This week, I tested Asus’s (usa.asus.com) first entry into the all-in-one PC category: the Eee Top. All-in-one computers like Apple Inc.’s iMac save space by building in a computer’s guts, speakers and disk drive directly behind the monitor, and they’re typically more expensive than separate computer towers and monitors. But Asus’s Eee Top costs $600, half the cost of the least expensive iMac or Hewlett-Packard‘s all-in-one HP TouchSmart.

Like the TouchSmart, the Eee Top has a touch screen and runs its own software to make its touch features more usable, like large icons and menus that get pulled onto the screen with swiping gestures. But it’s a lot smaller than the $1,200 HP TouchSmart — about a third of the HP’s size.

Users can navigate around the Eee Top using a finger for almost everything.

This computer would fit well in many kitchens and its small footprint — 1.67 inches deep — means it won’t take up valuable counter space and could easily be stored out of the way. But its touch-friendly software lacks tools for scheduling and isn’t customizable; instead, it uses preloaded icons that can’t be changed. And some of the Taiwanese company’s Asian influence shines through in menu titles that seem to have been lost in translation. Who knew you could find music and photos in a category called “Eee Cinema”? Still, as a secondary PC for the kitchen or a kid’s room, this all-in-one fits the bill.

Floating on Air

The Eee Top is head turner. Its 15.6-inch, resistive touch LCD screen, though small, appears to be hovering on the countertop thanks to a clear, plastic stand. It comes in black or white and has a wired mouse and keyboard. The keyboard tucks snugly into a holder behind the screen when not in use, and I kept it there for most of my time with it. A handle on the back of the Eee Top makes it easy to carry this 9.5-pound PC from room to room.

It has one gigabyte of memory and a 160-gigabyte hard disk. Also included are built-in Wi-Fi (802.11n), a memory-card reader and six USB ports, including one that stands alone for those annoyingly large plug-in devices (ahem, Flip camcorders). Two speakers below the screen pipe out surround sound that quickly fills up a room, and a built-in 1.3-megapixel Webcam captures videos and still photos.

As is the case with Asus’s low-priced netbooks, the bargain Eee Top has its tradeoffs. For starters, it runs Windows XP and uses Intel’s Atom N270 processor, which is used for most Asus netbooks. This processor consumes less power, but can give the PC a sometimes sluggish feeling. More than once, my Eee Top crashed when I had several programs opened at once.

The Eee Top’s touch software, called Easy Mode, lacks a calendar and an address book, two tools that are of utmost importance for families who will use this PC in their kitchen.

Another missing element in this all-in-one is a DVD drive, but thanks to downloadable software, music and videos, I don’t think most people will miss it. If so, Asus is selling $64 external drives that plug into the Eee Top via a USB cable.

I navigated around the Eee Top using my finger for almost everything and never used the optical mouse. A stylus that pops out from the side of the keyboard can be used to pinpoint hard-to-tap icons in Windows, but everything in Easy Mode is large enough to touch or swipe with a finger.

Easy Mode is divided into four categories that are labeled with tabs at the top of the screen: Communication, Fun, Work and Tools. Communication includes Skype, Email, Eee Memo (virtual Post-Its) and Internet, which opens 12 preset links to URLs that Asus chose. This last section could be filled with personalized favorites for sites like a school’s daily lunch menu or WSJ.com, but Asus really blew it by prohibiting changes here.

A Virtual Keyboard

When it’s time to enter text in Easy Mode, a virtual keyboard saves you from pulling out the physical keyboard. This virtual keyboard is surprisingly easy to type on because it can be resized to fit your fingers by dragging one corner. It was adequately comfortable for quick tasks like entering URLs and labeling photos, but vertical typing wasn’t conducive to lengthier tasks, like emails, so I used the physical keyboard instead.

But the virtual keyboard doesn’t automatically appear when you need it; instead, you must open it. And when you’re done typing, say after you’ve entered a URL, the keyboard isn’t smart enough to automatically disappear, and this gets frustrating.

Handwritten Text

A handwriting-recognition option can be used to enter text with either the stylus or a finger. Though this worked well, it was slower to use compared with the virtual and physical keyboards, and I opted not to use it.

I switched back and forth between the Easy Mode layer and regular Windows XP by hitting a house icon from either mode. Opera is the default browser in Easy Mode, and it has a slightly different setup than most people are used to in more popular browsers. But Internet Explorer is a click away, and opening it automatically returns users to the Windows XP side of things.

A useful pop-out menu In Easy Mode called the Eee Bar is accessible from any program. This thin, horizontal menu holds links to all programs in Easy Mode and is the only menu that can be customized by deleting or adding programs. But I think people will forget about this bar since it’s hidden most of the time.

Projects like documents, spreadsheets and slideshow presentations can be made on the Eee Top using Sun’s preloaded StarOffice/StarSuite rather than Microsoft Office. These programs are similar enough for newcomers to use StarOffice without too much trouble.

