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Are All in One PC's a reliable buy?

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MercuryLS said:
I'm the exact opposite to you. I don't get the point of desktops anymore, and ever since buying a Macbook Air I'm using my iPad 2 less and less.
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why? what do you do on the air?

i can understand it if there's a specific reason, sure. for me, the question is "do i really need to be able to carry my computer anywhere" and the answer is "99% of the time, no"

the ipad does more than a laptop for me, not less, and the imac is a way more comfortable home experience.

i guess this is why companies offer a range of products.
 
345triangle said:
what would i need to do in bed that an ipad couldn't? my imac's in the same room as my futon, anyway! meanwhile, i can't comfortably read books, magazines or newspapers in bed with a laptop, which i think is a much more common thing to want to do than running photoshop.
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Typing. It looks horrible to type on an iPad.


Anyway, I had a quick look on Dell to compare a top desktop with an Imac (with both student discounts added).

Dell desktop:

24in Dell screen
Intel® Core™ i7-2600 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB)
16Gb Ram
AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 2GB DDR5 Graphics Card
1 Year Warranty

£1,596


iMac:

27-inch sexy screen
3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB Ram
AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB
3 Year Warranty

£1418


I really can't think of why I'd need the extra power from the desktop. How will Battlefield 3 play on the iMac above? Will it look as good as the in-game demos and run at 30fps+? Will it look worse than the PS3 port?
 
Dell is more than twice as fast GPU wise as the Mac. 2600 means 8 threads vs 4, but not a big deal unless you do rendering or video editing.
2400 is 3.4Ghz, 2600 is 3.8Ghz
Dell IPS panels are great.

The 6970M is a slower 6850 desktop GPU.
BF3 will be 30+fps on medium is my guess.
 
Your Excellency said:
Typing. It looks horrible to type on an iPad.


Anyway, I had a quick look on Dell to compare a top desktop with an Imac (with both student discounts added).

Dell desktop:

24in Dell screen
Intel® Core™ i7-2600 Processor (3.40GHz, 8MB)
16Gb Ram
AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 2GB DDR5 Graphics Card
1 Year Warranty

£1,596


iMac:

27-inch sexy screen
3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB Ram
AMD Radeon HD 6970M with 1GB
3 Year Warranty

£1418


I really can't think of why I'd need the extra power from the desktop. How will Battlefield 3 play on the iMac above? Will it look as good as the in-game demos and run at 30fps+? Will it look worse than the PS3 port?
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that 6970M is not equal to the 6950. the 6950 would beat it. the dell CPU is better but for game it wont make a difference (unless you do video editing/Photoshop, etc)
uh.... way more RAM, but again, only useful if you do a fuck-ton of video editing (which would then come in very handy) both versions however will beat the PS3 version.
 
Your Excellency said:
Typing. It looks horrible to type on an iPad.
Click to expand...

longform, sure, but i write most of my GAF posts (for example) on my ipad. i'm pretty used to it. of course people who need to write a lot on the move (students, journalists) would be better served by a laptop, but i'm not one of those people.

laptops are like, the default computer purchase for most people right now, but i think that'll shift pretty significantly in the next few years. i think as your ipad (or whatever) becomes the thing you take everywhere, you'll start to wonder why you need to carry your other computer at all.
 
ReconYoda said:
This thread has taught me some people don't know the difference between all in ones and laptops..weird.
Click to expand...
This lol.

I would never get one. Save for the iMac they all look ugly as fuck.
 
Okay, thanks for that! I won't be having a baby for about 5 years so no major video editing (if any) being done.

What do you guys think of the less powerful 27inch iMac (it's £200 cheaper):

27-inch
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB ram
AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

I've previously heard that this computer isn't powerful enough to power the 2560 x 1440 resolution screen with decent speed. May look into some user reviews etc to see if this is the case...
 
