All in one pc's - recommendations?

[dragon]

Looking to upgrade my HP laptop to something quicker, what PC setups do you have? Been recommended the all in one pc or apple imac.

Asus do an all in one - http://www.comet.co.uk/p/All-In-One...-B120E-All-In-One-Computers-Apple-iMac/679275

But for 250 odd more can get... http://www.ebuyer.com/product/233102

Not sure about Asus never used one... any recommendations?

Cheers
Matt

 

[Blossom]

I bought that iMac you've linked to (for my parents for Christmas). It's so fast and low maintenance, I reckon it will last them at least ten years. Only had one minor issue and that was an annoying Firefox upgrade related one. Would buy one for myself if I had the space. It runs silently and the screen is fantastic.

 

[AssetDomains]

I've never seen inside one of these all in one setups so cant really comment on them.
I've hand built my last few computers the specs seem fair on both them although seems you pay a premium for the compact design. Would it really kill to have a tower under the desk might save yourself a few hundred pounds.

I've used ASUS motherboards in the past they seemed reliable they have been around quite a while so don't think you'll have hassle in terms of build quality.

As for Apple they have always come across as style over functionality to me but if you do go for that model dixions are selling it £100 cheaper and its £50 cheaper at a lot of other stores

 

[denchomsky]

Try EasyPC, I bought one from them last year, i5 processor (both those have i3) 2x 500mb hard drives, good graphics card windows 7 premium.... for less than £600.

No monitor but I just bought a 24" Hans G from Ebuyer for £139 and its superb, better than my Dell which was double the price.

http://www.easypc-uk.com/

 

[seemly]

I have owned both a MAC (powerbook) and PC desktop, and although I did really like using a MAC, I just prefer owning/using a PC.

I just felt I could never really justify the cost of keeping my MAC (powerbook), when I could get a laptop/desktop for pretty much half the price.

After owning my powerbook for just over a month, the logic board on my powerbook went, and I took it back to the apple store and the cost to repair it was £700.
The repair was covered under warranty, but if it wasn't, to repair it I could have bought a whole new PC laptop/desktop!

I think after getting it repaired and finding out how much it could cost to repair in future, I opted to sell it and invest that money into building my own tower, knowing that PC repairs are much cheaper and I can also buy the part(s) and do it myself.

 

[dragon]

Thanks for the replies, dixons do have better prices thanks!
Looking at:
http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/apple-new-imac-mc309-21-5-all-in-one-10478077-pdt.html

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/apple-...with-21-5-monitor-aluminium-08909140-pdt.html

 

[Blossom]

After owning my powerbook for just over a month, the logic board on my powerbook went, and I took it back to the apple store and the cost to repair it was £700.
The repair was covered under warranty, but if it wasn't, to repair it I could have bought a whole new PC laptop/desktop!

With AppleCare you'd be covered for three years anyway, and they will often give you a brand new computer if there's a major/recurring fault.

Don't know about you but laptops only tend to last me 3 years anyway, so I'd be shelling out the same at that point for a new one.

Am actually looking for a new laptop, but really can't be bothered knowing that it's going to die soon. Our house is like a computer graveyard.

 

[Blossom]

Thanks for the replies, dixons do have better prices thanks!
Looking at:
http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/apple-new-imac-mc309-21-5-all-in-one-10478077-pdt.html

http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/apple-...with-21-5-monitor-aluminium-08909140-pdt.html

If you're looking for the best value, the thing to do is to wait until Apple launches a new model of something and then head to a reseller's site because they discount the previous models heavily (which are still pretty damn good). Refurbs can be quite good too - like the Dixons one - but there's a bit more of a risk. I used to work for Jigsaw (jigsaw24.com), and one of my colleagues went through about 40 iMac boxes before he found a refurb that was perfect, even though most of the time they are just taken out of their boxes and put back again.

Oh, also, if you know someone who can get you student discount you'll save a lot.

 

[seemly]

With AppleCare you'd be covered for three years anyway, and they will often give you a brand new computer if there's a major/recurring fault.

Don't know about you but laptops only tend to last me 3 years anyway, so I'd be shelling out the same at that point for a new one.

Am actually looking for a new laptop, but really can't be bothered knowing that it's going to die soon. Our house is like a computer graveyard.

I bought the laptop 2nd hand in the first place, and the applecare warranty had expired. It's just that the logic board failure was a fairly common one, hence the free repair. It's just the (potential) cost of that repair that made me think twice of owning a mac fullstop compared to PC repairs.

 

[killaclown]

@ the moment im using a acer laptop that cost £350 two years ago, its more than capable to run photoshop, dreamweaver, firefox, fireworks, A I, spotify, drop box, filezilla plus god knows what else ( when im very busy ) and is very quite . I plug it into to my monitor when working at home, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse. happy days. Only thing that I needed was a replacment battery, for when im out and about.

a side note, I think all computer equipment equipment as rocketed over the last two years. Got my wife a lappy just after xmas and couldnt touch the spec in my laptop for the price. I think it relates to the price of component material, gold and such.


good luck on your search

 

[jimm]

Im a big fan of apple stuff. Brilliant hardware. Very reliable. Love the unix based OS.
I would chose apple every time.
But on saying that not everyone is a fan so looking at asus they do tend to do great equipment too. It would certainly be on my list of ones to consider if I didnt go for an apple.


(and lolz at comet putting imac in the url for the asus)

 

[dragon]

(and lolz at comet putting imac in the url for the asus)

Yep thought someone would notice that!

Think I'm gonna go for this one: http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/apple-new-imac-mc309-21-5-all-in-one-10478077-pdt.html

 

[jimm]

Looks a nice price. About 5% discount from the apple price. At cost to us mere mortals the max discount is only 7% (no idea on the huge hitters like dixons though) so I doubt you will find it much cheaper.

 

[expertc]

Not sure about Macs... I like something that runs proper *nix

What I usually do is buy a bare-bone from Novatech + parts less operating system. If you are confident in putting things together yourself, then check Novatech. Just get pure power and build it.

P.S. Lasts for few years, no problem.