Laptop, Desktop, All-in-one or Mini PC

[DancesWithWife]

I am not a big computer person. I use my HP all-in-one desktop primarily for photo editing and Zoom usage. I have a small laptop, but it's not really what I like. Desktops have more features and upgradeability than the Mini PC. I would like to get a new computer for photo editing and Zoom. Do you brothers and sisters have any input? I don't have a big budget; I would like to keep it under $500. Thanks. 

[Sooner Guy 89]

We are partial to Lenovo computers. There sometimes are decent deals directly from their website. Although, you budget may make that a little tight. I have found a few Lenovo i7 refurbished desktops at Office Max for a friend in our congregation easily at your budget.

[Myew]

Hey Gregg. Helping people build, find or refurbish custom computers is my hobby and specialty. I'm the type of person who uses several PCs for different use cases and has far too many opinions on the subject. What is it that you like about the all in one, and what do you dislike about the small laptop (screen size?)? Do you have any other priorities regarding size, storage, specs, value? You mention photo editing, but what software are you using and to do what specifically?

The following is mostly ADHD/Autistic tangent: Pretty much any modern computer can handle basic photo editing with no issues. Zoom does well to at least have a capable low end modern/mid end older processor and a modest amount of RAM. You'll want solid state storage on any computer nowadays, little reason to use a hard disk. In your budget, there are several new capable modern laptops, but I'd prefer to get to know your needs better before recommending a laptop. There's also little harm in buying used computers provided they have the right hardware and it's all functional. Personally, I'm not a fan of all-in-ones, and I don't know many techs who are, as they're a pain to take apart for any repairs or upgrades. I'd rather go for some kind of mini PC + monitor at least, which are small and easy enough to take apart, or a cheap tower desktop which is easily repairable/upgradable if space is not an issue and you want a better value. I managed to get a very capable mini PC I refurbished as a library/secondary PC for the Zoom Attendant at the hall off eBay for ~$100 for the unit.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Myew

[DancesWithWife]

3 hours ago, Myew said:

What is it that you like about the all in one, and what do you dislike about the small laptop (screen size?)? Do you have any other priorities regarding size, storage, specs, value? You mention photo editing, but what software are you using and to do what specifically?

We have a 24" all-in-one desktop. The biggest advantage is easy to see for my wife and I for Zoom meetings. For me, I like the bigger screen as my old eyes work better for it.

 

I was thinking as this one get older I would get a mini-PC with a 27 monitor with wireless keyboard and mouse. I store my photos on portable hard drives, flash drives and online storage. On the mini pc I just need to be able to read an SD card either directly or with an adapter. My needs are simple. I am not going to be doing any upgrades. I like laptops but I like a standard keyboard as to the one that comes on a laptop. 

 

I have an Ipad for my meetings and studying.  I am old school so changing to a mini pc would be a change for me, but I am sure I can adapt to it, if needed. 

[Myew]

It's pretty easy to get full keyboards, mice, cards, monitors, TVs, etc peripherals plugged or wirelessly connected into any form of PC. If you want a bigger screen and don't need it to be portable, a mini, small or mid tower desktop is probably best.

Looked around at Amazon and eBay a fair bit, here's my current recommendation. $140 Dell OptiPlex 3070 Mini, more powerful than a cheap bottom barrel new PC, circa June 2019, i5 9500t processor, 16GB DDR4 memory, 256gb ssd storage, windows 10 pro. Includes the power adapter, wireless, has display port and HDMI, easy to plug into a monitor or TV. Pretty much everything you need good to go. I'll look into some monitor/peripherals. Prime day is coming up soon, that may be the cheapest time to look into a monitor. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325836534213

Edited October 4, 2023 by Myew

[Myew]