Bought my GF an all in one HP last year, it's served her well, it's not a powerhouse, but it runs Pshop okay for her art, screen is nice, footprint is small, had no problems so far.

It is one of the Touchsmarts: http://h20424.www2.hp.com/program/homedesktops/ap/en/index.asp#/allinone/Touchsmart610

hp-touchsmart-all-in-one-pc.jpg
 
Your Excellency said:
Okay, thanks for that! I won't be having a baby for about 5 years so no major video editing (if any) being done.

What do you guys think of the less powerful 27inch iMac (it's £200 cheaper):

27-inch
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB ram
AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

I've previously heard that this computer isn't powerful enough to power the 2560 x 1440 resolution screen with decent speed. May look into some user reviews etc to see if this is the case...
Click to expand...


so wait, you do want to play games on this or not?
 
Your Excellency said:
Okay, thanks for that! I won't be having a baby for about 5 years so no major video editing (if any) being done.

What do you guys think of the less powerful 27inch iMac (it's £200 cheaper):

27-inch
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
4GB ram
AMD Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

I've previously heard that this computer isn't powerful enough to power the 2560 x 1440 resolution screen with decent speed. May look into some user reviews etc to see if this is the case...
Click to expand...
The 6770M on that resolution is a joke. You'll get <10 fps on BF3

If you are dropping that amount of money just make your own and get a nice 24/27" IPS panel.

You'll be getting at least 40% better value.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432590
 
SensualSeduction said:
i dont understand the point of these all in one pcs.You can place your tower under the desk...problem ?
Click to expand...
Easy to set up, no cables, etc...

Not to mention that huge tower PCs look incredibly ugly and archaic.
 
I'm going to buy an imac for basic video editing.

pros:
+Nice screen
+Runs Final Cut Pro

cons:
-laptop hardware
-seems near impossible to even change the hdd
-therefore shit sucks if anything breaks - and i have a bad track record with apple hardware.
-no usb 3
-wtf is up with fcp x?

would rather have a mac pro if they weren't so damned expensive.
 
Kong Fisso said:
I'm going to buy an imac for basic video editing.

pros:
+Nice screen
+Runs Final Cut Pro

cons:
-laptop hardware
-seems near impossible to even change the hdd
-therefore shit sucks if anything breaks - and i have a bad track record with apple hardware.
-no usb 3
-wtf is up with fcp x?

would rather have a mac pro if they weren't so damned expensive.
Click to expand...

Or you could, you know, use the machine you have now and just use Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas. Buying a whole new computer seem a bit excessive, especially an all-in-one. Unless you buy a laptop, for video editing you don't need a monster GPU anyways.
 
Unknown Soldier said:
Or you could, you know, use the machine you have now and just use Adobe Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas. Buying a whole new computer seem a bit excessive, especially an all-in-one. Unless you buy a laptop, for video editing you don't need a monster GPU anyways.
Click to expand...
I am using my current laptop to edit video, and it's painful. Many smaller productions around here are edited in FCP, so there are no two ways around getting a mac, unfortunately. At least, according to my gf, "it looks nice".
 
I don't think I'd ever buy an all-in-one on the off chance something goes wrong.

I'd rather keep things as separate as possible so then can be easily changed and upgraded should the worst happen.
 
Kong Fisso said:
I am using my current laptop to edit video, and it's painful. Many smaller productions around here are edited in FCP, so there are no two ways around getting a mac, unfortunately. At least, according to my gf, "it looks nice".
Click to expand...

Well, if you only need to run 1 program, you might consider building a Hackintosh. Cost way less than buying a "real" Mac and you can get much more powerful components. A powerful Mac Pro with Core i7 would set you back thousands of dollars, you can build a fire-breathing Hackintosh with the same CPU for <$1,000. Something to consider.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Final Cut Pro X, if there is mass-abandonment of that tool or not. I've always been a user of Adobe Premiere since college so the furor over FCP X has been little more than an amusing sideshow for me. :3
 
MrHicks said:
nope never seen one IRL
i'm in belgium though so the whole "apple desktop" thing is almost nonexistant
apple is ipods and iphones over here

everyone has a windows pc
Click to expand...

