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All in one PC vs desktop

KD
Posts: 98 Forumite


in Techie Stuff
I have a dilema, I have seen a Sony Vaio JS1E all in one pc which I really like the look of and has plenty capacity for me but it's £150 more expensive than the desktop I had finally selected (HP Pavilion a6744uk).
I know most people think Sony is a bit over priced, so I'm accounting for that, but it has bluetooth/ bluray / built in webcam/ good speakers and on a design side looks good.
Just wondered what people thought of all in one pc's , I didn't want to get 'smoozed into buying it because it looks good. Fortunately, money isn't the main driver, but I don't want to pay over the odds.
any advice?
I know most people think Sony is a bit over priced, so I'm accounting for that, but it has bluetooth/ bluray / built in webcam/ good speakers and on a design side looks good.
Just wondered what people thought of all in one pc's , I didn't want to get 'smoozed into buying it because it looks good. Fortunately, money isn't the main driver, but I don't want to pay over the odds.
any advice?
Often daunted, never defeated!
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Comments
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A large compartive review of all-in-ones in this months PC Pro mag (issue July 2009). They pick the Advent AIO-100 as best buy at £430, and the Dell XPS One 24 as the winner, £1349. They review the Sony VAIO VGC-LV1S but don't like the speakers, and say the screen isn't as good as the Apple iMac nor the Dell...
Only the Sony has BluRay.0 -
Never had an all in one pc - sounds like and looks like a glorified version of a pc stuck to a monitor or just a monitor with pc built in with keyboard and mouse.
The only thing you are gaining perhaps is space - but then if you look at the standard pc - you can get some very slim pc with excellent monitor.
If you get all in one - you are stuck with the monitor and you are stuck with its technologies.
Best option - a slim pc (Dell do good ones) with a very good 19inch monitor or even better 21 inch.0 -
Never had an all in one pc - sounds like and looks like a glorified version of a pc stuck to a monitor or just a monitor with pc built in with keyboard and mouse.
I think you need to look at the products available at the moment, the Apple iMac, Sony, and Dell XPS One certainly aren't machines like this... They have very good sales figures too.0 -
All-in-one PCs are quite (very) likely to use non-standard hardware. If anything goes wrong, it is likely to be difficult (and more expensive) to replace faulty components.
Anyway, after Sony's malicious attempt to install rootkits on its customers' PCs, making them vulnerable to hackers... would you want to buy anything from them ever again?0 -
I think you need to look at the products available at the moment, the Apple iMac, Sony, and Dell XPS One certainly aren't machines like this... They have very good sales figures too.
If someone gave me one free, fine - but I just think they limit me, as a fairly techy person, to one piece of kit which I cant customize or tweak in the manner a pc needs to be when you get into the real world situation.
Granted though things like the Apple Macs probably get away with it because of the software they operate on is specific to those types of machines - but for the windows, linux market - the pc and monitor solution is better.0 -
I have a dilema, I have seen a Sony Vaio JS1E all in one pc which I really like the look of and has plenty capacity for me but it's £150 more expensive than the desktop I had finally selected (HP Pavilion a6744uk).
I know most people think Sony is a bit over priced, so I'm accounting for that, but it has bluetooth/ bluray / built in webcam/ good speakers and on a design side looks good.
Just wondered what people thought of all in one pc's , I didn't want to get 'smoozed into buying it because it looks good. Fortunately, money isn't the main driver, but I don't want to pay over the odds.
any advice?
You will pay over the odds for an all in one regardless, your paying for the design and compactness over the parts. They will never be the best machines ever but will be good compromises. You could buy a monster games rig but it will be bigger and louder, or a mini PC like a the eeeBox but that will never run high powered software well.
There is though that they are difficult to upgrade and if one part goes you have to get the lot fixed, whcih is true, but IMHE no-one upgrades anyway people tend to use a PC for a few years then dispose of it and replace it.
Parts wise they are usually off the shelf parts, and easily replaced and in most cases you can always pay more for faster in home service.
The only thing to say (and this may or may not be helpful) is does it work for you how you would use it?0 -
All-in-one PCs are quite (very) likely to use non-standard hardware. If anything goes wrong, it is likely to be difficult (and more expensive) to replace faulty components.
Nope, with the possible exception of the power supply almost everything inside wll be off the shelf. Shoehorned in to acustom case, but off the shelf. No-one makes custom parts anymore, everything is bought in. Odds are this will be using Laptop hardware to fit in the case.0 -
I have an Apple iMac, and I love it to bits. I upgraded from a G3 iMac, which I loved to bits too. It was quite a revolutionary computer at the time.
I hate wires and clutter, and I want something that looks great and I can move from room to room almost as easily as a laptop. My next computer will be, yep, you guessed it, an iMac.0 -
Nope, with the possible exception of the power supply almost everything inside wll be off the shelf. Shoehorned in to acustom case, but off the shelf. No-one makes custom parts anymore, everything is bought in. Odds are this will be using Laptop hardware to fit in the case.
They're probably laptop components rather than desktop, but yeah, they should be reasonably readily available.
I'm not a huge fan of all in ones myself, they're too inflexible and modifications, upgrades and repairs are much more of a faff. And you pay more for them.
If they work for you, then that's cool.0 -
KD - I owned a All-In-One iMac and loved it. Much preferred it over normal Desktop solutions.
Only reason I sold it was because I had a change of circumstances and needed something portable, thus brought a Macbook Laptop.
Major benefits for me was that it saved alot of space and was clean and tidy without wire after wire of connections and much easier to fit in more confined spaces.
Also it ran almost whisper silent compared to normal desktops that I found quite noisy and annoying.
If I was ever to buy a desktop again I would by a All-in-one.
Apart from Ram which is easily upgradable All-In-Ones are harder to upgrade or replace other components.
However what you have to ask your self is how likely are you to upgrade anything other than Ram over the next 5 or so years.
I know that I would only upgrade Ram and nothing else that's why it suits me.0
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