Old Geezer Desktop Choices Help

doitmyself

doitmyself

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Jun 3, 2002
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This is for my workplace office to replace my 8 year old Lenovo - desktop (more reliable?) used for facility data mgmt and "normal" tasks. Will be a Dell Optiplex with 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-13500 ,Windows 11 Pro, Intel® Integrated Graphics , 16 GB DDR5, 512 GB SSD .

My bias is towards their "small form factor" 11.42 in. H x 3.65 in. W, x 11.53 in. . D vs tower 12.77 in. H x 6.06 in. W x 11.5 in. D ...........2.4 inch wider the only discrepancy I ponder.

My (old man) decision comes down to DVD drive: built in 8x DVD+/-RW 9.5mm Optical Disk Drive vs. portable Dell USB Slim DVD±RW drive - DW316 With such low usage of DVD drive, is the built in one still more desireable, more dependable, etc.?

Here's the specs : https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/compare?ocs=s007domtusvp,s009dosffphusvp,s015dosffusvp $819 vs. $939 vs. $1069 (cost not relevant).

Any other specs. to compare??? Thanks so much.
 
I, too, am in the market to replace my day-to-day desktop and have decided upon using a portable DVD drive going forward. As you stated, it's a pretty low-usage device. In addition, I've found my built-in DVD drives really accumulate the dust and dirt...maybe exacerbated by lack of use? As such, will just keep a portable in the drawer when I get a new machine.

BTW...I think $800.00+ for the specs you're seeking is a bit too strong.
 
doitmyself said:
This is for my workplace office to replace my 8 year old Lenovo - desktop (more reliable?) used for facility data mgmt and "normal" tasks. Will be a Dell Optiplex with 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-13500 ,Windows 11 Pro, Intel® Integrated Graphics , 16 GB DDR5, 512 GB SSD .

My bias is towards their "small form factor" 11.42 in. H x 3.65 in. W, x 11.53 in. . D vs tower 12.77 in. H x 6.06 in. W x 11.5 in. D ...........2.4 inch wider the only discrepancy I ponder.

My (old man) decision comes down to DVD drive: built in 8x DVD+/-RW 9.5mm Optical Disk Drive vs. portable Dell USB Slim DVD±RW drive - DW316 With such low usage of DVD drive, is the built in one still more desireable, more dependable, etc.?

Here's the specs : https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/compare?ocs=s007domtusvp,s009dosffphusvp,s015dosffusvp $819 vs. $939 vs. $1069 (cost not relevant).

Any other specs. to compare??? Thanks so much.
Click to expand...

For the two SFF options, if you want the internal optical drive and 512GB SSD, you will need to buy the $1069 one. The $800 one will only give you the option of 512GB SSD OR the internal DVD drive. Internal vs external drive won't matter - you just have to remember where you put the external drive if you go that route. I haven't used an optical drive in over a decade.

The $1000 one has a USB-C port and SD card reader in the front, has 2 more DisplayPorts, and uses DDR5 vs DDR4 in the $800 version (not an issue for office tasks.)

Are you set on buying only Dell?
Have you looked at Mini PCs?

I'm a fan of SFF for general office use. The overall dimensions aren't *too* much different but it's nice getting a little bit of desk space back. Alternatively, mini PCs can be mounted on VESA monitors with brackets if you're trying to maintain as much desk space as possible.
 
Last edited:
Hall said:
In all seriousness, what do you use a DVD drive for nowadays ?
Click to expand...
Thank you guys. Case closed. Decision made (external DVD drive). It just took me a few minutes to attain the "keen grasp of the obvious", lol. The old man bias had to catch up with reality, obsolescence, and reality. Ha!

Occasionally I just need affirmation that I am not missing something.
 
Last edited:
Pew said:
For the two SFF options, if you want the internal optical drive and 512GB SSD, you will need to buy the $1069 one. The $800 one will only give you the option of 512GB SSD OR the internal DVD drive. Internal vs external drive won't matter - you just have to remember where you put the external drive if you go that route. I haven't used an optical drive in over a decade.

The $1000 one has a USB-C port and SD card reader in the front, has 2 more DisplayPorts, and uses DDR5 vs DDR4 in the $800 version (not an issue for office tasks.)

Are you set on buying only Dell?
Have you looked at Mini PCs?

I'm a fan of SFF for general office use. The overall dimensions aren't *too* much different but it's nice getting a little bit of desk space back. Alternatively, mini PCs can be mounted on VESA monitors with brackets if you're trying to maintain as much desk space as possible.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed reply. My coworker and I went thru the specs to make sure we weren't missing any Captain Obvious. Another oddity is if one wants the internal bluetooth card, it automatically kicks down the SSD drive from 512 to 256. Can't have both without jumping way up in price.

Purchase thru my workplace is Dell only. Not my money - not my worry. I do some basic ARC GIS and stats (R), no gaming needs, etc.. Thanks again!!!!!
 
The DVD drives in a a small form factor machine will be the laptop type. Those aren't real durable and also are harder to load since you have to snap the disc onto the spindle rather than just drop it in a tray with a full size drive.
 
