Desktop computers
If the machine is staying on a desk, you get more computer for the money and the ability to change it later.
At a glance
- Best for
- Machines that stay put
- Advantage
- Expandable and easy to service
- Worth asking
- Free memory slots and drive bays
- Screens
- Chosen separately, and they outlast the computer
Room to breathe, and room to grow
Space is the whole advantage. Components with air around them stay cool, and a machine that stays cool keeps working at full speed through a long task instead of quietly easing off. Standard parts mean a failure in year five is a shopping trip, not a write-off.
It also means today's machine is not your last word on the subject — so long as the case has bays free, the board has slots free and the power supply has headroom. Ask about all three at the counter; retrofitting them is the expensive way round.
All-in-one machines trade that away
One cable and no tower is genuinely tidier, and for a reception desk that can settle it. What you accept in exchange is a machine built like a laptop that never travels: cramped cooling, little room to add anything, and a service visit that starts by separating the computer from the display.
Where tidiness is the goal, a compact tower tucked under the desk with a good monitor above it tends to cost less, do more and be far quicker to work on.
Spend on the screen
A desktop is bought without a display, which is an advantage: the screen is what you look at all day and it will outlast several computers. Room for two documents side by side removes more daily friction than most processor upgrades.
Asked at the counter
Can my existing desktop be brought up to date instead?
Do I need a separate graphics card?
Also at the store
See what is on the floor
Current systems, prices and stock are on the main 1ComputerOutlet site.