All-In-One Multi-Touch Computers - Thoughts?

[40hz]

The other is the Roku box for your TV set.

Roku has been in my backup plans for a while.  But...superboyac is going to overengineer hisself a home theater system in 2012 that has been in the works for 3 years.  

Ah!

In my case, I think I'd keep my current modest home theater system, add a Roku to the mix, and then plow any money saved into the biggest, highest quality screen I could comfortably view. And maybe buy a real theater popcorn maker if there was anything left over!

Because those are two things I likely wouldn't be able to build for myself.

A lesson in budgeting resources. (NSFW)

I didn't make this one up, but the truth found within it is so profound I thought I'd share it:

-----------------------------------------------

Two bulls were standing on a grassy hill, looking down at a pasture, which was home to a large herd of cows.

"Well Old Timer." said the Young Bull, "I think I'm gonna charge down this hill, jump over that fence, and mate with one of them cows! How about you?"

"Sorta..." rumbled the Old Bull, looking at the herd and chewing reflectively on a mouthful of sweet clover.

"Sorta?" laughed the Young Bull. "What do you mean 'sorta'? Are you gettin' to be over the hill on us?"

"Nope," said the Old Bull. "I was just thinking more along the lines of taking me an easy stroll down this hill, walking through that open gate over yonder, and then mating with ALL of them."

[Stoic Joker]

I'm at the HP conference in Las Vegas, and HP just released the new Z1 AIO workstation. Super easy to work on tool-less design.

I'm impressed.

[mouser]

Pretty Slick: Z1 AIO page.

[Stoic Joker]

Yes, it quite handily forces me to retract my earlier vitriol.

(god this phone is hard to type on)

[bcpaladin]

Back in the fall I put in a whole new network (only 3 stations) for a chiropractor to go with his new software that was mandated by the US Government (Medicare).  It was touch-screen compatible and he was excited by possibilities.  We opted for All-in-Ones, which came with wireless keyboard and mouse, given the price/size of standard touchscreens.  As soon as I saw them I knew I wanted no part of supporting them.  In construction they are basically laptops writ large.  I told him that he had to go through the manufacturer for support but I would assist if I could.  In the process of setting up the two All-in-ones I came to the conclusion that they're nice for limited use but ergonomically incompatible with any kind of intensive use.  Most people's shoulders won't take it, I know mine didn't.  If you can get it below and fairly close to you you're fine, but anything else is literally a pain.  Also touch is fine with programs that are designed with touch in mind i.e. Larger buttons and fields but the operating system (Win7) is not optimized for touch even if it is capable.  Icons are fine but to enter information in fields and interact with drop-down lists is difficult because they are so small on a 20 inch screen at max resolution.  I can't count how many times I hit the wrong line on something.

I would suggest that you stick with a standard desktop if that's where you're leaning.  Laptops are nice but I find the keyboards on most regardless of size to be uncomfortable to use. I have yet to find a current one that is even remotely close to feeling like a regular keyboard.  Oh, and I hate trackpads.  But both of these are easy to overcome by using usb peripherals.  However, now you're dealing with extra space for the keyboard and mouse not to mention that kind of hinders portability.  If your wife still has her iPad or whatever, you don't really need to worry about portability.  A desktop will be generally less expensive, however with the price of hard drives right now you're not going to get as much for your money.  

J-mac, I believe I know the fan you are looking for and I have at least one used one on hand.  If you want to leave a message, I would be more than happy to give it to you for the cost of shipping.

I'm with 40hz on Acer.  I recommend them to all my customers if that is what they want.

[Carol Haynes]

I'm with 40hz on Acer.

Acer is fine if you like devices absolutely crammed with crapware and you don't have to support them. They also won the technicians worst range of products last year (can't find the link) in terms of support issues.

Acer refuse to help anyone other than Acer make repairs or upgrades (at least Acer UK). It is almost impossible to get service manuals for laptops as Acer are VERY proprietorial about them.

I don't really like Dell as a company but I have to say if you are on a budget Dell do well - and at least you know if you need something replacing out of warranty they will do it at a reasonable price and on your own premises (even without a contract) and if I have to support them I can get all the parts and manuals I need. Toshiba is good this way too for documentation.

[40hz]

Acer is fine if you like devices absolutely crammed with crapware and you don't have to support them.

I guess this is another example of YMMV. So don't automatically buy into any one person's recommendations. Not even mine!

I can't say I've ever had serious problems with Acer. Their track record hasn't been flawless. True, their tech support has been so-so, like most other companies lately. But I have yet to finish up with a situation that's been left completely unresolved. Which is more than I can say for some of the bigger players whose names start with an I, a T, or an H.

Dell is the only company I've ever dealt with where I had to make a threat on two occasions to get them to honor the terms of their warranty. Other techs in my area sing Dell's praises up and down. My own experience with them has been very mixed - and not good at all when it came to laptops.

I will agree about the crapware issue Carol raises however. It is annoying now that it seems to be standard operating to procedure to bundle junk in with this class of product. I can't say if one company is worse than another doing this because I automatically scrub and groom every box I install no matter who it's made by. (PC Decrapifier has been a godsend for much of that BTW.) As far as I'm concerned, no crapware is acceptable so I don't care of there's one or twenty titles on the machine. They all get removed. And our 'delousing' process is fairly automated so it's not as annoying for us as it once was.

Some common headaches may also be less an issue for my business since we don't just "drop a box at the door" as the saying goes. We're not really a retail operation. 90% of our clients are SMBs. And everything that goes out of our shop is specc'ed, customized, and configured for the specific client and their requirements. We don't sell unopened boxes per se. We operate more like an old-fashioned guitar or bicycle shop. If you want a vanilla computer straight from the manufacturer, you don't need us to sell it to you. Just go online or stop at one of the 'big box' stores, and they'll be happy to get you one. Feel free to give us a call when there's actually some value we can add.

Maybe I should also point out that since my business deals almost exclusively with other businesses, we're not often plagued entertained by all those vexing media and driver issues a consumer computer dealer gets to resolve. Nor do we get caught up wasting hours trying to solve problems that occur when trying to integrate poorly engineered entertainment products or oddball components into an otherwise standard system. My hat is off to the overclockers and game machine customizers in that respect. They have a much tougher job than we do getting everything to work correctly.

So maybe I should have said for what we do, and the type of client we support, Acer has been a good choice for a budget machine.

[xtabber]

followup...
But I'm really hoping a Windows 8 tablet comes out with (very key!) a build quality and responsiveness at least close to the ipad.  I'm not going to want to use it if there are frustrating delays with swipes and touches.  I have no doubt the productivity of the Windows tablet will far surpass any of the androids or ipads...no doubt whatsoever.  Doesn't mean the applications will be easy to use on the tablet, but at least you'll be able to "do" the things you need to get done.  File/folder access is THE distinguishing feature of Windows vs. Android/iOS.

Bob Lewis at InfoWorld is very much in agreement with you on this, but I think that in the long run, Android is going to be the winner, not whatever Microsoft comes up with as a tablet OS.

Android already has a decent file system, and apps that don't try to mimic the iOS environment take advantage of that. Documents to Go, Mantano, RepliGo and others allow you to browse for files throughout a device's storage. ES File Manager allows me to browse not only my phone and tablet, but my Windows LAN as well.  I can copy and move files between folders on the device or the LAN, and open them directly in associated applications, much like a Windows file manager.

I think we are a long way from having the kind of functionality on tablets that we expect on personal computers, but as of today, Android gives me a more of that than iOS ever will. As for Microsoft, I  think they may well end up with another non-competitive OS like the Pocket PC, at least on phones and tablets.