Paying retail for those "business" PCs is a ripoff. If you saw how much of a discount businesses got on those PCs when they buy them in bulk your mouth would drop.

If you just need a typical home/home office PC and you have Costco near you, you can do quite well, plus they include a free 2nd year of warranty:


The only thing I really don't like about that system is I suspect that system has a single stick of 8GB RAM in it. I'd spend the extra $20 on a 2nd 8GB stick. Now you have 16GB of RAM and it's running in dual channel mode. Worst case if you do have to warranty the system out within 2 years just take your RAM stick back out lol.

The benefit to an Optiplex and comparable offerings from Lenovo or HP is a robust replacement parts and support network that is helpful for businesses that have hundreds or thousands of the same computers covered by a service contract or leased from the manufacturer or through a distributor.

For a regular person buying one or two computers for their home or shop that stuff is pointless and you're better serviced saving $300-400 and buying a new one every 5 years. In 5 years it'll be just as outdated as the business class PC would have been.

If you are going for a high-end/gaming PC I definitely recommend building your own. I still regularly build computers for clients, family and friends - mostly gaming computers or workstations. Starting at the $1000 price I can build a much better computer with higher quality, non-proprietary components, for the same price or less than an Alienware/Dell XPS system. Below that the major OEMs operate on economies of scale and not paying retail for a Windows key and have the upper hand.

Kind of in between Dell, etc. and true custom builds you have companies like iBuyPower/CyberPowerPC that offer pre-builts with off-the-shelf components but honestly every time I work on one of those systems I cringe a little as they do cut corners and never get it quite right and some of their component selections and pricing for some configurations really suck.
 
I have a question for the experts. I am eventually going to buy another desktop. My current desktop is an Apple about a year old. I detest it as I was a PC user since the 1990's msdos pre-windows person. The Apple is less intuitive to me and always seems to need an extra step to get things done. I have also been exposed to the upsell aspect that comes with Apple, shouldn't be surprised as I used to have an ipad and should have learned a lesson from that experience. (need to add Apple to my bias list).
I will want a pc that can fully utilize my 1GBPS fiber up and down. Is fast in execution, has a goodly amount of ram and SD storage and uses the latest windows OS. I have built PC's with my limited knowledge utilizing ibuypower in the past. The pc was ok but died a violent death after 3 years, the i7 processor checked out per the repair place I hauled it. So best pc bang for buck right now. I like the Lenovo I have that lost its ability for wi-fi or ethernet comms. Still works otherwise. One other thing, is Bloatware even a thing anymore? Something that only has the OS and whatever minimum utility programs that come from MS. Thanks. Under a grand is my happy place.
 
sloinker said:
I will want a pc that can fully utilize my 1GBPS fiber up and down. Is fast in execution, has a goodly amount of ram and SD storage and uses the latest windows OS.
Click to expand...
Any modern PC should meet those requirements as long as you avoid the lowest-end models.

I don't know if PC makers overload them with bloatware much anymore. I bought a laptop for my wife within the past 2-3 years and I don't recall much if anything being pre-installed on it other than the maker's own "helper" programs. I used to run a utility (can't recall the name now but it was semi-popular years ago and did a pretty job removing bloatware) pretty much as soon as it got booted up the first time.

I think it was "PC Decrapifier".
 
You can go to Microsoft, download a plain vanilla copy of Windows to reinstall, which will nuke whatever the manufacturer installed.

For tax reasons, many businesses lease business-spec PCs for three years. They then then end up on the used market quite cheap.
 
sloinker said:
I have a question for the experts. I am eventually going to buy another desktop. My current desktop is an Apple about a year old. I detest it as I was a PC user since the 1990's msdos pre-windows person. The Apple is less intuitive to me and always seems to need an extra step to get things done. I have also been exposed to the upsell aspect that comes with Apple, shouldn't be surprised as I used to have an ipad and should have learned a lesson from that experience. (need to add Apple to my bias list).
I will want a pc that can fully utilize my 1GBPS fiber up and down. Is fast in execution, has a goodly amount of ram and SD storage and uses the latest windows OS. I have built PC's with my limited knowledge utilizing ibuypower in the past. The pc was ok but died a violent death after 3 years, the i7 processor checked out per the repair place I hauled it. So best pc bang for buck right now. I like the Lenovo I have that lost its ability for wi-fi or ethernet comms. Still works otherwise. One other thing, is Bloatware even a thing anymore? Something that only has the OS and whatever minimum utility programs that come from MS. Thanks. Under a grand is my happy place.
Click to expand...

Lots of options for under a grand. Did you want one from the 'big 3'?

The big 3 still come with bloatware, usually some sort of free AV trial and driver update programs which I hate the most. A fresh install is what I always recommend.
 
Pew said:
Lots of options for under a grand. Did you want one from the 'big 3'?

The big 3 still come with bloatware, usually some sort of free AV trial and driver update programs which I hate the most. A fresh install is what I always recommend.
Click to expand...
Big 3? HP, Dell and ? I did really like my old Lenovo but have no dog in this fight. Thanks for the info!
 
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