Looking to buy a computer and found this

L[Deactivated] on 07/05/2016 - 10:30
Last edited 07/05/2016 - 10:30

Laptop crapped out looking for a PC for general office, kids to use, some minor photo / video editing.

I was thinking about an all in one PC to save space and less cables. I thought it would be good for the kids having a touch screen.

I was eyeing off this refurb, not sure about a refurb and don't know anything about the company but it looked good for the $$$. I want to spend as little as possible for something that will feel responsive and decent for general use.

https://dvcomputers.com.au/product/detail/201

Let me know if it's good or not. Any alternative suggestions welcome. I don't want to build a tower though and it needs to be Windows computer. Thanks!

Computing

Comments

  • WalterPPK on 07/05/2016 - 11:00
    +3

    It's a chipset from early 2011, and it isn't a quick machine even for then. But the real worry is that if something does fail on it, how much will it cost to repair? You'd be scouring the second-hand market for parts if the power supply, screen, inverter, case or any of the other unique bits gets damaged. You certainly won't be able to get bits for it from Toshiba.

    What do you have against a conventional tower / desktop?

    If you aren't hung up too much on the touch screen, there's a lot of neat options out there. An Intel NUC, a Windows Surface tablet or for sheer bang-for-your-buck a Dell Optiplex or HP "DC" business class computer would be better options.

    For instance, this Dell is only $100 more, brand new, and would be a heck of a lot easier to get repaired if and when something goes wrong. http://www.dell.com/au/p/inspiron-20-3052-aio/pd?oc=smz21043…

    A refurb all-in-one Inspiron from Dell can be had for as little as $349 here: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/product…

    $459 on that list gets you a current-series Pentium All-in-One. Beats something that was made in 2011 hands down.

    • [Deactivated] on 07/05/2016 - 11:43

      I chose the all in ones for less clutter and cables and I like how they look with a wireless mouse / keyboard. I could go without a touchscreen because they are a bit gimmicky I guess when you have a mouse / keyboard.

      I had a look at the links and can see there are better options than what I found. I will check out the other options you mention later tonight. Thanks for the help!

      • trongy on 07/05/2016 - 14:40
        +2

        I have set up a NUC that is mounted to the back of the monitor using the mounting plate that came with the NUC and a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse. From the front there's no clutter, but at the back there's two power cables instead of one and a short monitor cable. Also there's no touch screen in that situation. To mount the NUC, you need a monitor that has the VESA standard sockets for the screws.

        Unfortunately, apart from iMacs, all in one computers have never been popular in Australia so they are hard to find and generally more expensive than their separate components combined.

        • [Deactivated] on 07/05/2016 - 15:41

          Hey mate was checking out the nuc. They look great, I could hook up to my led 1080p monitor and buy a wireless keyboard mouse. Any idea what best bang for buck is with these for under $500?

        • WalterPPK on 08/05/2016 - 21:23

          @superduper: shoppingexpress.com.au often have them in their weekly special.

          Important to remember that NUCs don't use standard DDR3 memory, so if you're buying memory yourself rather than getting it in the kit, you'll need to double-check.

  • airzone on 07/05/2016 - 12:40
    +2

    Why not a laptop? IMO, all-in-one's are the worst of both worlds.. They still have the problems of a PC - e.g. bulky keyboard & mouse, the footprint, need a power point all the time, and not very portable.. They also have the capacity, upgrade and repair limitations that laptops have and quite often just have a laptop's lower performing (and more expensive) guts stuck to the back of an LCD.

    • [Deactivated] on 07/05/2016 - 13:27

      Yeah good points. Looking for something different because we had a laptop the past few years. And a bigger screen would be great.

      I was looking at those HDMI stick PCs because we have a 20" monitor / TV with HDMI but the reviews weren't the best.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/05/2016 - 18:27

    I'm going to go with a nuc but I'm a bit confused. The bare bones needs RAM and a ssd hard disk? 128gb drive good, and I'm assuming 4gb RAM is good.

    It would be good to get an i5 setup $500 or less. I'll keep checking it out over the weekend but anyone who is a whiz at this stuff hook me up with links and advice.

    Thanks to everyone who has helped so far, I think I'm heading in the right direction now.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/05/2016 - 06:40

    https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/intel-nuc-boxnuc6i3syh-6th-gen-…

    +

    https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/apacer-as2280-m2-128gb-sataiii-…

    Is that all I need? Came in at $500 delivered. Extra 100 or so for the i5, would I notice much difference between an i3 and i5?

  • donnot on 08/05/2016 - 12:51
    +1

    I'll just give my suggestion: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dell-Optiplex-790-SFF-Intel-Core-…

    The i5 2400 (being a desktop grade CPU as opposed to the low power one in the NUC) will crush any i3/i5 NUC for video/photo work. Comes with a Radeon 5450 installed which should have no problems handling some minor video/photo editing. However, they are fairly old stock (~4 years old), but quite reliable machines.

    As for NUCs, I'd say that a laptop is better value. You can get a laptop with the same general parts inside as a NUC (Something like a HP 250 with an i3), preloaded with Windows ($130 itself), configured with RAM, and a hard drive, and just hook that up to a screen via HDMI or VGA.

    • [Deactivated] on 08/05/2016 - 15:23

      Damn that first one looks good for $229. It's ugly and more of a desktop but for that price you can't go too far wrong.

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