Haha what? Im from Belgium and this is a lie.

Apple is as big here as it is in the US.
 
Absolutely not.

If a component fails in a custom built PC, you only need to replace that component. If a component fails in an all in one PC, you need to replace the entire PC. The less integrated components you have, the better it is for overall reliability and maintainability.

As a result, I tend to treat laptops as disposable pieces of hardware. Spend very little so that the loss is not so great when it inevitably dies on you.
 
I think those all in ones are pretty expensive (over $1k?). I think if you need it for basic stuff like browsing and watching shows, you would be better off buying a $600 laptop w/ HDMI and a large monitor.

I have an ASUS 22" LED that I got for around $170 and a Core i3 laptop that cost around $700 when I got it two years ago.

Edit: When I'm at home I have my keyboard and mouse plugged into it and the laptop sits off to the side. I have it set up so all I have to do is unplug all the cables and I can take it with me if I need to.

29epzjl.jpg
 
These people are crazy. iMacs ares great and probably the best value computer out there. Brilliant screen and the components are competitive. When the refresh is out, I dare someone to find me even a monitor and tower that will be about the same price as the iMac. The price difference will be negligible. And I mean a similar monitor, not your shit $300 ones.

Sure, you can't upgrade anything outside of RAM but who cares. Just sell it and buy a new one. You'll make your money back. If it breaks, take it to the Mac Store for repair. Dead easy.

This doesn't apply to non Mac PCs.
 
Bboy AJ said:
These people are crazy. iMacs ares great and probably the best value computer out there. Brilliant screen and the components are competitive. When the refresh is out, I dare someone to find me even a monitor and tower that will be about the same price as the iMac. The price difference will be negligible. And I mean a similar monitor, not your shit $300 ones.

Sure, you can't upgrade anything outside of RAM but who cares. Just sell it and buy a new one. You'll make your money back. If it breaks, take it to the Mac Store for repair. Dead easy.

This doesn't apply to non Mac PCs.
Click to expand...

my monitor has a 2ms response time.
 
Bboy AJ said:
Sure, you can't upgrade anything outside of RAM but who cares. Just sell it and buy a new one. You'll make your money back. If it breaks, take it to the Mac Store for repair. Dead easy.
Click to expand...

People that game, or use older components to drive down costs for things they don't need to upgrade just yet. AKA: Anyone that doesn't buy Macs.

Don't get me wrong, iMacs are nice and I'm sure the PC variants are just as nice, but they're overpriced, you can't do much to upgrade them in a way. They're basically a 5 year PC investment in doing whatever you need done that isn't just browsing and e-mail, because for that you could get a far cheaper box and monitor to go with it for a lot less than the all in ones go for.
 
All in one PCs are totally cool. When you want to upgrade, instead of keeping a nice display for your next build, you junk the entire thing. So awesome.
 
Unlimited4s said:
I know quite a few people with iMacs here in Belgium.
Click to expand...

depends on the people you hang out with i guess
overall the marketshare is prob around 8-10% which i wouldn't qualify as "huge"
 
Bboy AJ said:
These people are crazy. iMacs ares great and probably the best value computer out there. Brilliant screen and the components are competitive. When the refresh is out, I dare someone to find me even a monitor and tower that will be about the same price as the iMac. The price difference will be negligible. And I mean a similar monitor, not your shit $300 ones.

Sure, you can't upgrade anything outside of RAM but who cares. Just sell it and buy a new one. You'll make your money back. If it breaks, take it to the Mac Store for repair. Dead easy.

This doesn't apply to non Mac PCs.
Click to expand...
Exactly right. iMacs are excellent.

