All in one PC

G4OJR

I am looking for a recommendation for an all in one PC for my son about 21" screen, budget up to £500. For study and YouTube! Thanks

forgotmyname

Dont forget that if one component fails you may end up throwing it away.

Some have proprietary hardware which you wont be able to purchase.

A 10 year old PC will work for study and youtube so no need for something costing £500.

interstellaflyer

forgotmyname wrote: »

Dont forget that if one component fails you may end up throwing it away.

Some have proprietary hardware which you wont be able to purchase.

Same could be said about modern Laptops, we have 3 all in one PCs at work that have given no trouble whatsoever in the 4 years we've had them.

SouthUKMan

G4OJR wrote: »

I am looking for a recommendation for an all in one PC for my son about 21" screen, budget up to £500. For study and YouTube! Thanks

Just a quick point of clarification... are you asking far an 'all in one' for your son because that is what he wants and needs, or because that's what you think he needs? I ask because I'm sure that most students would rather have a laptop that they can also take to lectures, etc. The all in one PCs are generally fine in use, but as already pointed out, they're not so easy to upgrade should your son ever want to install a larger hard drive or more memory for example.

Strider590

I wouldn't go near a small or lower res monitor, as websites (and even software) are being designed around larger displays and don't work properly on smaller monitors. Youtube is case in point, if the resolution is too small Youtube hides the LH menu bar, which can make life very difficult.

When your trying to run software and the OK/Cancel button is off the screen or behind the task bar, it's one of the most frustrating experiences I can think of, totally the developers fault, but inexperienced developers often fail to consider that other people don't have 40inch displays.

One place I worked at, the "system" (IT muggle speak for database) was bodged together by a manager who had a screen MUCH bigger than everyone else's, it was truly awful to use.

AndyPix

I would advise against an all in one machine.
Yes , they are pretty to look at, but very costly to fix if they break and you are pretty much stuck with the hardware you get !!
No upgrading screen size, difficult to upgrade parts inside.


Can i ask, why have you specified an AIO ? Is there an underlying reason for this ?

Bigphil1474

We've had a Samsung touch screen all in one PC for about 6/7 years and it's great to a point. We only use it for e-mail, the web, and as a TV now and again, and haven't found the need to upgrade any parts. Fortunately nothing has gone wrong with it yet, either. It's more portable than a standard PC - simply pick up and move, which is useful for us as we usually have it on the kitchen table. It does work as a handy second TV as we can just stick it on a table in the living room and watch stuff on there if the PS4 is hogging the big telly. It did take a while for the OH to realise it had to be plugged in though.
As others have said, it does limit you on changing bits, so not good on the future proof. Although we really like it, and it's been good value for money for us, when it comes to replacing it, I'll be looking at a decent lap top next time instead.

G4OJR

Thanks for all the replies. I should have mentioned that my son's preference is for an all in one pc because he needs a large screen for reading GCSE textbooks online. Large screen laptops seem to be expensive as they are aimed at the gaming market and he doesn't have the space for a tower.

grumpycrab

Ok, what about a 21" monitor for £100 and laptop for £400? Stick the monitor on the wall with cable to laptop.
Don't know much about monitors but seems a reasonable selection e.g. at Amazon

esuhl

G4OJR wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I should have mentioned that my son's preference is for an all in one pc because he needs a large screen for reading GCSE textbooks online. Large screen laptops seem to be expensive as they are aimed at the gaming market and he doesn't have the space for a tower.

You'd get more for your money with a "tower" and it would be easier/cheaper to repair and upgrade. A PC doesn't take up much space.

And you could save desk-space by using an arm for the monitor. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Monitor-Mount-Computer-Screens/dp/B0119NXXYQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1503348128&sr=8-2&keywords=desk+monitor+arm

forgotmyname

I would be very very surprised if he doesn't have the space for a tower, you can get them all shapes and sizes. Size of a small toaster upwards.

A large screen doesn't mean its going to be a quality one. Reading text on a cheaper one that comes with a lot of all in ones could be an eye strain trying to work out if that fuzzy letter is an 8 or a B.

Are there any all in ones worth buying at the £500 level?