The average corporate "all-in-one" is going to be an underpowered HP with not enough RAM to run Windows 11, most likely, so you made the right choice.

Depends on what you use it for.

Most "default" configurations are going to suck but they can be fine depending on the model and what you need to use it for.

Well... I think an all-in-one is not that bad unless you're going to throw heavy 3D stuff at it. For example, an HP ProOne 440 G9 with an i5 14500T, 16GB and 512GB SSD can handle most tasks. They're upgradeable. I ordered this exact model for use in a store. The old model was a 400 G1 and was getting slow, no wonder cause it had old fashioned platter(s) for storage. No Windows 11 support so we had to replace it anyway.

Downside is, for everyday work you might want a second monitor. Same frame size and all, how does that work with an AIO...

Underwhelming and overpriced. Proprietary huge laptops that cannot be realistically serviced and upgraded.

We have them in all the classrooms and I don't like them. Even worse, I think, is that we are using lenovo

Lenovos are the worst.

I wouldn’t care at work; but I would never limit myself like that at home.

I've always been intrigued with the idea of an all in one but in practice they tend to be junk. That said I should be getting my Macintosh Classic II back from a friend soon and those were famously badly received and built cheaply (But I think it's pretty great. 😜 ).

The coolest idea for a modern all in one PC has to have been the Cybernet ZPC machines. I covered a few on my youtube channel if you follow the link in my signature but today they would be way too slow to use since the last one came out back in the mid 2010s iirc. Sadly they ditched that design for the more conventional iMac style all in ones.

They're great if you need an all-in-one. They're crap if you don't.

I mean, if you MUST install an all-in-one (because it has to be embedded in a wall or a machine), it's a great option. If you don't need an all-in-one...
- They're expensive.
- The hardware is not standard...
- ...so it's hardly upgradeable or repairable (unless you buy propietary, expensive parts).
- Their value lies on the form-factor, so usually are not as powered as a good laptop (not to mention a computer of the same size).
- Once they become obsolete, they're junk.

Thinking about it, I guess a better solution can be a display with a "micro" computer or thin client mounted on the back via VESA mountings. They use the same space and you can replace the computer when it's obsolete.

I've seen most of that computers on hospitals, with touch panels. They're great for doctors (you can mount them anywhere, even in operations rooms). Also, some "boss" in a business had a Sony Vaio all-in-one with wireless keyboard and mouse... I guess that it was purely for aesthetics and it was only used to check mails.

The only all-in-one that I liked was the iMac G4. Not because the computer was any good, but because I think that having the monitor mounted in an arm was a really great idea (but I don't know if it could be rotated 90º to play vertical shooters edit documents more naturally).

Zup wrote on 2025-04-27, 06:16:

They're great if you need an all-in-one. They're crap if you don't. […]
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They're great if you need an all-in-one. They're crap if you don't.

I mean, if you MUST install an all-in-one (because it has to be embedded in a wall or a machine), it's a great option. If you don't need an all-in-one...
- They're expensive.
- The hardware is not standard...
- ...so it's hardly upgradeable or repairable (unless you buy propietary, expensive parts).
- Their value lies on the form-factor, so usually are not as powered as a good laptop (not to mention a computer of the same size).
- Once they become obsolete, they're junk.

Thinking about it, I guess a better solution can be a display with a "micro" computer or thin client mounted on the back via VESA mountings. They use the same space and you can replace the computer when it's obsolete.

I've seen most of that computers on hospitals, with touch panels. They're great for doctors (you can mount them anywhere, even in operations rooms). Also, some "boss" in a business had a Sony Vaio all-in-one with wireless keyboard and mouse... I guess that it was purely for aesthetics and it was only used to check mails.

The only all-in-one that I liked was the iMac G4. Not because the computer was any good, but because I think that having the monitor mounted in an arm was a really great idea (but I don't know if it could be rotated 90º to play vertical shooters edit documents more naturally).

All-in-ones include a built-in screen and, IMHO, outside of a few very specific use cases, they are either a bad choice or at least not the best one.

Again IMHO, almost any use case that appears like it could be well served by an all-in-one would be better served by a mini PC (NUC like form factor) and a standalone monitor.

In addition to the caveats you mentioned, which generally apply both to all-in-ones and mini PCs, all-in-ones have the following specific cons :

- A standalone monitor can be replaced if it fails or be upgraded
- A mini PC can be upgraded or replaced without changing the monitor
- A mini PC should cost less than an all-in-one
- Replacing an all-in-one to upgrade forces one to also replace the built-in monitor which might still be good enough and would not otherwise have needed to be replaced.

I got an XPS one 2720 in 2013
( https://www.cnet.com/reviews/dell-xps-one-27- … desktop-review/ )
and I am using it to this day (upgraded to Win 10 and SSD) The subjective image quality is still better than even some professional much younger displays I work with and the overall build quality is really good (had to replace the power button at some point)Also still fast enough for routine stuff. If it keeps working well it may transition uninterupted from active use to awesome retro machine....

I simply consider them as intelligent terminals. ^^

I like the idea of the AiO systems and the HP ones are nice looking but theres a but.
Theyre always in two flavours, either its laptop hardware with a desktop screen which kinda kills the reason because the mobility is gone, which is the reason you suffer that hardware, or its a basic desktop system with almost no upgradability, which removes that reason too.

The one mentioned above the XPS One 2720. Nice bit of kit in its own right but its a fly stuck in a block of amber in too many ways to be interesting.

I like some of the old ones in the 486 and Pentium era but their upgrade paths have long since past and now it is what it is.

We use Dell AiO's for basic office work they are fine. Not that much different to a SFF PC.

If all your using is Windows 11, Office and browser based apps a mid-range CPU, 16GB Ram and onboard video/sound is fine.
Places I work it's very rare to upgrade/repair. Once your at that stage it's typically 3+ years and its more economical to simply replace.
Many support multiple screens, so that's no longer a limitation.

but if your doing anything that requires "real" CPU power (which I don't at work) then even a SFF may be better choice.
And no way would I go and buy one, may take one when decommissioned as basic we browsing PC or for my parents though.

chinny22 wrote on 2025-04-29, 01:43:

We use Dell AiO's for basic office work they are fine. Not that much different to a SFF PC.

yes true, and for some the convenience of shipping a single unit that doesn't require much beyond plugging it in is part of the appeal. In a workplace it makes sense (thin clients and something similar to citrix make more sense but many business seem to carry on with full PCs )

At least the screen is often big enough to avoid the eye strain inducing tiny screens of many laptops favored by workplaces

if i was offered one via work i'd be fine, its not like I'm choosing it for myself

i hate them as a first choise when they are new

i dont mind if i receive one as a 2nd hand for retro stuff (i have an HP AMD e240 with radeon graphics that is obsolete for anything but XP and pre 2003 games)

Love all in ones. For what they are. Small compact. Power efficient. And they can be pretty powerful, not all of them are some Atom/Celeron based. Some are AMD Ryzen based and can play 1440p new games but do not overheat your room and multiply your electric bill.

At the very least, I think AIO PCs with video inputs are good (though the majority don't have them...).

A few years ago, I found an AIO PC with an N4100 in a store in Osaka's electronics district that looked nothing more than a 24-inch FHD IPS monitor.
It had an HDMI input, and was advertised as being able to be used as a normal PC monitor.

If you installed Linux, etc., it would have been a pretty good machine that could be used as a normal desktop PC monitor.
(At least for me, there are many times when I want a physical Linux environment, such as when I want to dd or change the partition table.)

They would be Okay if they were Easy to Clean, Upgrade, and Repair.
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