By Graham K. Rogers

HP are reporting the introduction of what they claim is the world's first 27" all-in-one workstation: the HP Z1.

The information on the press release tells us that the display of the newly designed workstation snaps open so users can easily swap out parts and make upgrades without any tools required.

The HP Z1 uses Intel Xeon processors and there are dual- and quad-core options. Graphics are by the NVIDIA Quadro card which should display "more than 1 billion colors".

With its higher level specifications, the device is aimed at computer-aided design, digital media and entertainment professionals.

HP adds the following information:

• Workstation performance. Features professional NVIDIA Quadro graphics, ECC memory, quad-core Intel Xeon processors,(2) independent software vendor solutions and whisper-quiet acoustics.

• Tool-less chassis. Users can easily add a hard drive, upgrade memory or access the graphics card by snapping open the chassis to swap out parts.

• Workstation-class storage. Users can choose from a variety of storage types, including 7.2K and 10K SATA, SSD, optional RAID configurations, removable drives (AMO), a multiformat media card reader and optical drives including a slot-load Blu-ray Writer.

• Professional display. The 27-inch white LED diagonal display supports more than 1 billion colors and features a wide, 178-degree viewing angle and an in-plane switching (IPS) panel.

• High-fidelity audio. Front-facing dual-cone speakers and SRS Premium Sound offer high-fidelity audio.

• High-definition Webcam. Have face-to-face meetings and see every detail right down to the twinkle of an eye.

  Also captures HD-quality video.

• HP Remote Graphics Software. Users can work remotely while still accessing the high-performance 2-D, 3-D, video and media-rich applications they count on.

• HP Performance Advisor. Reduces the time spent troubleshooting by providing a consolidated report of the workstation's hardware and software configuration that can be used to tune the workstation for specifically professional application workloads with just one click.

Pricing for the HP Z1, which should be available in April, starts at $1,899 (estimated US street prices). Further details are available at the HP Z1 Workstation page on the HP site.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.