HP’s latest all-in-one desktop looks a lot like the HP Pavilion MS214 I recently reviewed. But while the MS214 is aimed at consumers, the HP Pro All-in-One MS218 is aimed at business users.

The $699 base model ships with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, a dual core AMD Athlon X2 3250e CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB, 7200RPM hard drive, ATI Radeon 3200 graphics. It has a DVD burner, integrated flash card reader, 802.11b/g WiFi, and an 18.5 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display.

In other words, the only real difference I can see between the HP Pro MS218 and the HP Pavilion MS214 is the fact that the Pro version runs Windows 7 Pro instead of Windows 7 Home Premium. Oh yeah, and it also costs about $50 more.

HP has been making all-in-one desktop PCs for a few years, but the HP Pavilion MS214 is one of the company’s first budget models. While other companies including Lenovo, Asus, MSI, and Shuttle have chosen to keep costs down in similar machines by using netbook-like guts including Intel Atom processors and Intel GMA 950 graphics, the HP M214 uses an AMD processor and ATI graphics.

For that reason, it’s easier to compare the Pavilion MS214 to a thin and light notebook than a netbook. In my tests, the computer scroed about as well on most tests as I would expect a notebook with an Intel CULV processor to perform. But the HP Pavilion MS214 isn’t a notebook. It’s a full-fledged desktop computer built into an 18.5 inch widescreen display.

The model featured in this review has an 18.5 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 3250e processor, and ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics. It 2GB of RAM, a 320GB 7200rpm hard drive, integrated 802.11a/b/g WiFi, and an 8x DVD burner.

The HP Pavilion MS214 is available for about $560.

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Many of those new Windows 7 powered netbooks and notebooks I told you about the other day are now shipping from Amazon, HP.com, Dell.com, and other locations. But it’s not just new portable computers that are hitting the streets today. A number of relatively low cost all-in-one desktops we’ve been seeing over the past few months are now available with Windows 7 as well. Here are just a few of the ones I found today:

All-in-One PCs

• ASUS Eee Top ET2002-B0017 – 20 inch, 1600 x 900 pixel PC w/Win7 Home premium, 1.6GHz dual core Intel Atom 330 CPU, NVIDIA ION, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD for $581
• ASUS Eee Top ET2203-B0017 – 21.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel PC w/Win7 Home Premium, 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 CPU, ATI Radeon 4570, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD for $899
• HP Pavilion Ms214 – 18.5 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel PC w/Win7 Home Premium, 1.5GHz dual Core AMD Athlon X2 3250e CPU, ATI Radeon HD 3200, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD for $599.99
• MSI AE2010-32SUS – 20 inch, 1600 x 900 pixel PC w/Win7 Home Premium, 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 dual-core 3250e CPU, ATI Radeon HD 3200, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD for $599.99
• MSI AE2220-03SUS – 21.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel PC w/Win7 Home Premium, 2.4GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9300, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD for $659.99

I had been planning on putting together a list of Windows 7 nettops as well, but I can’t seem to find any just yet. I suspect we’ll begin seeing nettops with Windows 7 Starter and Home Premium coming from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, MSI, and other companies in the coming weeks.

The HP Pavilion MS214 is a budget all-in-one desktop PC. You know, kind of like the Asus Eee Top ET2002, Lenovo C100, and a whole bunch of other machines I’ve mentioned over the past few months. But while many of those models help keep the price and power consumption low by using netbook-like Intel Atom processors, the HP Pavilion MS214 has a 1.5GHz AMD Athlon X2 dual core CPU instead.

The $600 PC also packs ATI Radeon 3200 graphics, which should provide a better gaming experience than you’ll get from the integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics that come with many netbooks and low cost nettops and all-in-one systems, although I’m not 100% sure how it stacks up against a machine with NVIDIA ION graphics yet.

HP sent me a Pavilion MS214 to review, and it’s a nice looking machine. I really like the sturdy base, and the display is bright and vibrant. But here’s what I’ve learned so far:

1. The 18.5 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display could be a lot sharper. I kind of expect higher resolution graphics from a display this size.
2. Unlike the Eee Top ET2002, which ships with a wireless mouse and keyboard, the MS214 includes a USB mouse and keyboard which means you go through fewer batteries, but have a more cluttered desktop.
3. The AMD Athlon X2 dual core CPU may be more powerful than an Intel Atom 230 or 330 chip, but it’s still not fast enough to handle smooth playback from Hulu and other high quality Flash video sites in fullscreen mode. And while Flash Player 10.1 will eventually support GPU acceleration, as far as I know only NVIDIA graphics will be supported, not ATI. Update: It looks like ATI will be supporting Flash Player 10.1, although it’s not clear if all ATI graphics cards will be supported. thanks SCAxman!

That said, the HP MS214 is attractive; it doesn’t take up a lot of space; and the CPU has a bit more kick to it than those found in many other all-in-one desktops that sell for $600 or less.

The computer has 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and a SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe. It also has a 6-in-1 memory card reader, 6 USB ports, Ethernet, mic, and headphone jacks.

I’ll be putting the HP Pavilion MS214 through the paces over the next few days, but in the meantime you can take a closer look at the Windows 7 Performance index after the break, along with an unboxing video. Oh yeah, did I mention this puppy is running Windows 7? So the unit I’m reviewing is the version that will ship beginning on October 22nd.

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