PC all in ones, on the other hand...
 
iMacs are the only all in one that I would ever buy tbh. And I got one earlier this year, its great. Still went and built a new PC though for my gaming needs. Thinking about putting bootcamp and windows 7 on this thing so my gf can play some games with me though.
 
Bboy AJ said:
These people are crazy. iMacs ares great and probably the best value computer out there. Brilliant screen and the components are competitive. When the refresh is out, I dare someone to find me even a monitor and tower that will be about the same price as the iMac. The price difference will be negligible. And I mean a similar monitor, not your shit $300 ones.

Sure, you can't upgrade anything outside of RAM but who cares. Just sell it and buy a new one. You'll make your money back. If it breaks, take it to the Mac Store for repair. Dead easy.

This doesn't apply to non Mac PCs.
Click to expand...
@ 21.5 inches IPS screens are less then $300. The 27-inch Dell IPS is $1000 and I'm sure you can build/buy a comparable computer for $700. You could probably also get a comparable laptop for that price and have both a portable/desktop solution.

Unless you need space saving All-in-ones are a waste. Even with space saving a micro-tower or a laptop hooked up to a monitor would be more versatile.
 
Other than an iMac, I would probably not get one.

However, for many PC AIOs these days both the hard drive and RAM are more easy to upgrade, which for the majority of people is all they'd bother with, if that so it's not as big an issue.
 
IrrelevantNotch said:
You mean a laptop? I just got my second laptop recently and don't see myself EVER going back to desktops.
Click to expand...

I thought that when I had a gaming laptop, but then I realized that I left it on my desk 99% of the time, so my next PC was a desktop I built that cost half as much as a laptop with the same specs would've.
 
Lunchbox said:
Never heard of the term "all in one pcs"

Anyways i hated using them. nothing will replace the customization and ease of fixing something as a desktop tower. Hate when something goes wrong in laptops and you have to cram your way through the tight fit case with no room to breath.

They are made for people who throw stuff away when they break without even attempting to fix it
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. ^

It's a complete PITA to attempt to fix shit like that. I had to repair one once, and actually managed to fix it, only to have it ruined the next day (bad users are bad). That said, trying to navigate the mess of that PC was a real pain since I had to try and figure out where stuff was, and it was hard to get a good look inside.

Towers are MUCH easier to work on and diagnose. Laptops are a little more annoying, but far from a mess to work on. Can't comment on Macs since I don't mess with those.
 
A few years back, I was dusting out a friend's iMac.

Wow, talk about cheap internal design. I would never buy one of these things after looking at the internals. I would imagine the same for Windows-based computers.

If you're a casual, it may be worth it to you, but for a tech savvy person, definitely not.
 
Im surprised at how people think if one thing goes wrong with the "all in one" they just throw it out and buy another. I would never do such a thing, they are not that hard to open up and fix yourself.

To all the people saying they build their own pc's this surprises me even more, you would think since they love to tinker with their own pc's they would be able to fix a "all in one".

Just go on tested.com and look how easy it is to open up an iMac, its not rocket science people. You just have to be a little more careful. Is it as easy as opening a tower? No it isn't but its not overly complicated either.
 
mindfulloffuck.jpg People don't know what all in ones are?

If space saving is your priority, just go with a laptop, other wise I'd go with the standard tower + monitor setup.
 
claviertekky said:
If you're a casual, it may be worth it to you, but for a tech savvy person, definitely not.
Click to expand...
I'm tech savvy and I sure wouldn't buy any other desktop today other than an iMac.
 
entrement said:
Dead easy.

You can use a VM Program like Virtual Box, which you can run simulteanous with Mac OSX or switch between without rebooting, or you can use Bootcamp, which you'll need a partition on your HD to run. You'll need to reboot your computer to switch OSes.

Mac OSX Lion only supports Wndows 7 in Bootcamp. Just an FYI.
Click to expand...
I use Virtual Box to run Windows on my MacBook Pro. Easy a can be.
 
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