Product Survey: All-in-one Computers

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A third choice now faces consumers who were traditionally used to making a decision between laptops and desktops: all-in-one computers with all of the components bundled inside a screen.

Florent Alzieu
Updated: July 07, 2009

Our Tests

Before we get on to testing the hardware, we start by looking at design and build quality. Let's not beat about the bush: you can get a more powerful computer for the same price if you sacrifice the form factor, but if you're paying in part for how it looks, it's not worth worrying too much about what's on the inside.

On the outside, one of the most important things to consider is the screen, and we'll be measuring viewing angles, response times and colour fidelity, both in its default configuration, and after we've calibrated it ourselves.

As well as using our regular Futuremark benchmarks, we've decided to try as many practical tests as we can. When we've got the computer in our lab, we make sure to spend plenty of time gaming, watching movies, editing photos and moving files around—everyday activities, basically. We time how long it all takes so you can compare how these computers work in real life.

Apple started the trend with the plastic iMacs, and dominated the field for a long time. The move from bulky cathode ray tube screens to flatscreen LCDs saw the iMac undergoing a radical change in design, but also opened the door to other manufacturers. Now, the hard part is making a stylish frame to wrap the screen up in, which is where Apple obviously has the advantage, but there's plenty of competition from the likes of Dell, Sony and HP.

These computers place more of an emphasis on looks and lifestyle than they do on raw processor power, so it's not at all surprising that they're often made from lightweight components originally developed for laptops.

Limitations

First, the bad news: an all-in-one computer isn't going to help you to a record-breaking score on the latest 3D games--they're just not powerful enough.

The good news, though, is that for more 'traditional' activities--browsing the web, writing letters or even limited gaming--they're a perfectly reasonable choice. If you're keen to use them for photos, music or video, be careful to check the size of the hard drive, or else choose an external hard drive.

One question remains, which will no doubt swing it for a lot of people: Windows Vista or Mac OS X? The former will give you an almost unlimited choice of software, including almost every game, but it's also more susceptible to viruses, spyware other problems. Whether or not these faults are inherent is up for deabte, but you definitely need to be smart about what you do and don't install.

Mac OS X, on the other hand, is known for being simple to use with plenty of support for photos, videos and music, but you'll have to skip the three quarters or so of software that's only available for Windows, including plenty of games. If you really can't decide, and think paying for two OS is a reasonable expenditure, then Apple's Boot Camp allows you to have them both on the same machine--as long as it's a Mac, of course.

Apple iMac 24'' 2.66 GHz