HP’s New Crossfire PC: A True iMac Killer.

Here comes another all-in-one PC ready to challenge Apple’s successful and rapidly growing iMac line.

PCs with everything in a box have had little or no success, while the Mac has a growing, near cult following. Why?

Look at the typical PC since the original IBM PC in 1981. CPU, in tower or pancake form. Monitor on top of CPU or on the desk near the CPU.

The original Mac started life as an all-in-one. Everything together in once package, one footprint. Though Apple strayed from that course over the years, the iMac has kept the faith.

Today’s iMac is a marvel of style, elegance, grace, power. PC users drool over the ultra cool iMac design (which seems to mimic a giant iPod).

The all-in-one design has had a series of challengers through the years. In the mid-1990s, Compaq had a number of all-in-one machines. Forgettable, each.

When the iMac debuted in 1998, others in the PC world quickly followed, including an eMachine which seemed to mimic the Mac in looks, though not in durability and personality.

A few years ago, Gateway came back with another all-in-one, also dubbed an iMac killer.

Can you find one of those anywhere except a dumpster?

Now, Hewlett-Packard is back in the game, fresh from market share gains over rival Dell Computer, and now with an all-in-one touch-screen iMac killer.

The HP IQ770 Crossfire will show up sometime in January sporting an odd-looking, nearly all-in-one design, Windows Vista, a 19-inch touch screen display, and a speedy AMD processor.

The Crossfire is loaded with extras and comes in at iMac-like prices, around $1,800. What do you get for your money? Windows Vista is no Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard, but the bullet points are lengthy.

There’s 2 gigabytes of RAM, a 320 gigabyte hard drive, NVIDIA GeForceGo 7600 graphics card, WiFi, Bluetooth, an integrated camera (similar to iSight in the iMac), an integrated FM and HDTV tuner, ethernet, a bunch of Firewire and USB ports, and more.

It’s also loaded with Windows Vista Premium which allows for the touch screen to work. Touch screen? Didn’t that die off everywhere except shopping center and trade show kiosks?

HP must have plenty of touch screen technology that needs a place to go.

Is the Crossfire to be the first truly successful all-in-one competitor for Apple’s iMac? It’s priced right, it’s loaded with features, it’s got that cool touch screen, it’s got new Windows Vista.

What’s it missing?