The Eee Top is a great-looking computer that brings the fun and accessibility of a touch-screen computer to people who might not otherwise afford it. If you can accept its shortcomings and sometimes slow speed, it could work well in your home as a secondary PC.

Edited By Walter S. Mossberg

• Email us at mossbergsolution@wsj.com. Find this and other columns and videos online free at the All Things Digital Web site: http://solution.allthingsd.com

About 18 months ago, the giant PC maker brought out an unusual desktop computer called the TouchSmart, a bulky model meant for kitchen counters. It was intended as a walk-up home kiosk, with large icons you could activate by merely touching them to check the weather or to consult your calendar.

This TouchSmart was praised for its originality, but it wasn’t as practical as promised, and wasn’t a big hit. Still, H-P is persevering with the concept. It has refined the hardware and the touch-controlled software, and has come up with a new line set to go on sale by mid-July.

This new TouchSmart, which comes in two models priced at $1,299 and $1,499, is a relatively slim, one-piece desktop with a large 22-inch screen. It resembles the Apple iMac or the Dell XPS One and, like the latter, runs Microsoft’s Windows Vista. It has a wireless keyboard and mouse, and can be used as a normal Vista computer.

But, like the first TouchSmart, this new model comes with H-P’s touch-controlled user interface and special programs designed to be manipulated with your fingers. For this model, H-P is de-emphasizing the idea that the machine is meant for the kitchen, but it is forging ahead strongly with the notion that touch control is the wave of the future.

After testing the new TouchSmart PC for a few days, my verdict is mixed. The TouchSmart software is indeed improved. It’s attractive, more versatile and more practical — and fun to use. The hardware is handsome and well-equipped. And H-P deserves credit for continuing to build software expertise in a world where makers of computers and cellphones must become as expert at software as they are at hardware. But the latest effort has some problems.

The TouchSmart interface is inviting. There’s a top row with huge icons, called tiles, displaying your favorite programs, and a bottom row of smaller tiles for other programs. You can scroll each row with a finger and decide which programs go in which row. You can even include in either row not only TouchSmart programs, but the regular Windows programs or Web sites that you like. When you tap on a tile that isn’t for a special TouchSmart program, the computer pops you into the regular Windows interface. To return to the TouchSmart interface, you just tap a home button below the screen.

Hewlett-Packard’s TouchSmart

The TouchSmart software includes a calendar, a weather widget, a clock, music and video players, a program for composing short notes, and even a basic Web browser. All worked OK in my tests, but they’re simple and limited.

The computer itself is fairly powerful. Both models have dual-core processors, large hard disks, and a whopping 4 gigabytes of memory. And both run the special 64-bit version of Vista, which allows more memory usage and can be much faster than regular Vista, but only if you buy special 64-bit software programs. This machine is loaded with every conceivable port and connector, mostly hidden from view, and the high-end model even has a TV tuner.

But this is still a Vista computer, with all of the disadvantages that entails, especially a sluggish start-up and an annoying barrage of pop-up warnings. And the new TouchSmart is preloaded with craplets, those irritating trial programs and come-ons that you didn’t order.

There’s a built-in Webcam that works in low light, but it’s almost impossible to tilt the computer forward to get the best shot. Plus, the TouchSmart software interface is very basic and is ragged around the edges. It isn’t a multitouch interface — like the ones on the Apple iPhone and in the next version of Windows, code-named Windows 7, that recognize a variety of gestures and perform different tasks when multiple fingers are used rather than just one. For example, you can’t rotate a photo on the TouchSmart by grabbing it with your fingers, or move back and forth through Web pages by swiping the browser with your fingers.

The TouchSmart software is just a thin shell plopped on top of Vista, and it crashed on me four times during the course of a few days of testing. Also, the limitations of the TouchSmart applications can be frustrating. The photo application wouldn’t let me create albums. The music application didn’t display artist names for some of my MP3 files, and the calendar application can’t display an onscreen reminder of an event if you’re working in the main Vista interface.

If you’re intrigued by the idea of a quick and simple interface on a handsome one-piece Vista machine, the TouchSmart might make sense. But it doesn’t deliver on the full promise of touch computing.

• Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the new All Things Digital Web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Numerous companies have tried to design computers made specifically for the kitchen, with hopes of becoming the best digital hub. The latest of these, the H-P TouchSmart PC from Hewlett-Packard Co., boasts a beautiful touch screen for quick access, but is expensive and enormous. Even worse, the TouchSmart’s calendar software program is limited and unintuitive.

This week I tested Cozi Central (www.cozi.com), a free, downloadable calendaring program from Cozi Group Inc. that works on most Windows PCs, not just expensive new computers that hog kitchen-counter space. Cozi offers a built-in family messaging system, and shopping or to-do lists that the whole family can edit. Starting today, Cozi also automatically synchronizes with Microsoft Outlook calendars, allowing work events to be considered in the family calendar and vice versa. Plus, it can be used well beyond just the family Windows PC. It has a Web-based version, so family members can use it from a browser on any computer, anywhere — even a Macintosh. And it will send schedules and shopping lists to your cellphone via text messages or through an audible text-to-speech program.