AOC 27" IPS Monitor $110-115: https://www.amazon.com/AOC-27B2H-Monitor-Frameless-Compatible/dp/B07WVNBY1G/
Alternatively, if you want something even bigger, a cheap 32" 1080p TV would suffice. Walmart has some at $130. https://www.walmart.com/ip/TCL-32-Class-3-Series-Full-HD-1080p-LED-Smart-Roku-TV-32S357/1302917896
TV/Monitors will definitely be on sale during the upcoming prime day/black friday stuff though, if you want to wait to save.
Pretty much any basic Logitech/Walmart wireless keyboard mouse combo would be fine, but if you want to splurge on something proper old school mechanical and wireless that feels nice: https://www.amazon.com/RK-ROYAL-KLUDGE-Mechanical-Connectable/dp/B08JD4D4FW/

Here's a cheap $8 wireless mouse I keep in my laptop bag, it's flat so not very ergonomic, but has thumb buttons and works with everything: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BYJ4RL77/

Camera: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Webcam-Meetings-Streaming-Built/dp/B0BXGFFSL1/
SD reader: https://www.amazon.com/Reader-Adapter-Camera-Memory-Wansurs/dp/B0B9QZ4W4Y/

Edited October 4, 2023 by Myew

[DancesWithWife]

3 minutes ago, Myew said:

TV/Monitors will definitely be on sale during the upcoming prime day/black friday stuff though, if you want to wait to save.

Thank you, that's why I am asking now, so I can plan. 

[Myew]

If you want something new - the Acer Aspire 3 is the best laptop hardware deal atm at $250. Getting it out of "S Mode" to install Zoom is quite simple. You can always just plug an external monitor and wireless mouse/keyboard into it, and set it up so that the internal screen shuts off but the computer does not go to sleep when closing the screen. https://www.amazon.com/A315-24P-R7VH-Display-Quad-Core-Processor-Graphics/dp/B0BS4BP8FB/ AOC 27" 1080p IPS monitor linked above is now $100 and still best value IMO.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Myew

[Pabo]

I mainly used Dell computers, as I find that they very robust and reasonable with their prices compared to what our IT guys were quoting for HP machines but with a lower specs on their machines. Also to, you can always get access to the drivers that are specific to your Dell device as each computer has a service tag for each machine they make. But I would say that what I use is probably out of your price tag, but given the age of my devices, I can say I got my bang for my buck.

 

At out KH, I have used Dell Vostro desktops that I taken from work, as usually we had to upgrade our machines over time (about 5-6 years for desktops and 3-4 years for laptops. The current machine we use at the KH for the AV desk is about 12 years old, where I just replaced the harddrive with a Samsung Pro 500GB SSD boot drive and a 2TB WD Black HDD secondary drive for storing the documents, up the RAM to 16GB, installed a Nvidia graphics card that has 4 monitor outputs. It only cost me about AU$750 (or about US$400) and it has been still going good, even though it is running Win Pro on a i5 2Gen processor. I would say in about 2 years time I will need to replace this unit, as it will be too old.

 

I had upgraded about a dozen Dell Vostro laptops which is uaually replacing the hard drive (we keep the old HDD's in a secure place at work due to the sensitive information that we have access to) and give it some extra RAM that I got from work and passed them onto brothers who didn't have laptops for Zoom use when we had to be at home for our meetings. Some of these still have these and still use them, and their is one at our KH when we need it for parts on the MWM if one of the participants had to stay home and the their asistant is at the KH.

 

I use a Dell Optiplex microfactor desktop on our TV, where we use this to watch the videos from the JWL, or at times we have used the JW stream for the assemblies and conventions.

 

The Dell laptop (Latitude 5590) I use at work is now 4 years old, and my older work Dell laptop (Latitude E6520) is now over 12 years old and still used for accessing old programs that I don't have the software disks anymore, which still runs Win7Pro (i5 2Gen 32bit, 3GB RAM), and I have re[placed the main hard drive twice (first being HDD, the second and 3rd harddrives were SSD's and swapped out the DVD player for a secoandary harddrive). I have it's sister laptop at home where I upgraded it Win10Pro (64bit) and bumped the RAM to 16GB where it is only just a SSD. I use this laptop whenever we did Zoom at home with a Dynadock docking station where it is connected to two other monitors, but I used my work laptop if I was the Host/Co-Host.