All in One PC.

McSwaggerty

All in One PC's.... Anybody got one?... Are you happy with it.? 

Hoping to downsize my home recording set up.
Fed up with with loads of hardware and peripherals taking up a lot of precious space.
I'm keen to keep things simple and just get by on minimal good quality kit. 

Danny1969

An iMac  is a good call and good value for money. PC all in ones are generally terrible. Even the higher quality models such as HP's Touchsmart are prone to all kinds of problems, Acer and Asus are probably the worse I see, Lenovo not so bad but all suffer from the same problem which is keeping a PC cool when it's built in a plastic frame behind an LCD panel. The iMac is made of alloy so even without the fan can deal with the issue much easier. 

TheMadMick

I have a 2014 iMac. It wasn't cheap bit apart from a crack on the screen, it works as well as the say it arrived (and couldn't find the on/off switch). I also use it for simple recordings (3 or 4 tracks) as well and it comes out better than anyone else's I've come across.

Tannin

You can't upgrade them and you can't repair them. All-in-ones are a spectacularly bad idea.

I spent most of my working life building, selling, repairing and upgrading PCs. There aren't many things in the computer world that haven't crossed my desk. Trust me on this, all-in-ones are the worst kind of throwaway consumer junk.  Don't even think about it.

Wazmeister

Imac. Full stop.

mudslide73

The "desktop with feet and vesa bracket" alll in ones are the only ones I'd consider. They're mainly used in schools etc. I'll echo what's been said about the "all inside the screen" type - they get hot and die an early death. They're very slow for the spec usually.

I'm not a Mac fan by any stretch but they do this much better. 

mrkb

Wazmeister said:

Imac. Full stop.

Back, sack and crack?

Whistler

My experience is that I have been an iMac user for over 10 years and find they do the job for me just great. When I buy an iMac I get one with more RAM than standard. In the past I have also selected a larger HD but now with SSD it makes sense to have a standard size inbuilt to have the OS and apps on and add an external HD for all my work; that works better for me. As ever, YMMV so choose wisely for your needs and situation.

prowla

There are some PCs which you can attach to a monitor stand to effectively make them an AIO, but without actually being integrated into a single case and thus stymied for upgrades/repairs.

I have a couple of Dell "micro" models which I use for home-use and work (IT, not music); I don't have the AIO stands, but instead have them fitted to brackets/enclosures which are attached to the underside of bookshelves.

I'd expect you can do similar with a Mac mini, if that's your preferred OS platform.

The advantages of that approach are:

• You can choose your own monitor(s).
• If/when you decide to, you can upgrade the computer unit or monitor independently.
• If something breaks it's not the whole shebang gone.

I went for the Dells after my Mac mini broke and Apple didn't have a product to sell me, as they made the Mac minis non-upgradable.

dindude

Get an iPad Pro and Cubasis for the most clutter free recording set up, you can cover a hell of a lot of ground with this 

munckee

I defer to the experts here, I would just say that we have two all in one PCs (missus munckee thinks they look neater) and we have never had a problem with them.

Danny1969

Well some all in ones will outlast others. 

Most likely to survive  - Intel Pentium or i3 chip, intel HD graphics, external 90 watt or so PSU

Most likely to die  - AMD chip or Intel i7 - dedicated GPU - internal 160 watt or so PSU

I have 4 iMacs, one for recording, one as an entertainment PC in the dining room. one on my electronics work bench and one in the bedroom. They take up almost horizontal space, less than a laptop and can be brought for less than £150

digitalscream

I'd echo the "no all-in-ones" opinions. Far better to go with a decent quality mini-PC like a NUC (or, these days, the AMD Ryzen equivalents). They're usually similar in size to a desktop audio interface, and can easily fit in the dead space on your desk (eg under your monitor, or even in a drawer if there's reasonable ventilation).

prowla

I don't know if a NUC will cut the mustard.

The one I have is a https://www.dell.com/mk/business/p/optiplex-7050-micro/pd , which has an i7, 32 GB RAM, and an SSD disk.

digitalscream

prowla said:

I don't know if a NUC will cut the mustard.

The one I have is a https://www.dell.com/mk/business/p/optiplex-7050-micro/pd , which has an i7, 32 GB RAM, and an SSD disk.

Well...

https://www.ebuyer.com/990698-asus-amd-ryzen-5-4500u-ddr4-mini-pc-pn50-bbr048md

Up to 64GB RAM, NVMe SSD and 2.5" SATA support simultaneously, 6 cores/12 threads, good thermal performance and power usage...and the onboard GPU is actually pretty decent too, so casual gaming's an option.

I'd happily use one, were it not for the fact that it appears to not directly support triple monitors (which is a fairly niche thing, I'll admit).

prowla

digitalscream said:

prowla said:

I don't know if a NUC will cut the mustard.

The one I have is a https://www.dell.com/mk/business/p/optiplex-7050-micro/pd , which has an i7, 32 GB RAM, and an SSD disk.

Well...

https://www.ebuyer.com/990698-asus-amd-ryzen-5-4500u-ddr4-mini-pc-pn50-bbr048md

Up to 64GB RAM, NVMe SSD and 2.5" SATA support simultaneously, 6 cores/12 threads, good thermal performance and power usage...and the onboard GPU is actually pretty decent too, so casual gaming's an option.

I'd happily use one, were it not for the fact that it appears to not directly support triple monitors (which is a fairly niche thing, I'll admit).

OK, so one of them might squeak it... :-)

(My Dell does support 3 monitors, though, with the optional VGA interface.)

hollywoodrox

iMac here too I got myself a 2nd hand 2012 27” around Xmas 

McSwaggerty

Thanks everyone. 
I have not really seriously considered and imac up until now.
2K approx might be a bit of a stretch for me at the moment but @Danny1969 and @Tannin l hear what you are saying.
If l choose to buy a Windows PC, l will steer clear of AIO models and go down the conventional tower/desktop route.
Many Thanks. 

Danny1969

McSwaggerty said:

Thanks everyone. 
I have not really seriously considered and imac up until now.
2K approx might be a bit of a stretch for me at the moment but @Danny1969 and @Tannin l hear what you are saying.
If l choose to buy a Windows PC, l will steer clear of AIO models and go down the conventional tower/desktop route.
Many Thanks. 

You don't need to spend 2K, you can pick them up a used iMac model that will support the latest OS for about £400. I actually use older models that go for around £150 and am perfectly happy with them. 

The new M1 coloured iMac's are out soon so prices on the old intel models will drop even more. 

Funkfingers

McSwaggerty said:

Hoping to downsize my home recording set up.

Er, what is your current set up?

hollywoodrox said:

iMac here too I got myself a 2nd hand 2012 27” around Xmas 

The large screen is nice to have, especially after an MBP.

For the last six weeks, I have been mostly powering my elderly 13" MBP laptop via an equally elderly Apple Cinema 24" monitor. I can also connect and power a proper wide USB keyboard to get more hotkey shortcuts. It is even possible to run this combination with the laptop's lid closed.

Stratavarious

27” Imac... love it..  

upgraded memory and could upgrade the hard drive to SSD.

The new M1 chip ones look interesting