All in ones for $500ish?

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I'm looking for a solid all in one desktop. Pretty brand neutral, although every HP and Compaq computer I've had haven't lasted beyond 3 years before getting slow and unusable. I think I'd prefer an Intel processor, I don't know why but I feel like AMDs are a cut below. Tell me if I'm wrong! It won't get used for anything super heavy duty, just internet/ MS Office etc. Thanks!
 
AMD Ryzen CPU's are pretty darn good, but non Ryzen CPU's are dated. Intel is good for a drag race, but than blows up (slows down for no apparent reason) while AMD delivers consistent performance. Seriously, in the real world, AMD is better unless your thing is doing speed test which don't apply to real usefulness. Don't bother with a mechanical hard drive.
 
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
. Intel is good for a drag race, but than blows up (slows down for no apparent reason) while AMD delivers consistent performance.


Has not been my experience. I'd agree with AMD go Ryzen nothing older. With intel even cpu 5 years old are still competitively fast for desktop.

To the OP: do you really want an all in one? you can get a mini box and separate monitor much cheaper(or faster)... and easier to fix...most all-in-one pc use laptop parts(such as processor) that are slower than the desktop equivalents.
 
Intel CPU
SSD or at least hybrid drive (SSD cached HDD)
not HP or Acer - stick to Dell, Asus, Lenovo...
 
I'm not opposed to a desktop, but I like the space saving factor of the all in ones...plus the prices just seem better. Most tower's on BestBuy's site are around $400.
 
Buy a refurb or used Dell Precision T3500 from Ebay.
It runs on Xeon processor Quad Core or Hexa Core, a little bit older but will last you a long time.
Only between $100 to $200 with 12 Gig memory and a large HD.
Some have a Workstation Graphic Card like NVidia Quadro or ATI Fire.

Then get a 24" or bigger LCD Screen which is another $100 to $200.

You get a very fast and strong computer for less than $400.

I bought one 3 years ago and it is still my main computer.
 
HJ, IMO opinion, that one from BB is going to be pretty slow. The A6 is pre-Ryzen, and generally handicapped. Think Celeron equivalent, even an i3 will do much better.

If you're not in a big hurry, sign up for Dell's discount codes and watch their outlet. A couple years ago, I got the XPS-27 (gorgeous 2500x1600 resolution TOUCH screen) with a 2TB HDD, I7-3770T, GeForce GTX560, and 16GB of RAM on certified refurbished with a 30% off code for about $840 delivered. This was when the same computer, "brand new", was running about $1700. I stuck a Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD in it after about two years, and also added a 60GB mSATA drive set up as the virtual memory disk, and it's still a very viable daily-use computer. Obviously it's not up to the latest games, but considering when I bought it, you couldn't touch any 27", touch screen, 2500x1600 monitor for less than $650, well, the computer was basically free.

I say watch for a deal like this. It may be a little more up front, but I can guarantee you'll get much more pleasurable use out of an $800-900 AIO than you will from a sub-$500 one.
 
I would not advise an all in one ...having discrete monitor means you can upgrade that later by itself. Check out the dell Optiplex 3050 mini. We do them in our corp environment and they are fast lil machines. An M.2 SSD disk, I5 cpu and 8gb mem ~$550. Perfect for internet and office duty The box is 6" square and 2" thick. If you must have it as AIO they sell a bracket that mounts it to the back of a dell monitor for $35
 
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No one asked the obvious question. What are you going to do with it?

My experience has been that once you buy a computer that is decently speced, there is no point in upgrading it. the upgrade part is way faster than everythign around it and moved the bottleneck to another part of the machine.

As suggested get one with at least 4-8 gig RAM. SSD 250-500Gig is fine. most Intel I series processors have a decent video chip built in. For general purpose I would go I5-6600 not I7.

You can compare processors on www.userbenchmark.com to see how different computers compare.
 
Often times outside of a hardware failure, slowness after a few years is the fault of Windows. What version are you running? Have you tried a backup of your data and a reformat?

Never been an Intel guy - always feel they jack the price up on their mediocre processors and have been extremely anti-competitive. Only reason I ran them was because I was running Macs. Always build my own AMD machines (since the 486 days) and never an issue - just solid performance. Love my Ryzen 7 box - 8 cores and it's a screamer. Powers through everything I throw at it and has been rock solid.

Never been a fan of Dell - junk machines at nearly every price point. Always have been and probably always will be.

I've gone from AIO's (iMacs) to towers and like the flexibility the tower gives me with respect to monitors, drives, upgradeability, etc. I know how to crack the iMac open and have done so numerous times but the options are much better with a tower vs an AIO.

