(picture from Best Buy listing)
We're looking for another computer at the Casa del G. Our Toshiba went teats up earlier this year, the motherboard dying a premature death at a little over 2.5 years. We got a secondary laptop to use as a backup just before Christmas last year, a low-end HP G62 that had the advantage of being free (credit card "rewards" points). With four people in the family now online in some capacity, having 1.5 computers (the Eee really only counts for half...) just isn't cutting it.
While reading up on the current crop of laptops trying to decide which of the entry level brands we'd want to get (Toshibas are cheap, but if we have to replace it every couple of years, no thanks) we came across the new "All-In-One" models. Obviously, this is nothing new - Apple's been doing this for well over a decade - and given that the past two PCs that have died it has been the CPU, not the monitor that went first, it's an attractive idea.
We'd be using laptops in recent years, with the main laptop located in the kitchen on the end of the island near the family room (open concept with kitchen and family room occupying the back half of the house). We can check our e-mails and keep an eye on what the kids are watching on TV, or the kids can go online and we can monitor the websites they visit, and the laptop makes more sense from a "less real estate" perspective. The "all-in-one" models take this a step further.
With the kids, I've taken to plugging in a $20 USB keyboard and $10 mouse so that they're not banging away on the laptop itself. TheBoy asked why we had the second keyboard rather than using the one on the laptop, so I picked up the USB keyboard, turned it upside down, and gave a couple sharp raps on the back. I then swept up all the various detritus into a pile and responded "because I don't want THAT getting inside the laptop." The all-in-one model will take up less real estate on the counter with 5" more screen.
Anyone have any experience with an "All-in-one" computer: good, bad, indifferent?
That is all.
19 comments:
They're great for the smaller footprints. I'm a fan of the iMacs--lovely machines in every respect--but I've cooled on all-in-ones for three reasons: they almost all come with glossy screens (like the iMac), they're not as modular as a proper desktop where I can swap out failed components by myself, and a failed CPU makes the monitor useless (and vice versa).
Consider an alternative: something the size of a Mac mini. You can pick your own display, and the footprint isn't any bigger than an all-in-one. You can even get VESA brackets to mount them on the back of most LCDs, since they all have the attachment holes for VESA mounts. It keeps the computer out of the way and out of sight, doesn't take up any extra space, and lets you upgrade CPU or monitor separately when they fail or get long in the tooth.
(Can you tell I love my Mac mini?)
I had a work issued iMac that kicked ass. Tried like hell to hang on to it when I quit.
You don't sound like an Apple fan, but the damn things just work. I've had to do maintenance on my wifes Mini exactly twice in 4 years. Once to set up a networked printer and once to pop a new stick of RAM into it.
You should also consider small form factor PCs mounted to the back of a monitor. Its the same thing as an all in one, but might give you some more options and easier hardware upgrades later.
Addendum:
That all-in-one you linked isn't bad. It's based on AMD's new Vision chipsets, and it can actually play games tolerably well. It's still a low-power chip, though.
If you got the base model Mac mini and a 20"-22" display to go with it, you'd spend only about $150 more ($599 for the mini and ~100 for the LCD), but you'd get a vastly more powerful machine (Intel Core i3) that will be fuss-free and have a much longer useful life.
The upside and the downside are the same thing. "It's all-in-one."
Buy the support package. If the display fails, the computer is gone with it. If the hard drive (or anything else) fails, the display goes with it.
I would buy a standard tower, and the standardization and flexibility that comes with it, before I'd consider an all-in-one.
Typing this out on a super-deluxe 27" iMac. I've been using iMacs at home since I got a 17" Luxo to replace my HP.
Love 'em.
But then again, I just don't drink the Apple koolaid, I snort the powder dry. It's faster that way.
Unless you're the type to swap out chips, drives and video cards in order to stay on the bleeding edge of the curve, get an iMac, use it for 3 years (or more: Our 5 year old iMac is upstairs humming away nicely as a kid's computer), get another one.
If you got the base model Mac mini and a 20"-22" display to go with it, you'd spend only about $150 more ($599 for the mini and ~100 for the LCD), but you'd get a vastly more powerful machine (Intel Core i3) that will be fuss-free and have a much longer useful life.
Plus you can always boot to Windows for when Stockholm Syndrome rears up again. :)
And +1 for the extended care. Worth every penny.
Unless you're a closet software developer, you probably don't need a dual booting computer. Unless you plan on playing cutting edge games, upgradeability isn't likely to be an issue. If the bulk of your computing needs are web browsing and email, pretty much any system (Windows, Mac, or even Linux) will suit you.
What kind of TV do you have? Does it have a computer video input? If so, you might consider a Mac Mini or other small system and hook it to the TV.
Have worked in IT for twenty years now and have owned my own IT consulting firm for the past five. Believe me when I say I have seen them all when it comes to AIO machines.
Unless you're contemplating an iMac, my thoughts can be summed up in a single word...DON'T.
