Are All in Ones (windows machines at least) completely pointless at the moment?

[tonyzet]

Facts
- Just found out that you can buy 27" Monitors @1440p for less than 600$
- You can build a system inside a really small mini-ITX case (for instance LIAN LI PC-Q03B) with a small factor gpu from Asus or MSI for about 800$ that kills everything that exists in the AIO market, OR you can use very small factor barebone system from Gigabyte or Intel for about 500$ if you don't care too much about productivity or gaming.
- AIO right now, aside from a HP Z1 workstation model, are not fully upgradable

I would like to hear the thoughts of the community about the subject...

 

[ssddx]

you can build a decently powerful general office pc slash media center streaming pc for $413 which is including a windows install

cougar spike matx case $24
amd a10-5800k 3.8ghz fm2 $95
a88x socket fm2 usb3 motherboard $85
2x4gb 1866mhz cas 9 ram $68
430w modular psu $30
extra 120 case fan $5
dvd/cd burner $15
windows 7 oem $80
plus shipping of course

better than most AIO specs for sure at a good price. and if a decent GPU is thrown in it later down the road it could be a pretty decent performing low end gaming rig. (though thats not the purpose it was built for)

AIO are typically junk.

 

[tonyzet]

I totally agree, but my question targetted towards the XPS ONE 27s and the MSI gaming AIOs of the world with their big ultra HD monitors. Whats your opinion about those?

 

[ssddx]

dell aio

Screen Size 27 inches
Max Screen Resolution 2560x1440 pixels
Processor 3.1 GHz Core i7-3770S
RAM 8 GB DDR3
Hard Drive 2 TB
Graphics Coprocessor nVIDIA GeForce GT 640M 2GB DDR5
Wireless Type 802.11bgn
Number of USB 3.0 Ports 4
Series XPS One 27
Item model number XPSo27-6476BK
Operating System Windows 8
Item Dimensions L x W x H 32.68 x 23.65 x 12.83 inches
Color Black
Processor Brand Intel
Hard Drive Rotational Speed 7200 RPM

msi aio

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM 2.4 GHz Turbo 3.4 GHz
Operating System Windows 8 Display
27" Full HD LED anti-glare Touch
10 point touch (optional) Chipset
Intel® HM77 Express Chipset Graphics
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670MX 3 GB GDDR5 Memory
Up to 16 GB SO-DIMM SSD
128 GB (optional) Hard drive
1 TB 7200rpm Optical drive
DVD±RW / Blu-ray combo Card Reader
3-in-1 (SD, MMC, MS)
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n LAN
1x Gb LAN Speakers 2x 5 W, 5.1 channel speakers with THX® TruStudio Pro™
Webcam 2 megapixel
Full HD TV Tuner optional Microphone in/headphone out Y / Y USB 2.0 (rear/side)
2 / 0 USB 3.0 (rear/side) 2 / 2 HDMI out Y HDMI in Y VGA out Y Keyboard/mouse - / Wired Gaming Mouse (optional)
Wall mount support 200mm*100mm Dimensions (WxHxD)

both are about $1600...

cheapest 2560x1440 27" monitor is about $400 with major brands around $550 that leaves about $1000 for hardware

that is not $1000 worth of hardware.

the msi version is definitely using a laptop cpu which is nowhere near as powerful as a desktop (not sure about the dell model though) and both use laptop graphics which suck in comparision.

basically they are touchscreen laptops which arent portable (no battery). i'm not too impressed.

 

[ssddx]

to put it another way... my brother bought a gaming laptop last year...

i7 mobile
12gb ram
670mx mobile gpu
600-800gb hdd
17.3" 1080p screen

for about $1000 which is just as powerful for $500 less. oh and he can actually take it with him on the go... or do the same thing and leave it on the desk.

---

as far as gaming on the aio from dell or msi?

the msi would perform about the same as the asus g75 gaming laptop while the dell would lag significantly behind.

i think even a $600-650 (tower only) gaming tower build could easily run circles around either though.

 

[tonyzet]

Me either, and whats make me even more suprised is the fact that the above mentioned companies compete with their
own products by releasing better and cheaper solutions, just like LG with G2 and Nexus 5

 

[ssddx]

of course someone who owns one probably thinks the world of it.

honestly i think they are pretty neat systems but totally impractical.

just like the mac. i really love the screen and how everything fits in but its not practical.

those aio are basically imac windows look alikes.

 

[tonyzet]

Thank you for your time, signing out...