I'd look for an:
* AMD Ryzen CPU
* 4 or 8 GB RAM
* 256GB or 512GB SSD

The SSD alone will make your computer feel a million times better than any other upgrade.
 
I gave up on desktops about 7 years ago.

I buy a laptop with a large screen, large hard drive and lots of RAM..

I buy a wireless keyboard and mouse

I now have a desktop with one wire that takes up almost no space and i can use it wherever there is a flat surface.


This setup does everything i have asked it and more...

I am on a 7 year old HP laptop typing on a keyboard now.
 
Your wrong, you stating your brand neutral, but dont need a super computer and think Intel is a better chip then AMD?

Me, been computing since the day Windows 95 came out, had to have owned between myself and family up to two dozen different desktops computers, laptops, tablets, you name it.
I never bought anything because of the brand name.
I have never had to send a computer in for warranty work (until recently, read last)
I never bought any super expensive computers either, since I do not play games on it, there is no reason for it and for a while the typical game game machines from MS, Nintendo, Sony were far more powerful for playing games.

Have owned Emachines, Lenovos, Acers and HPs, never preferred any brand over the other, they are circuit boards thrown together by third party manufacturers with a name on them.
I have always preferred AMD chips for no other reason, then the perception of greater horsepower for less cost in my budget machines but dont get me wrong, price always won and have my share of Intel, when I say budget desktops I never bought so low budget that I would the baseline processors, such as a celeron etc.

You see up until recently, midrange machines could only go as fast as your internet connection , which wasnt that fast!

Anyway, hope this help, search for REAL sales, brand doesnt matter in your price range and as far as I am concerned I MUCH rather have AMD processors which brings me to my newest, greatest and latest, most powerful computer I ever bothered buying.

The reason being is now that I have 100Mbps internet speeds I want a lightening fast, this darn thing is so fast, I access webpages as fast and I can snap a finger and its fully loaded on the screen. So I am at the point now, with a super fast connection, that I like my newest latest and greatest, with a catch for the first time in my life.
I got from my wife for Christmas in DEC 2017 an
HP - Pavilion Desktop - AMD A12-Series - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive.
She asked me for ideas around Thanksgiving, saw this computer in Best Buy on sale for $399.00
By far the most powerful computer I have owned and the only computer I will need for years now, again, since I do not play games on it.

Ok, the catch, for the first time in decades I have had issues, first one would not let me sign into windows (software issue, guess not HP fault, locked out) Best Buy gave me a new one, Got the new one home but have noticed it was really noisy and to the point that I felt the vibrations through the keyboard, brought it back to another Best Buy, Geek squad plugged it in, agreed with me 100%, something not right, they gave me ANOTHER new one.

Let me stop here and say I was SHOCKED at the fantastic service from Best Buy and its employees, Im mostly an order online guy, my wife too, but this year truly was a Best buy Christmas, good prices and super easy for us, again, I was shocked on how nice they were regarding this issue.

Ok, so I am on my third HP computer now, one month later, the darn thing starts rebooting on its own, sometimes a few times in a day, sometimes not for a week or more. Let HP Support have remote control of the computer while online chat with them, both case they did a number of things but the second attempt they said they need me to send it in, I also did a chat with Microsoft and downloaded and installed a fresh copy of Windows 10, problem arouse a week later.

Anyway, I was VERY impressed with HP service, at no cost, they sent a prepaid shipping box to my house, dropped the computer in into the box and dropped it off at Fed Ex. Computer was repaired and delivered to my home in less then 10 days. Arrived yesterday and using it as I type this.
Repair sheet came back - Defective Processor - Replaced CPU

My experience with this HP computer issues will not stop me from buying another in the future, again, computers are a commodity more so in this price range, just a bunch of mass produced parts formulated to meet a demand, like a Mcdonalds hamburger, this one for some reason was "overcooked'.

The feel good part was how quickly it was repaired at no cost to me, though they did at first try to get me to agree to a $50 "fast track" handling and shipping charge which I said now way to and thought was typical SLIMY corporate [censored].

Shop price and processor. I have had HPs in the past with Intel but last few years our desktops we have chose AMD and Intel in our laptops, for no other reason then price/value.

This is the computer we bought for $399 at Christmas, click
..and I would buy it again, despite my unfortunate resolved problems...hopefully!

CR+P ... I just notice, your post is about "All In Ones" ugh, nope, all in ones ... not for me, just another cost saving measure for the manufacturers.
 
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Man that looks like a nice unit but I'd like to stay around $500 all in. It's replacing a little netbook with a dead key board that we've hooked an extra key board up to. Just looks ghetto, plus the tiny screen is annoying. In other words, it doesn't take much to beat what we have now!
 
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