[Liparus]

I am torn between either a laptop to replace my current model and an All in One PC - I have no room for nor do I want one with a tower.

I have always had a laptop but never move it around the house or take it anywhere. It just sits on my desk.

Ideally I'd like the following:
Windows 8
A large screen (current is 17", so that or larger)
A device good enough to run games like Total War on
Blu Ray player

I'm sure there is more.

My budget is around the one grand mark - and I prefer buying the best that's out there that will last me at least 3/4 years. I'm not one for upgrading and all that.

Would an All in One deliver more for my money? Or are they about the same?

[Gormond]

All in ones are better if you want a bigger screen such as 23 inch+.

The GeForce GT 640m and Radeon 7650m can play total war at medium detail over 30fps. It might be worth seeing what laptop or AIO you can get with that and compare.

A Dell Inspiron One 23 sounds like it does what you need, the top 2 models both have Windows 8 with a Full HD touch screen, Blu-Ray, a Radeon 7650m with Ivy Bridge quad core processors 2.7GHz vs 3.1GHz with 1TB HDD and 6GB or 8GB RAM for £879 or £1079.

[Liparus]

Would something like this be good?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsun...92880-pdt.html

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Liparus

Would something like this be good?

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsun...92880-pdt.html

Yeah I seen that one too but it didn't have a blu-ray drive which was one of your requirements.

If your not bothered about that now then by all means go for that

Another thing I would look for is upgradeablity, for example my cheap Lenovo I can upgrade the memory, HDD, DVD drive and wireless adapter easily without harming the warranty.

[noise747]

The problem with laptops and All In ones is expansion or the lack of it.
Ok you can up the memory and change the hard drive, but if you want say a better video card, you are stuffed, apart from the more expensive laptops.

the other problem is, if one thing goes wrong, then that is more or less it for the machine.

[alan1302]

Originally Posted by noise747

The problem with laptops and All In ones is expansion or the lack of it.
Ok you can up the memory and change the hard drive, but if you want say a better video card, you are stuffed, apart from the more expensive laptops.

the other problem is, if one thing goes wrong, then that is more or less it for the machine.

Op said they were not bothered about upgrading/expanding it so that does not matter to them.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by noise747

The problem with laptops and All In ones is expansion or the lack of it.
Ok you can up the memory and change the hard drive, but if you want say a better video card, you are stuffed, apart from the more expensive laptops.

the other problem is, if one thing goes wrong, then that is more or less it for the machine.

This is true but it would be even worse if you can't replace things like the DVD drive, I know this as my iMac has a faulty drive and its difficult to replace.

[Leviathain]

All in one Vs Gaming PC. Several hundred pounds saved if you opt for the gaming PC.

But if your heart is set on a laptop or an all in one then that's what you should buy.

[neo_wales]

http://www.ambros.co.uk/builds/1504/...ng-system.html
How about a shuttle PC and big monitor?

[noise747]

Originally Posted by alan1302

Op said they were not bothered about upgrading/expanding it so that does not matter to them.

It is not just about expanding or upgrading, it is also about when things go wrong.
The OP also want to play games, as time goes by, games need better video cards, so they certainly need to be upgraded.

[noise747]

Originally Posted by Gormond

This is true but it would be even worse if you can't replace things like the DVD drive, I know this as my iMac has a faulty drive and its difficult to replace.

That is when puts me off a MAC, I been thinking of getting one, but not so sure now.

Most laptops DVd drives are easy enough to replace, or they used to be.

[Tal'shiar]

Erm, the Total War series eats CPU's up for fun.

If your into gaming, you will need a real computer. Just sink in and get a good rig. I have mine set up with my 32inch LCD TV and its awesome for gaming on.

(also, never get a mac, only stupid people get macs (so sorry if someone has a mac, but they are complete garbage))

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Tal'shiar

Erm, the Total War series eats CPU's up for fun.

If your into gaming, you will need a real computer. Just sink in and get a good rig. I have mine set up with my 32inch LCD TV and its awesome for gaming on.

(also, never get a mac, only stupid people get macs (so sorry if someone has a mac, but they are complete garbage))

This is nonsense, laptops and AIOs are perfectly fine for gaming, I often play SWTOR (at medium detail) and Football Manager 2013 with no issues on my entry level laptop.

Also the OP wants an laptop or AIO, not a Desktop.

[Liparus]

Originally Posted by Tal'shiar

Erm, the Total War series eats CPU's up for fun.

If your into gaming, you will need a real computer. Just sink in and get a good rig. I have mine set up with my 32inch LCD TV and its awesome for gaming on.

(also, never get a mac, only stupid people get macs (so sorry if someone has a mac, but they are complete garbage))

My current laptop which is four years old and compared to a modern device is inferior can run total war at medium detail so long as it's only for say a one on one battle. Any more and it can't handle it.

Surely a modern AIO with a much better spec will handle the extra useage?

May I just ask what would the advantage be of a desktop PC if I had the space for the tower? Do you get much more for your money?

[paulj48]

Originally Posted by noise747

That is when puts me off a MAC, I been thinking of getting one, but not so sure now.

Most laptops DVd drives are easy enough to replace, or they used to be.

Most of the new Macs dont even have a DVD drive anymore.

[Tal'shiar]

Originally Posted by Gormond

This is nonsense, laptops and AIOs are perfectly fine for gaming, I often play SWTOR (at medium detail) and Football Manager 2013 with no issues on my entry level laptop.

Also the OP wants an laptop or AIO, not a Desktop.

Right, let me explain how wrong you are on so many levels. First off Football Manager is hardly a taxing game, as its a simulation. So using that as a benchmark is stupid. Swtor is an MMO, they are designed to run on as many systems as possible. I dare you to even try running BF3 with all the lowest settings, watch your entry level laptop just die. Dont talk about stuff you know nothing about.

