Recommendation on business PC

Forums › Desktop computing › Recommendation on business PC

mmuir

32 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#272540 30-Jun-2020 17:19

Needing to upgrade from my 10+ year old Acer desktop PC. Would love some recommendations, everyone seems to have a different opinion on what is needed. Was leaning towards an AIO but now not so sure. I use mainly for spreadsheets, online accounting, email etc I can often have 8-10 spreadsheets and programs open at once.

I have looked at Acer C27 962 AIO. Intel NUC. Dell Business AIO.

Please help a girl out that knows very little about computer hardware.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

2233 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 478

#2515192 30-Jun-2020 17:47

I like the tiny size of the NUCs. We put an I5 BEAN CANYON I5-8259U with 16GB OF RAM and 2 X 500GB SSD in an office with 2, 24 inch monitors attached, works great. If I ever need another PC to plug into our TV or for the husband to replace his desktop I'll get a NUC.

Dynamic

4015 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1851

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2515195 30-Jun-2020 18:04

Personally, I've been underwhelmed by the build quality of Acer machines over the years, and avoid buying them for clients for this reason.

Our business clients demand both reliability and a high level of service. This is the reason we selected HP commercial series desktop computers which are backed by a 3 year next-business-day-on-site manufacturers parts warranty. HP ProDesk 600 and EliteDesk 800 series machines will not be the cheapest, but cheap is generally not what you want in a business machine. The AIO version are the EliteOne 800 series. There is also the Desktop Mini size (DM) available in both ranges. The horsepower is reduced about 20% as a trade off for the compactness, which is the same with the intel NUC.

Dell I like for build quality but dislike for sneakiness. I my experience in the past across several series of machines they have disabled warnings about failing drives in the BIOS as factory default settings.

As @JayADee mentioned, twin screens are great for productivity, especially if you are working between two programs frequently. All business grade machines support dual screens, and most AIO machines so as well, but I like matching separate screens personally. One set of screens in most cases for me will last two or more computer upgrades.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

JayADee

2233 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 478

#2515205 30-Jun-2020 18:35

Yeah those HP ProDesk 600s look good. :)

jpoc

1043 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 289

#2515217 30-Jun-2020 18:51

mmuir:

...

Please help a girl out that knows very little about computer hardware.

That is the most important part of your requirements.

You need to buy from a vendor that is well setup to help out if you get a problem.

That is more important than whichever brand.

Ask yourself who is nearby that you can trust not just to sell you a box but to help you out if something goes wrong when you need to get some work completed to a deadline for the purpose of making your business make money.

nztim

4012 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2710

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#2515268 30-Jun-2020 19:32

+1 for the Prodesk/Elitedesk and with the G5 oneards you can even run 3 digital screens off them 2x displayport and 1x HDMI and the onsite warranty is great, couple those with EliteDisplay E243i and you have a winning combination

My only gripe with them is the hdmi port is still 1.4 when 2 should be the standard but with those display ports its not too much of a big deal

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

mmuir

32 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2515298 30-Jun-2020 20:02

jpoc:
mmuir:

...

Please help a girl out that knows very little about computer hardware.

That is the most important part of your requirements.

You need to buy from a vendor that is well setup to help out if you get a problem.

That is more important than whichever brand.

Ask yourself who is nearby that you can trust not just to sell you a box but to help you out if something goes wrong when you need to get some work completed to a deadline for the purpose of making your business make money.

Thankfully I have staff who are more than capable of sorting any problems that come up. They are gamers so their suggestions are probably more than I need in an office computer.

AliExpress

Shop now on AliExpress (affiliate link).

mmuir

32 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2515302 30-Jun-2020 20:11

The HP all in one looks great. Where can you buy them from?

Lias

5655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3978

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2515319 30-Jun-2020 20:38

+1 for HP Business desktops. Always my first pick, quite literally what I got my parents when they wanted 'reliable computers'

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Lias

5655 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3978

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2515321 30-Jun-2020 20:39

mmuir: The HP all in one looks great. Where can you buy them from?

Any HP partner generally, if you want recommendations you'll probably need to tell us where in NZ you are.

mmuir

32 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2515324 30-Jun-2020 20:43

Im in Invercargill. I have only seen the cheaper home HPs, but I’ll have a decent look around.

nztim

4012 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2710

ID Verified

Trusted

TEAMnetwork

Subscriber

#2515340 30-Jun-2020 20:53

plenty of online resellers

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Geekzone

Want to support Geekzone and browse the site without the ads? Subscribe to Geekzone now (monthly, annual and lifetime options).

Dynamic

4015 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1851

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2515343 30-Jun-2020 20:58

mmuir: Im in Invercargill. I have only seen the cheaper home HPs, but I’ll have a decent look around.

If I were looking for a partner in Invercargill to help the branch office of a client down there, I'd probably try these guys first, though this is based purely on checking the web sites of a few local companies. http://www.scopeit.net.nz/about.php

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Handle9

11924 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 9675

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2515351 30-Jun-2020 21:30

mmuir: Im in Invercargill. I have only seen the cheaper home HPs, but I’ll have a decent look around.

Yeah don't buy an HP "home" PC. Not good.

HP business machines do what they say on the tin and have great support.

mmuir

32 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#2515371 30-Jun-2020 22:32

What monitors would you recommend? Would probably prefer a 27”

Zeon

3926 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 759

Trusted

#2515372 30-Jun-2020 22:40

I would suggest not going for an all-in-one, especially if you will use it for 10 years like your current computer. If anything breaks after the warranty then the whole system including the monitor needs to be replaced. If its a seperate monitor and computer then if one or the other breaks you only need to replace the broken component.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

1 | 2 | 3 | 4