Hi there just need to know the pro's and con's in purchasing a new all in one pc, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Nick
Pros: Space saving Can look great Having built in Bluetooth and wifi is convenient Cons: Limited upgradibility Probably loaded with software bloat (which can be gotten rid of anyway) That's all I can think of at this time
Limited upgrading is a big one, and makes fixing difficult as well if it uses some parts that are not standard /easy to find.
You will also be stuck with the screen type and size that comes with it. Some of the screens are horrendous, so make sure your happy with it. Most aren't suitable for gaming lenovo did AIO Y910 for gaming however they have discontinued them.
For what purpose? Do you upgrade often? Many parts in AIO are not easily replaceable and some use proprietary connectors for some parts. If I s for gaming the answer is flat out "NO". For desktop work it should last a couple of years at least. Just remember they generally use laptop parts so even an i7 won't be the same as a desktop i7.
For general use their fine, we use a few out work and their fine for what we do. Only thing is if something does go wrong they are bit harder to fix. I had to replace a faulty 1tb HDD with a SSD in one and to get it open took much longer then a desktop. The unit had a custom MB and the RAM was integrated to the MB, luckily the 1TB drive was a standard 2.5" laptop HDD. However they look good and save on space and cabling.
How so? It's the same parts pretty much, still low-powered CPU. The only real benefit is having easier access to upgrade RAM, but an AIO with 8GB would fit the bill at the right price. NUC I agree is good for MFD work and offices but for home use they're not very versatile.
NUC's are availiable from celerons to i7, allow easy expansion of ram and HD. And I think more importantly allow you to choose your own monitor. I am also a fan of other mini pc like the mele or beelink https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fan...eron-J4105-Quad-Core-Windows/32911000650.html Celeron J4105, 4gb ram, 32gb emmc ( expandable with m2 or 2.5) for $300 including windows 10
I use 2 nucs st home as Media PC's... also web browsing on my 55" TVs... how much more versatile do you want them to be??
as your computing activities are such, you'd be happy with all-in-ones, NUC or building it. as you're considering all-in-ones, you got the suggestions instead for the NUC = NUC are neat, small option & simple to hook it to a monitor, keyboard & mouse. OCAUers shy away from the all-in-ones, as previously pointed out objecting about not being able to easily swap/upgrade/expand its hardware components. it can be more difficult to troubleshoot/upgrade on these AIO, because of its 'proprietary' build setup. there is a premium paid for such AIO products for its physical presentation/format, where you get IMO more bang-for-your-buck building it. in the end, it depends on your preferences and budget. you don't want a regular ATX case (mATX, etc) to house your PC. we figured space might be a consideration in your purchase decision. OP, you might want to look into what monitor to get, if you're not going the all-in-one option.
THE RULE IS: build the machine that does the job that you need done. If you can't build one yourself, research what you need to get it done and then figure out how you can make it happen.
yup, hear, hear. there's plenty of help for newbies building their first computers - you got the online manuals, online google search, YouTube tutorials and you got us here at OCAU. start with what you want in the machine's performance, a budget, then compose the hardware configuration. with that budget in mind, then you can compare the options - what you would get as AIO, components in the various formats (mATX, full ATX, NUC, etc...), and then adjust as you figure it out.
This is where you make a post on here or whirlpool for help picking out components based on your budget and usage. No need to follow trends.
An AIO is just a laptop with a bigger screen and a separate keyboard, but no battery and you can't stick it in a backpack. If that suits your needs, then they are great. If it doesn't, then they aren't. If you do go down that route, try to buy one with the best specs you can afford, to allow for the demands of future operating systems and software in an effort to get another (unlkely) 10 years out of it. Try to make sure the screen is the best quality you can afford. In terms of value, you would be better off buying an entry level tower. Even a low end tower is likely to perform as well, and has the advantage of actually being easily upgradeable, which most AIO's are almost entirely not, because they are, after all, basically laptops, with thermal and power limitations and proprietary components. An i7 AIO is like an i7 laptop.. its not a real i7, its a cut down, low powered version, probably with lower clock speeds and less cores, because they need to run on a power brick rather than a proper PSU, and they need to provide cooling in a very limited form factor. If they have dedicated GPU's.. for arguments sake a GTX 1060... then it will be a low powered version, with a compact, underperforming and overly loud cooling solution. If you simply want a web browser/facebooker/basic office machine, then an AIO with a nice screen and onboard graphics is certainly a viable option for a medium term though. Another alternative might be a top end screen with a NUC or similar. At least in a couple years time you can offload the NUC for a more modern, more efficient NUC, and keep the ancillaries.