My point being that Laptops, unless you are willing to put serious cash down, are just not built to be used as a gaming rig. Can you play games on a laptop? sure you can. Can you play the latest games? as long as they dont require actually power or a GPU.

Entry level Laptops ship with no GPU, how can you even say they are fine for gaming, are you on crack?

[Tal'shiar]

Originally Posted by Liparus

My current laptop which is four years old and compared to a modern device is inferior can run total war at medium detail so long as it's only for say a one on one battle. Any more and it can't handle it.

Surely a modern AIO with a much better spec will handle the extra useage?

May I just ask what would the advantage be of a desktop PC if I had the space for the tower? Do you get much more for your money?

You get LOADS more for your money. And I mean loads more. But the trade off is of course the size of the thing.

Take my PC, costs me about £500 2 years ago (minus screen, mouse keyboard, hard drives and PSU (power supply)), and it can still run any game with max settings. Hell I can fire up BF3 with max settings and record my gameplay with HD 1080p footage and it still wont slow down. But I just buy the parts and construct it myself, its pretty easy, just plugging stuff in and a few screws.

Now if your set on something like an AIO or Laptop you will need to look for specs that will allow for gaming.

CPU: At least a duel core, although a quad core will be nice. You want something rater at atleast 2.0 ghz per core. Intel and AMD are both good, but for budget reasons AMD is the better choice.

GPU: I cannot stress this enough, you need one. Not an integrated chipset, but an actual card. Nvidia or ATi make them. Nothing by Intel or AMD as they are jsut using the CPU to process graphics data.

Hard drive; This one is up to you. How much space you need is how much do you want. Most laptops come with about 250gbs, but even that would be enough. Anything above 100gbs is going to be more than enough for storing a few games. If you want more for other stuff (music, films, lots of games) then go ahead.

Here is a link for a laptop that would be fine for gaming.

http://www.ebuyer.com/409379-samsung...np355v5c-a06uk

Its got plenty of space and would be good at gaming.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Tal'shiar

Entry level Laptops ship with no GPU, how can you even say they are fine for gaming, are you on crack?

For starters I didn't say entry level laptops are fine for gaming I said Laptops and AIOs in general are fine.

Originally Posted by Gormond

laptops and AIOs are perfectly fine for gaming

I personally wouldn't run BF3 on my laptop, I would play it on my PS3 or 360 on the big telly from the comfort of my sofa.

I think if your into gaming then get a games console and save hundreds of pounds, you can currently get a 360 for 100 quid and a PS3 for 120 quid.

[Gormond]

Originally Posted by Tal'shiar

Here is a link for a laptop that would be fine for gaming.

http://www.ebuyer.com/409379-samsung...np355v5c-a06uk

Its got plenty of space and would be good at gaming.

That's only mildly better than a Laptop with integrated Intel graphics, how you can say that is good for gaming is beyond me.

Anyway I still recommend the Dell AIO that i posted earlier, it's good spec for the price.

[Tal'shiar]

Originally Posted by Gormond

That's only mildly better than a Laptop with integrated Intel graphics, how you can say that is good for gaming is beyond me.

Anyway I still recommend the Dell AIO that i posted earlier, it's good spec for the price.

Because I read what he said is how. He likes to play Total War, which I assume he means the series. They are CPU intensive games, so I picked one with a GPU and a CPU that would run it. How much he would like to spend will dictate if he wants to move up to a more powerful model.

And its quite a bit more powerful than an integrated GPU actually.

And your advice is to get a console? well thats great advice when he asked for a PC. I want to buy a car, show me a motor bike?

The very fact your advising a dell pretty much sums up entirely what you know about computers. Dell, for the love of god.....maybe he should get an alienware as well?.....

[rottweiler]

Get yourself an iMac, if you need to use a DVD/Blu drive then get an external one from eBay for under £20

Discs are starting to become obsolete so get an iMac and move into the 21st century

[Tal'shiar]

Originally Posted by rottweiler

Get yourself an iMac, if you need to use a DVD/Blu drive then get an external one from eBay for under £20

Discs are starting to become obsolete so get an iMac and move into the 21st century

This guy knows the score. Get an iMac....here are a few reasons why he is clearly clueless.

iMacs run OSX. OSX has almost no gaming on it. What so ever.

You may then retort with "you can duel boot windows". In which case you will be paying WAY over the odds for something which you do not need.

Apple computers are made for people who have no idea about computers, its why they can get away charging way over the odds for what the very same thing if you just bought a normal PC. Look at any iMac, then go to a PC seller website and build a PC with the SAME hardware. Notice how its about half the price. Apple customers are gullible, hence why they are ripped off with a garbage OS and computer parts that never cost that much.

[Liparus]

I'm taking all that's been said and adding it to my research. I like to take my time when deciding on a large purchase, so hopefully I won't go wrong.

[LION8TIGER]

I think if you want to do gaming, which I don't have a clue about, you need a bigger screen than a laptop can provide.
I was going to suggest an iMac as my son has one but maybe they won't cope with any heavy duty games, he doesn't play them so no idea.
Bang for bucks is always going to be separate components and include a tower. They don't have to be big in size to have lots of power within, maybe something like neo-wales's suggestion for very small ones but the midi sized ones are small enough.

I have no room for nor do I want one with a tower.

Sorry then .... but they don't take up that much room.

[rottweiler]

27" iMac, super Hd screen, no tower,only one cable to plug in and it will play any game you choose to through at it

And yes if you need Windows then just boot camp it, i did this when I fist bought my iMac and now I can't remember the last time I used Windows...