Cozi Central organizes family activities.

Cozi sounds complicated because it does so much, but it’s actually pretty simple. It was designed specifically with its audience in mind: busy moms and dads who will quickly revert to the paper calendar if a program is too complicated or time-consuming.

Cozi Central impressed me with its functionality and attractive overall look. It incorporates various ways to connect families with their calendars at home and on the go, and every screen is clean and uncluttered. It could stand to improve in three areas: adding notifications of changes made by other family members; allowing response messaging from family members to Cozi (now, messages can only be sent out from within Cozi); and improving the way an entire month’s schedule looks on-screen. But Cozi’s attributes are overwhelming enough for you to want to use it with your family.

I used Cozi in both of its formats: as a downloaded program on my Windows PC and as a Web-based program. Both coordinate and sync with one another, Web access provided. The PC-based version of Cozi Central has a few extra features, including the ability to show a month view and to automatically generate photo collages.

After downloading and registering the names of two main users and up to six additional users for the calendar, I named my calendar and created a password. This password can be shared with family members (or whomever will also use the calendar). Nothing in Cozi is private. I also installed Cozi’s new Outlook toolbar, which syncs your Outlook calendar with your Cozi calendar. The first sync took about 10 minutes, but thereafter, synching was quick, under a minute each time something changed on either calendar.

Cozi Central’s main page is appropriately called Home, and it reminded me of a bulletin board with four things tacked on a solid-color background. In the top left, a photo of your choosing is displayed. The top right shows a brief view of your family’s calendar over the next few days. The bottom right shows one of your lists (such as groceries or to-do) and another space on the Home page lets you type and send emails or text messages to family members.

In the calendar section, the names of those registered are designated with color-coded tabs across the top of the screen. To see one person’s calendar, select his or her tab. The All view shows everyone’s events on one calendar; each person is represented by a different colored dot.

All calendar entries can be typed into a designated space at the bottom of the screen in just about any format. I typed “Bridal shower tomorrow from noon-three,” and “Bridal shower” was added to the next day on my calendar from 12-3 p.m.; specifics such as reoccurrences and locations can be added by selecting the event. This lean toward the casual allows for fast, easy entries by all family members — not just the person who uses Cozi most often.

The Cozi program that was installed on my Windows PC showed a variety of calendar views. I prefer to see an overall month view of my calendar at all times, but couldn’t see all weeks of the month simultaneously in Cozi. The more events you have per day, the less you’ll see of your month. The Web-based version of Cozi only offers a vertical view of the next few days.

For users who integrate Microsoft Outlook Calendars with Cozi, special settings can be adjusted so that hundreds of business appointments don’t start cluttering up the family calendar.

The Shopping List section on the Home bulletin board opens current lists. By default, lists called Groceries, Wholesale and Other are already set up, but new lists can easily be added. Items are simply typed in, and the PC version of Cozi uses a list of popular items to automatically finish words as you type. Items can be crossed off by selecting a check mark.

The Cozi calendar coordinates schedules.

The message section of Cozi’s Home page sent text messages and emails to others almost instantly after I entered text and selected Send. I never had to open a separate email program or type an email address or phone number. But the recipient of these messages can’t respond; Cozi only sends outgoing messages and can’t receive replies. The company hopes to add this feature in the future.

The phone and email options that work with Cozi could be useful in a bind. If you’re away from home and need to know a schedule or grocery list, you can dial in from a Cozi-registered phone number to hear these things read aloud or sent to you via text message. You can also send text messages to Cozi to request information. Or whoever is at the computer can send this data out directly from within the Cozi program itself.

If a family member changes or adds something to Cozi, there’s no way of knowing. Cozi needs to implement some kind of notification system that gives you the option to be told of any changes.

Photo collages are started from the Cozi Home page. These immediately fill your screen with about five to seven related photos at a time, without any work on your part. Each collage lasts for about 10 seconds, by default, and typing “S” will let you send the currently displayed collage to anyone.

As of now, Cozi is free of advertisements. This summer, a series of interactive advertisements will appear alongside your calendars or lists. These ads incorporate content into your Cozi, but only if you ask for it. For example, if you create a shopping list for a certain store and an item in that store is advertised on your screen, you can click the ad to put that item in your shopping list.

Cozi just works. It looks clean, organized and uncluttered, regardless of hectic schedules. It’s also easy enough for anyone to use, and Cozi Group Inc. is constantly working to improve the program, which is a good sign. But even its smaller faults can be overlooked for usability. Cozi makes kitchen computers, or family computers anywhere in the house, more useful.

Edited by Walter S. Mossberg

• Email: MossbergSolution@wsj.com