# All-in-one PCs



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

I used to avoid such things like the plague (Packard Bell anyone?), since they are near impossible to upgrade, and if one part breaks, the whole thing becomes relatively useless. 

But computers have become more commodity, and laptops are almost the standard now. But if you don't plan on taking it anywhere (netbook or smartphone would be preferable), why have a tiny keyboard, clumsy touchpad, and battery? Yes, I know you can hook up externals, but then you're paying for something you don't need/want.

I'm thinking about a Gateway ZX4931-31e, or similar. Does anyone here have any experience with All-in-Ones in general, and that model in particular. I'm especially interested to know if the VGA port on it is an input or output. I'm guessing output, so you can hook up a 2nd monitor, although I would personally find an input more useful to hook up another computer to via a KVM switch or similar.


----------



## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

I don't have any experience with the model you listed, but we got an all in one a month or so ago and we really like it.


----------



## Karen (Oct 4, 2007)

I love my Sony All-In-One, but don't know anything about the model you listed.


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Here is a link to specs and price.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

Can't talk as to the Gateway model, but I've owned several generations of iMacs, and as the predominant all-in-one design, they've all been GREAT machines. No real concerns "because it's an all-in-one" ...


----------



## HDJulie (Aug 10, 2008)

This is good to know because if I or my mother ever get a Mac, it will be an iMac & I was worried about it being an all-in-one.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

HDJulie said:


> This is good to know because if I or my mother ever get a Mac, it will be an iMac & I was worried about it being an all-in-one.


No concerns. The iMac has been super-duper reliable... I had a G3 one (the original "fruit flavored" one), an iMac G4 (wallflower), an iMac G5, and now a 27" iMac Intel.

Great machines. No concerns about them because they're AIO's. Makes life so, so easy.

My iMac has one cable going to it -- the power cable. The network, keyboard, mouse, etc. are all wireless.

Magical.


----------



## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

dmurphy said:


> Great machines. No concerns about them because they're AIO's. Makes life so, so easy.
> 
> My iMac has one cable going to it -- the power cable. The network, keyboard, mouse, etc. are all wireless.
> 
> Magical.


What he said! We're a Mac family with zero regrets!


----------



## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

We had a thread here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=191428

the last post is about a month ago... but there might be some useful info in there as well.


----------



## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

I have a client with the original gateway one. Really nice machine, surprised me coming from gateway. Just as polished as the iMac at the time (all metal, nice details, etc. ).


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dmurphy said:


> No concerns. The iMac has been super-duper reliable... I had a G3 one (the original "fruit flavored" one), an iMac G4 (wallflower), an iMac G5, and now a 27" iMac Intel.
> 
> Great machines. No concerns about them because they're AIO's. Makes life so, so easy.
> 
> ...


I've been looking at this *one*. A bit pricey, and probably a lot more computer than I need, but it might be the last one I buy.

Rich


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Can't go the Mac route. My GF is a travel manager and has to have SABRE, which only runs in IE on Windows. I can't even get her to switch to Firefox. I'm not even *certain* it will work on Windows 7. We might have to downgrade to XP or install a VM. Her IT department at work has fits getting everything to run when they get a new employee or have to re-image a machine.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

4HiMarks said:


> Can't go the Mac route. My GF is a travel manager and has to have SABRE, which only runs in IE on Windows. I can't even get her to switch to Firefox. I'm not even *certain* it will work on Windows 7. We might have to downgrade to XP or install a VM. Her IT department at work has fits getting everything to run when they get a new employee or have to re-image a machine.


Sure you can get a Mac ...

VMware Fusion ... Install Wintendo XP in a virtual machine on the Mac.. so she can use that for SABRE, but have a real computer for everything else.

It's a great solution - means she's not "stuck" with some antique browser for everything else.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

rich584 said:


> I've been looking at this *one*. A bit pricey, and probably a lot more computer than I need, but it might be the last one I buy.
> 
> Rich


Worth every penny. It's a gorgeous machine. I have last year's 27" iMac on my desk, and my wife's iMac is 2 years old - she has the 24" model.

My sister-in-law is still using my old Power Mac G4 -- that I bought in 2001.

Longevity on Macs is a good thing!


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

dmurphy said:


> Sure you can get a Mac ...
> 
> VMware Fusion ... Install Wintendo XP in a virtual machine on the Mac.. so she can use that for SABRE, but have a real computer for everything else.
> 
> It's a great solution - means she's not "stuck" with some antique browser for everything else.


Sorry, a Mac is not a "real computer". It's an expensive toy for artsy fartsy types with more money than geek cred. If I had my druthers, I'd get a Sun, but she would never use Solaris. Next choice would be a Linux box, but same objection there. I've never owned an Apple product, and I'm not about to start now. They are way overpriced.


