important for a business organization, but may not be a necessity for a DIY-wiz in a SOHO environment.

HP also offers the Z1 is various other trims. For those who are in love with the Z1’s form factor but have no need for a workstation-class processor and graphics card, the the most basic Z1 can be comes with an Intel Core i3-2120 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 2000 for a more palatable US$1899 (but it's still expensive considering the configuration).

In closing, the HP Z1 is by no means what you’d call affordable, but you do get your penny’s worth. In some ways.

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8.0
  • Design 9
  • Features 8
  • Performance 8
  • Value 6.5
The Good
Sleek, lovely-looking form factor
Gorgeous 27-inch IPS display
Upgradeable
Flexible stand
The Bad
Very expensive
No Thunderbolt interface
Quadro cards will only perform if software and drivers are optimized for it
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