All in 1 Destop PC

BlackEdelweiss

Is there any reason to stay away from all in 1 desktop pc's, they suit my space requirements as I have young kids and the less things at floor level the better. I dont want a touchscreen version just a normal screen and keyboard configuration.

yoyo

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

Is there any reason to stay away from all in 1 desktop pc's, they suit my space requirements as I have young kids and the less things at floor level the better. I dont want a touchscreen version just a normal screen and keyboard configuration.

Well the most obvious reason to me of avoiding them is they are usually very poorly specced. Many come with netbook CPUs, integrated video etc. Atom CPUs are grand in netbooks, but for general computing a big no no. They are also much harder to upgrade if you want to at some stage.
My 2cs

Nick

Overheal

The only real drawback is you can't upgrade them later, so it doesn't pay well to buy a cheap All in One. Otherwise the form factor is pretty convenient for a good chunk of people. If buying one you would want one with at least an i3 or A6 processor, 4GB of RAM and hopefully some sort of graphics chipset that isn't just the bog standard "Intel HD". Nicer setups have integrated TV tuners or HDMI inputs to take advantage of Windows' built-in DVR features or to have it double as a screen for a games console in a kids room.

Though I would highly reccomend reconsidering the touchscreen: they will take to anything, a fingernail or a pencil tip for instance. It's a true 1:1 touchscreen unlike tablets which are capacitive which means for drawing and such, the tablets actually suck, while the PC touchscreens you can properly doodle on. The only step up from there for an artist is the Wacom Cintiq, which has 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity in addition to being extremely accurate, but is also thousands more expensive. For most people, the single level sensitivity PC touchscreen is still plenty accurate and handy.

Cherry_Cola

I got a Lenovo B520 around christmas and it's fantastic. Really neat looking and it's got quite a decent spec with a dedicated graphics card and 23" screen.

As mentioned, it also doubles up as a tv with the built in tuner. I'd really recommend them.

Nothingbetter2d

all in one are a pain to fix (hardware), cost way more for parts if they do break... and dont have a long shelf life....

BlackEdelweiss

I only got 2 years out of my current laptop so I am sure it would beat that. €700 worth of crap. i5, dedicated graphics card. Heap of sh1t.

Nothingbetter2d

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I only got 2 years out of my current laptop so I am sure it would beat that. €700 worth of crap. i5, dedicated graphics card. Heap of sh1t.

why is it it crap? i-5 laptop seems fairly decent tbh... grant it, its not gonna run bf3 very well but til it aint bad

fionny

There is nothing wrong with i5's though it depends which version you have ;P

stay clear of all in one's if you want performance and longevity build one, its easy to do and you can get exactly what you want.

yoyo

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I only got 2 years out of my current laptop so I am sure it would beat that. €700 worth of crap. i5, dedicated graphics card. Heap of sh1t.

Whats wrong with the machine? A i5 and dedicated GPU should be a very good laptop. If you find games lag then its possible the GPU isn't up to the level for them. www.notebookcheck.net gives a good mobile gpu game benchmark chart.
If you want a machine for gaming a desktop wins everytime. Fwiw those all in ones mostly use laptop components, as obviously they are smaller, more compact and require less cooling (smaller fans/heatsinks suffice)

Nick

uncle_sam_ie

We have a all in one iMac. They are great for space but, if anything goes wrong and it's out of warranty they can be very expensive to fix. I think we have a year to go on our current iMac. A month before it goes out I'll flog it and buy a new one.

Skerries

I see AIO's as a young family pc
they can do the usual stuff like office and general mucking around and can play a certain amount of games and look great in a kitchen
but not really designed for gaming or video editing

bette

Skerries wrote: »

I see AIO's as a young family pc
they can do the usual stuff like office and general mucking around and can play a certain amount of games and look great in a kitchen
but not really designed for gaming or video editing

Not everyone does video editing! Now when you "upgrade" a computer the first parts that get the upgrade are the expensive ones.

MB
RAM
Processor
GPU
PSU.

What's left? The DVD burner (practically obsolete) The case (you need a fancy one) Fancy neon lights to make the "rig" look silly...

Most users are well served with an all on one. Small space and good for a few years.