All-in-One PCs

An all-in-one puts the whole computer inside the monitor housing. One power cable, no tower under the desk, and nothing to cable up beyond a keyboard and mouse.

That suits reception desks, kitchens, classrooms, small offices and any space where a tower would be in the way or looks wrong. Many models here are touchscreens, and several are business machines from Dell Pro, Lenovo ThinkCentre and Acer Veriton with the manageability features an IT department expects.

The trade is upgradability. Components are chosen at purchase and most cannot be changed later — on many models the memory and storage are accessible but the processor and graphics are not. Buy the specification you will need for the machine’s life rather than planning to add to it.

The second consideration is that the screen and the computer fail together. A tower and monitor can be replaced independently; an all-in-one cannot. Lenovo’s Tiny-In-One approach is the exception — see ThinkCentre monitors.

What to check: screen resolution (Full HD at 24in, QHD or 4K at 27in), and whether the stand adjusts for height.

See also desktop PCs.