All in One Computers
 

No, this is really NOT a travel technology question... however, I know there are some great tech minds on here so thought I might as well draw from it.

My iPad plus my smartphone does all I need on the road. (I don't travel for work) but at home I need a real computer. I enjoy using premier elements to do youtube videos and a type a lot of emails plus blogging. I am sitting on 2 laptops, one 14 inch which has served me well for almost a full year and recently purchased a 17 inch to be able to have more screen room for editing my movies and photos. However, I am going crazy with this new 17". I hate the touchpad on this new computer and the keys are not much to my liking either, I kept thinking I would get used to it but I haven't. I decided I wanted a desktop with a real keyboard plus a bigger screen than the 17". So, I went to Best Buy yesterday to look for a desktop and fell in love with the all-in-one's. I never knew they existed!! The huge 23" touch screens, they are just like having a huge iPad but with a keyboard.... :D

I was a good girl and forced myself to walk out without buying one to do a little research first, so..... I am wondering what their downsides are compared to a traditional desktop?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/16857..._of_style.html

Here they say it so much better than I could.

But what about an external monitor you could connect to your laptop(s) either directly or with a docking statium?

touch not so great
 

I've used one of the HP Touchsmart touchscreens before several years ago and recently, I have to say i do NOT LIKE to have to touch the screen on a desktop machine. It is actually quite a pain to lift up ones arms, from the desk to the screen, and touch and drag, hold, etc. It SOUNDS great, like future stuff and all, but it is actually quite a pain in daily use. If the screen to touch was on the TABLE (like an apple touchpad) I think it would be better. (this is actually WHY I think we don't have touch IMAC's yet, I have the feeling that apple is of the same opinion.

just my .02$

I would just get a 23" or so monitor and external keyboard. Run everything (printers, scanners, mouse, keyboard, etc.) to a USB hub. You can then "dock" the laptop by connecting two cables - video and USB - three if you need network. An added benefit is most recent computers can feed two screens, so you can position the laptop off to the side with the secondary screen while you type away with the full keyboard in front of you.

That won't solve the touchscreen part, at least not with a standard monitor. I've never tried one and doubt I ever will. I hate smudges on my screen, and I usually sit more than arms length from my monitor.

@:-)

You can buy a mouse, keyboard and a 23" monitor to plug into your 17" laptop for a whole lot less that you will spend for a new desktop.

P.S. I posted before reading tev9999's message. :o

Yes, I think the wow, that's cool factor was what caught my attention... LOL

The idea of buying a monitor and keyboard is probably much smarter though. I will look into that this week.

Thanks

I have been using a 24 or 27 inch (forget which) iMac as my main desktop in my office at work. I recently plugged a 24 inch widescreen monitor into it to get a lot of screen space for preparing presentations. At home I use a 17 inch laptop with external keyboard and mouse and sometimes plug it into a 28 inch external monitor. Both work well. If you have the laptop the monitor addition is obviously cheaper.

NC_Girl - You can get a touchscreen LCD. Worst case, if you don't like it, you still have a bigger second monitor for your laptop.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...rs&Order=PRICE

I don't know the differences between the technologies. You want something that claims to support multitouch though. The cheapest monitor on the list is a 21.5" from HP that has that capability.

I don't know if that's the best price, but it should be a pretty good selection.

I think what I liked about the all in one monitors were that they laid down kind of flat. They really were cool, LOL but in reality, I would probably use it upright like a normal monitor most of the time. I think I will probably just go with the new monitor/keyboard/mouse combo hooked up to my laptop. Maybe not quite as cool but much less expensive!

While we are on the subject, mostly still on topic. I'm also looking for a 23" or so monitor. Any disadvantage to going with a 1080p HDTV instead, other than a slight price increase ($25-$50 it seems). The advantage is I get to use it as a TV and can also output audio to something better than the laptop speakers, and do it with a single HDMI cable.

That's what i use - it works fine.

The main disadvantage of the all-in-one units is lack of changeability. You're pretty much stuff with what it comes with but you may not care if you're not into changing components.

A few caveats (as I type watching a 46" LCD TV that is also the monitor of the HTPC).

Know where the overscan/underscan adjustment is so you can see the full screen. ATI chips/drivers seem to want to underscan so the whole display isn't used and the adjustment is a PITA to find.

Not all PCs have HDMI outputs or if they do sometimes the sound component isn't all there (such as only stereo vs. not 5.1 or 7.1 sound) but you may not care.

For those contemplating using VGA to hook up their TVs, be aware that some TVs don't support full screen usage through the VGA port or even 16:9. Check the specs first.

Hi
 

Thanks for sharing!

Hi
 

Recently I have bought a mouse frontech

Hi
 

Nice info!

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Right. And for the price of.an all in one you could buy a nice non touch monitor and an iPad or android tablet. With some change left ;)

I have a 27" iMac in the home office, and it's fantastic. I don't really miss the upgradability of a more traditional tower, and the screen real estate is pretty wonderful to have (I also have a little 20" monitor off to the side.)

Upgrade-ability isn't so much an issue as fix-ability. If a part goes out on a traditional tower then it is easy to fix, but with an all in one you may have to bring it to the manufacturer or order special expensive parts from them. Even if you don't know what you are doing you can call up a buddy that does know about computers and buy them booze/steak instead of paying big bucks to a repair facility.

Picked up a 23" Samsung B2330HD at Costco this morning for $200. Even includes picture in picture - there is enough screen real estate that I can monitor TV and not miss the corner the TV image is in.

Other than having to change my default audio to HDMI and a few mintues negotiating between NVIDIA and Windows 7 settings for the monitor locations, it configured perfectly with no need for scaling. Setting the HDMI port in the TV as a PC instantly sets the best image settings. This same laptop was a massive pain to get to work with my two year old Philips TV. I tried three or four drivers until I could finally get audio and scale it properly. Seems someone finally figured out how to get HDMI to be plug and play.

I know all about that; I used to be the one who got called and bribed to fix computers. That's why I recommend getting ones with good vendor support (and extended warranties if they're portable) and refuse to fix other peoples' computers.

You just need to charge more. Maybe a case of beer instead of a six pack, possibly a better brand?

Make sure the all-in-one has a decent CPU otherwise you will be sitting for ages waiting for the computer to finish that cut of the movie or removing red eyes from your picture.

I ended up getting a nice 23" asus monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse combo from B&H for $150.... It works great and I am :D