----------



## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

4HiMarks said:


> Sorry, a Mac is not a "real computer". It's an expensive toy for artsy fartsy types with more money than geek cred. If I had my druthers, I'd get a Sun, but she would never use Solaris. Next choice would be a Linux box, but same objection there. I've never owned an Apple product, and I'm not about to start now. They are way overpriced.


I'm neither "artsy or fartsy" and my "toys" work EVERY time I turn them on with zero issues. Thank you.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

4HiMarks said:


> Sorry, a Mac is not a "real computer". It's an expensive toy for artsy fartsy types with more money than geek cred. If I had my druthers, I'd get a Sun, but she would never use Solaris. Next choice would be a Linux box, but same objection there. I've never owned an Apple product, and I'm not about to start now. They are way overpriced.


I strongly suggest you not question my background and capabilities.

How many Superdomes have you built?


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

dmurphy said:


> I strongly suggest you not question my background and capabilities.
> 
> How many Superdomes have you built?


I have done no such thing. I merely gave my opinion of Apple products. If you think they're worth the money, then more power to you. What does building Superdomes have to do with being a Geek? I would think they were exact opposites.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

4HiMarks said:


> I have done no such thing. I merely gave my opinion of Apple products. If you think they're worth the money, then more power to you. What does building Superdomes have to do with being a Geek? I would think they were exact opposites.


Well, when you told me that my Mac was for someone who has 'more money than geek cred', what did you expect me to think you meant?

For someone who talks about Solaris and Linux, you don't know the HP Superdome? The premier UNIX system?

Of course, I'd bet that you'd be unfamiliar with the M9000, StarCat or StarFire as well.

You've got some Googling to do.

I don't. I know them all. Quite well. I live, breathe, and eat Unix for a living. So my 'toys' as you put it? Just another Unix box.


```
Last login: Tue May 17 11:22:32 on ttys000
Dennis-Murphys-iMac:~ dmurphy$ uname -a
Darwin Dennis-Murphys-iMac.local 10.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 10.7.0: Sat Jan 29 15:17:16 PST 2011; root:xnu-1504.9.37~1/RELEASE_I386 i386
Dennis-Murphys-iMac:~ dmurphy$
```


----------



## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Whatever.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dmurphy said:


> Worth every penny. It's a gorgeous machine. I have last year's 27" iMac on my desk, and my wife's iMac is 2 years old - she has the 24" model.
> 
> My sister-in-law is still using my old Power Mac G4 -- that I bought in 2001.
> 
> Longevity on Macs is a good thing!


It is gorgeous, that's for sure. How much RAM do you really need? I don't do anything "heavy" with a computer and I think I'd be just as well off with the memory chips it comes with, but I'd appreciate an opinion on that.

Rich


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

rich584 said:


> It is gorgeous, that's for sure. How much RAM do you really need? I don't do anything "heavy" with a computer and I think I'd be just as well off with the memory chips it comes with, but I'd appreciate an opinion on that.
> 
> Rich


4GB should be fine if you're not doing anything "heavy". I happen to have 8GB in mine, because a) I could get it cheap; and b) Sometimes I use VMware to run multiple virtual machines. What's nice about the 27" model is that, if you get the standard 4 GB memory, they populate the machine with 2x 2GB modules. The machine has four slots total, so you can add two more modules without having to replace any existing memory. Very cool indeed.

(And amazingly easy to do -- all it takes is to remove one phillips-head screw -- see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1 )

I was doing a test recently with a parallelized database, so I started 4 Linux virtual machines simultaneously. That's where the extra memory came in handy.

So much for the Mac being a "toy", huh?

If you're not doing crazy things with virtual machines, or editing HD videos, I'd say 4GB should be plenty. Again -- you can always add more later.


----------



## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

rich584 said:


> It is gorgeous, that's for sure. How much RAM do you really need? I don't do anything "heavy" with a computer and I think I'd be just as well off with the memory chips it comes with, but I'd appreciate an opinion on that.
> 
> Rich


Oh -- one other thing -- if you're planning to add more memory later, I highly recommend Other World Computing -- www.macsales.com

Here's their page on memory upgrades:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27

Don't pay the insanity that Apple charges... the extra 4 GB of memory is $49.99 from OWC; Apple wants $200 for it.


----------



## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

dmurphy said:


> 4GB should be fine if you're not doing anything "heavy". I happen to have 8GB in mine, because a) I could get it cheap; and b) Sometimes I use VMware to run multiple virtual machines. What's nice about the 27" model is that, if you get the standard 4 GB memory, they populate the machine with 2x 2GB modules. The machine has four slots total, so you can add two more modules without having to replace any existing memory. Very cool indeed.
> 
> (And amazingly easy to do -- all it takes is to remove one phillips-head screw -- see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1423#1 )
> 
> ...


Thanx, good info!

Rich


----------