You're much better off with a Mac Mini or one of the smaller form-factor Wintel machines of comparable specs. Hell, depending upon your intended usage, it would be hard to beat a tablet or three in lieu of a single machine.
If your all in one is an iMac then go for it. They're well made and reliable.
I'd stay away from PC all in ones.
I've an HP 300-1020 AMD Athlon II x2
235e processor, 2.70 GHz, 4 Gig RAM, 64 bit. Windows 7
It's a touchscreen, which I rarely use. Windows 7 is nice, though.
I bought it as a refurb from Best Buy, much cheaper via 'net than in person.
+1 on the Mac Mini. I agree with Alan, steer clear of PC all in ones. The drivers are crappy, and they all come with bloatware.
I switched to an iMac several years ago. There are some things that are great about the MacOS...some, not so much.
I don't have much experience with Windows 7, but what I have tells me that it's pretty close to as stable as OSx, starts up faster and is more user friendly to the non-computer geeks among us.
Not to mention that a Mac is expensive, as compared spec to spec against a windows box, the software is more expensive and the peripherals are more expensive.
With that said, I do like my mac and it does the things I bought it for perfectly (home video editing).
In other words: I wouldn't NOT recommend it, but it's not a panacea. Like everything, there are good things and bad things about it.
The one drawback to the design that will most likely prompt me to go back to windows when this machine dies is the "all-in-one" form factor.
When a CD-burner dies, I'd rather spend $50 on a new CD burner than $2k on a new machine or several hundred on a support tech.
Basically, an all-in-one desktop system has all of the disadvantages of a laptop (if any single component dies, the machine is unrepairable by your average computer user and you can't upgrade components like video cards or wireless cards when the technology improves) without the primary advantage (portability). The only advantage is the small footprint, which IMHO is far outweighed by the disadvantages.
Jay, check out the Black Friday laptop deals. They might turn out a whole lot less expensive than you think. Here's a link to a ZDNet article about them:
http://tinyurl.com/3569fk9
Let me add another voice voting for Macs.
I avoided them for years, until I became part of a Large Company that advocates them. I've reluctantly concluded that, although my desktop PC works just fine, I'm using my company MacBook for just about everything.
A PC is a tool. A Mac is an appliance. If you have a PC, you can use it to do all sorts of things the inventor of the tool never dreamed of -- but you're forever tinkering with it. With a Mac, it can be difficult to do something the designers didn't intend you to do (just as with appliances, e.g. you don't use your dishwasher as a coffeemaker) -- but for what it's supposed to do, It Just Works.
Macs are more expensive, yes. But chances are you'll find it a relief not to be futzing around all the time, just trying to keep it working.
Good luck!
Just buy it Jay.
For a kitchen computer it sounds fine. Its a notebook with a large screen that doesn’t fold with an easily replaced keyboard.
And for all those who say “don't, its too hard to upgrade/repair”
The “Upgrading and Servicing Guide ” from HP (with pictures and everything... ,well its mainly just pictures).
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c03030657.pdf
Its easy to open (just two screws); it uses standard notebook parts (SATA dvdrw and hard drives). Hell, Jay if you still have that Toshiba you might have spares already.
And if the display or motherboard die when its out of warranty; yank the hard drive and put it on ebay someone will buy it for parts.
I've been a MAC dude forever. I own a 27" Quad core Imac. A macbook pro 17" an older macbook 15" A PowerPC imac all in one bought in 2005 and still use it from time to time.
IF you are a windows type and thinking of coming toward the light. Parallels allows you to operate BOTH platforms and it works better than a made for Windows machine.
I use it sometimes for developing. Hope you chose wisely...
Damn, my last comment must be caught in the spam filter.
Jay, just get whatever You want.
I used an Asus All-in-one running Win 7 for about 4 months in 2010 and was mostly pleased with it. It did like the small footprint. The mouse and keyboard were both wireless and I wasn't real impressed with the battery life.
It was a client's compugter. At that time, I would not have paid the retail price for one, but now I might if I were in the market.
Just DON'T.
I know I'm late to the comments, but .... I exactly echo what Darren S said (except I got tired of 20 hour work days and went back to working on someone else's computers as a job).
If you're willing to pay double the price for the equipment and a long term support contract, go for it. Those things don't use any 'standard' parts to speak of, and if any component dies the whole thing is more costly to fix than to buy a replacement.
I've combined both the bargain/closeout laptop route, and the small PC (using generic standardized and easy to replace internal components) hidden out of sight with long cables running to the user interface. Oh, and a tablet that cost way too much to be a kitchen weather/pandora station. I use my family as a test bed for PC and Linux plus I also do Macs at work.
The laptops work best at home, but I've accepted that they are way overpriced 1-year disposable items, and every week they last past that is a bonus. So far the kids haven't destroyed one before the warranty expired.
The all-in-one units I've encountered in my day job are the same thing, only bigger and more expensive to replace. I repaired the first two, but even if I only got paid minimum wage I'd still have been better off throwing them away and buying new ones--as I had to do with the last couple
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