All-in-one PC Pros And Cons
Not everyone is a tech enthusiast and is willing to invest their time, energy and money into purchasing separate components to build a better, on paper, PC; some people just want a pre-built PC, or an all in one PC.
While all in one PCs are typically associated with office work, due to their practicality and often lower-tier performance, an all in one gaming PC is not unheard of.
Generally speaking, all in one PCs are alright and they shouldn’t be problematic, however, there could be a couple of things that might irritate some users.
Here is what you should have in mind about all in ones, as well as the pros and cons of such a solution.
All in one Desktop PC Parts and Possible Upgrade Paths
Unless you pay a lot of money for an all in one PC, the odds of having an upgrade path will be very low. Most all in ones are built for office work, as simple solutions for those who need a computer with a small physical footprint.
With that in mind, most have their parts soldered to the motherboard, meaning that you will unlikely be able to change anything. This presents a problem for anyone who wants to upgrade a component, such as gamers.
Upgrading your graphics card is impossible when it is soldered to a board and when the board and power supply will not be able to support it.
This is why you should pay special attention when purchasing an all in one, because you might end up with only the components you purchase.
Necessary Features – Is Everything You Need Included?
When purchasing all in one PCs, you end up with a computer where almost nothing can be upgraded. This is why it is very important to look at the parts, the motherboard, the chipset, the processor, the graphics card, the cooling, everything.
But, these things are just the components. The features are another thing. How much connectivity does your all in one have? Are there enough ports and enough PCIe lanes to support all the devices, whether SSDs, or external ones? Is the monitor good enough? This is even more important when doing color-sensitive work.
Look at the peripherals as well. Most all in ones include a keyboard and a mouse, often wireless ones. They might not be the best solution for your hands or ergonomic needs.
Does it Fit In Your Budget?
It is important for a product to fall within your price range. A good all in one might be a worse offer than the components for that all in one. You can always expect to pay more for an all in one compared to the components if you were to build the PC on your own.
Building your own PC is often much cheaper, more flexible and better if you know what to do with the components and which ones to choose.
The price can make a good all in one bad, and vice versa, if there is a huge discount. If the computer fits in your available budget, then it should definitely be considered if the parts and features are compatible with your needs, leading to the most important part.
What Do You Need? Needs Determine a Purchase
Whether you need a simple office PC, a production workhorse, a server, or even a gaming rig, an all in one desktop computer might not fit in all of these categories.
Since they are typically designed to fit the needs of simple office work, they might not be able to meet the needs of an avid gamer or someone working with 3D rendering.
There are more powerful all in one PCs, but they will cost more, and are not likely to last as long as an actual gaming PC, or a workstation one.
The Pros and Cons of All in One PCs
An all in one PC can offer practicality and if it comes at a decent price and with good components, it can be a great solution. However, everything has its pluses and minuses, so following are the pros and cons of all in one PCs.
The Pros
- Size and practicality – most all in ones are about the size of the monitor and take up little to no extra space on the desk.
- Ease of use and setup – compared to building your own PC, a pre-built all in one PC is much easier to use. You just connect the peripherals and the power cable and you are good to go.
- Variety – given that there are different needs in different parts of the tech industry, a wide variety of all in one PCs is available on the market, from different manufacturers.
The Cons
- Price – All in ones will be more expensive than a computer you could build on your own. Practicality and size are always premium features in the tech industry.
- Lack of component choice and features – compared to building your own computers, you are stuck with the components the manufacturer chose for you. You might want more IO, more PCIe lanes, or a better cooler for your power hungry components.
- Upgradability – most PC components can be changed, which enables a standard PC owner to upgrade almost anything, which is not the case with all in ones, where very few things can be changed.
- Power handling and cooling – given their often small size, cooling will likely be an issue. With that in mind, power handling will also be lowered, because the cooling solution is not able to handle a more powerful solution. This is directly tied to performance.
All in One PCs Are Getting Better
What used to be a solution which was great only for office workers who fill spreadsheets, all in one computers became better, good enough to accommodate more hardware-hungry jobs. Depending on the user’s needs and their budget, there are a plethora of all in one PCs they could choose from.
However, if given the space and the time needed to build a PC, choosing components on your own and building the PC is a cheaper and often much more reliable solution.