All-In-One versus Desktop

[SamSpade]

I'm looking forward to doing more of my job at home, via telecommuting. But at home, I pretty much just have laptops, and from experience, they do a lousy job of assisting me in the kind of work I have to do. The screen is too small, and I often need a lot of apps open at once.

So I am planning to get a new computer with a large screen - and hopefully, some features the old laptops don't have.

I keep trying to decide between an All-In-One, and a desktop. Comparable ones can be had for about the same price.

The advantage of the All-In-One is simplicity: wireless keyboard and mouse, you just turn the thing on. No cables except the power cord.

The advantage of the desktop is versatility: they come with more USB ports, some come with various ports for camera memory sticks, and with the modules separate, you can do more things - dual monitors, improved speakers and so forth.

Just want to know if anyone has set up their home computer for work and what they did.

 

[glhs837]

I would recommend maybe look at a laptop with a dock. Done properly, you can run dual widescreen monitors from there. All-in-Ones are a really laptops stuffed into a case along with the monitor. WE used a Sony Vaio all in one for years, but when it's main-board crapped we lost the monitor and a lot else. And parts are not easy to come by. And that was a great montior too.

 

[ylexot]

Yeah, just get a big screen (or two) for your laptop. :shrug: Most screens can also act as a USB hub, so get a wireless keyboard and mouse, plug the dongles into the monitor, and two cable connections get you a big screen, wireless keyboard and mouse. If you want/need to be mobile, just unplug and go. No need to transfer files, etc.

 

[EmptyTimCup]

laptops still suffer from slow spindle speed [ 5900 most times ] unless you opt for the faster hard drive.


and slower processors, and limited memory - maybe 8 gb is enough for you .... most desktops you can max out @ 16 gb, hi end units 32 gb



I have spec'd Dell Latitudes for a couple of clients ..... 'business' class laptops seem to have better components than a $ 500 Best Buy unit ..........

 

[TPD]

iMac

 

[corollinout]

I just bought a Dell 23" all in one and I love it so far. I have a photography business and edit a lot of photos and this one has been fast enough to make everything a lot quicker. It's for 6 USB ports, VGA out for a second monitor, HDMI input if you wanted it to act like a TV. 1tb hard drive, 8 in 1 memory card reader. It's also got a VGA input if you wanted to use it as a monitor for your laptop.

 

[kara teoke]

All in ones are pretty sucky when a single component dies and your whole operation is shutdown.

 

[ylexot]

iMac

iSpendtoomuchforacomputer

 

[glhs837]

All in ones are pretty sucky when a single component dies and your whole operation is shutdown.

That's what happened to the Vaio all in one we had. Video part of the mainboard died. No way to source a replacement that didnt cost more than a new computer. I did salvage what I could, but the screen was a loss.

 

[Asmodeus]

I use my laptop when working from home... I have a 17" Dell Precision M6500, i7, 16GB RAM... I'm usually working in multiple client's VPNs as well as having a half dozen apps open on the laptop itself... I like the portability so I can move around the house during the day with it...

I have hooked it up to one of my large screen monitors at home, but as soon as it's smoke break time, I can still unplug it and head for the garage...

Hard to wander with a desktop...

 

[SamSpade]

I use my laptop when working from home...

(shrug)

I have three laptops at home. They have two - for me - significant drawbacks over desktops - screen size and keyboard size. At work, I have at minimum two large screens to work with, and it's a little hard to do the same job with less than half the same screen size.

I also have a hard time with small keyboards - for instance, I never text because the time spent correcting wrong keys is just too much.

I've thought about the "if something goes wrong, you lose the whole thing" but my experience usually is, if something goes wrong with the CPU part of your desktop, most of the time you're seriously screwed anyway (as is the case with my son's desktop, which appears to have a blown power supply, but I don't have the tools to check it if I am wrong).

It does seem to be a matter of ease of use versus ease of repair. I'm still thinking about it.

 

[glhs837]

Desktop CPU an easy fix, same for power supply. Multimeter, cheapy one costs about $15-20. Thats all you need to test the power supply.

 

[EmptyTimCup]

It does seem to be a matter of ease of use versus ease of repair. I'm still thinking about it.

just do yourself a favor, do not get the $ 300 best buy E-Machine .... also max out the system memory, and stay away for System 8 - metro was really designed for tablets [ aka touch screens ]


sure you can mouse click a button to get out of 'Metro' and back into a regular desktop

 

[EmptyTimCup]

is this the issue with your PC

 

[puggymom]

We've had a Dell All-in-one since June and I like it. The space thing is great plus it has plenty of ports, for me anyway. I have a disc drive, a SD drive, and 2 USB ports.

 

[kara teoke]

Making a decision on what kind of pc to buy based on ports is like buying a house based on the color of the walls.