Is it Time to Consider an All-In-One Desktop?

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback212.html' target='_blank'>http://news.digitaltrends.com/talkback212.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"With Apple refreshing their market leading iMac line, Sony their wonderful LT and LS lines, and HP their revolutionary Touchsmart (not to mention others coming to market shortly), is it finally time to consider an all-in-one desktop? I’m not going to focus much on the differences between products, and instead focus on the benefits of the form factor and why you may want to start considering it for a home or small office PC. I’ll even suggest there may be a market for an enterprise all-in-one, but the last true enterprise all-in-one, the X41, was from IBM and they discontinued it long before they spun out their PC division to Lenovo. Let’s start with the historical problems with all-in-ones and why they don’t matter as much, the historical advantages of all-in-ones (which are stronger than ever), and then conclude with why the class itself if worth considering seriously again."</i><br /><br />It is so funny that this article came out now because I was just thinking about potentially buying a desktop. I have been using a laptop exclusively for about 2 years now and am missing out on all that possible gaming which just doesn't seem possible on a standard laptop. And while on a number of different manufacturers' websites (Dell, HP, Apple, etc.) I found that they were advertising all-in-one PCs a lot more than a few years ago (i.e. when I had last bought a desktop). What's more is that they were all very full-featured, stylish and quite affordable. I really do wonder if all-in-one PCs are the standard desktop PCs of the future?

[jeffd]

If you have the money, laptop gaming isn't to bad, but you will need to upgrade the laptop every 2 years or less depending on how fast games are progressing. You can get equivalent 8600gt cards for laptops for your dx10 needs, but I wouldn't quite expect to do crysis at a high resolution with full splendor. How ever if you were such a serious gamer to want to do crysis at high resolution are full detail, then a desktop would be better.

[hawkeye]

I am finding All in One's more intruiging as well.

Maybe it's because I want another internet enabled device to watch DL.tv, CNETTV, Revision3, etc... types of content. (My kids love the Transformers channel on Joost, they just don't like having to sit at the computer desk)

I've been shopping for a 26" or 32" HDTV for my bedroom and have found myself longing for the same internet video/IPTV functionality.

All-in-One PCs could be the solution to my wants however, at a higher price.

[Jeremy Charette]

The new iMacs are very sleek, sexy, and quite capable as far as gaming goes. IMHO the best all-in-one's on the market. The best value? Perhaps not. But running Vista they are fanstastic desktops that don't take up a ton of room.

Also recently saw Sony's new all-in-one at J&amp;R. very sleek, with a clear bezel that makes it look as if the LCD panel is suspended in mid-air.

If you're serious about gaming, get a decent all-in-one for home, and invest in a 360 for the living room. I find no reason to play games on my PC anymore.

[Macguy59]

The new iMacs are very sleek, sexy, and quite capable as far as gaming goes. IMHO the best all-in-one's on the market.

I agree. Loved my white 20" iMac but my new 24" Glass/metal iMac is very fast.

[Jason Dunn]

All-in-One computers are great for people that treat computers like appliances: something they buy and use until it stops working. For anyone that likes to upgrade or improve their system over time, they're not a good fit.

[Macguy59]

All-in-One computers are great for people that treat computers like appliances: something they buy and use until it stops working. For anyone that likes to upgrade or improve their system over time, they're not a good fit.


Not quite Jason. All-in-ones like the iMac can be improved/upgraded albeit in a limited fashion. Does the average computer user buy with those things in mind though? From my experience users are willing to add more RAM or have a bad HD replaced but beyond that I think they make the decision to "make do" for the short term and look for a new machine within 6 months (usually when income tax refunds start showing up). Having said that I am clearly in the "appliance" mindset these days. I don't want to tweak, mod or worry about device drivers anymore. I don't care anymore if an app loads in 1 second versus 2 seconds. I do care about dependability and having peace of mind in knowing that what I choose to plug into my computer will "just work".

[Jason Dunn]

Not quite Jason. All-in-ones like the iMac can be improved/upgraded albeit in a limited fashion.

Other than RAM, what can you easily upgrade in them? I'm not saying that makes them horrible or anything, but there's really no comparison between what's possible on a regular computer vs. an all in one. Ultimately I think it matters less the cheaper the system is. If you have a $500 computer, you won't care about upgrading it. If you have a $2000 computer, you'll care more because you'll want to keep using it. I tend to keep my systems going over 2-3 years by upgrading key components.

Having said that I am clearly in the "appliance" mindset these days...I do care about dependability and having peace of mind in knowing that what I choose to plug into my computer will "just work".

I hear you - I'm inching toward that more and more every day myself. Although I still enjoy building kick-ass computers out of custom parts now and then. ;-)

[Macguy59]

Not to be too Homerish but Apple has done a good job making sure that older hardware can still run on the current OS version. The forthcoming OS X 10.5 (Leopard) is the first OS release that excludes the older G3 based machines.

[Janak Parekh]

Other than RAM, what can you easily upgrade in them? I'm not saying that makes them horrible or anything, but there's really no comparison between what's possible on a regular computer vs. an all in one.
While this is true, rapidly changing standards (connectors, buses, CPU sockets, what have you) seem to make the modular computer less upgradable now than it used to be. With the exception of RAM and the hard disk, unless you change the mainboard, it's often becoming harder to use new technology. What's more, changing the mainboard now often breaks the OS and requires a reinstall, unlike the old days when you could actually migrate a Windows install between virtually completely different hardware.

In any case, after building thousands of computers in my lifetime, I've pretty much gone the appliance route. I can't be bothered to crack my computers open anymore. There, I said it, I can retire my PC geek badge now. :(

--janak