Desktop, all-in-one or laptop – what made you pick your PC?

Apple.

In using Apple desktops and laptops since 1992 I have only had a single breakdown, when a hard drive required replacement. I had a hinge break on a laptop, some time after I dropped it. I still use it for displays at events, where I would not want my newer machine stolen or damaged. Apple desktops and laptops do well in Which? tests.

I hate the company but like their hardware.

wavechange, I’ve never got to grips with Apple. I’m used to MS Office, MS Money, AllyCAD, where I am familiar with some useful details of the software and don’t really want to change. How does the Apple OS handle such things?

Malcolm – I have never attempted to run Windows on a Mac, but here’s what I learned a few years ago. One of the alternatives is to partition the hard drive and run Apple Boot Camp, so that you have a dual-boot machine running OSX (Mac operating system and Windows). To avoid having to re-boot there are third-party applications including Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. I presume they are emulators.

I am certainly not going to pretend that the Apple platform offers anything like the same choice of software as is available for the PC.

MS Office has long been available for the Mac. A major difference is that there has never been a version of the database Access for Mac. Microsoft released Excel for the Mac before it became available on the PC.

When I mentioned that I had few problems with Macs, that refers to desktop and laptop machines at both home and at work. Not everyone has been so lucky.

wavechange, thanks. It would be useful if we had some guidance on reliable makes of PC.

From memory, the information about computer brand reliability is fairly basic on the Which? website.

If you are planning to move from a laptop to a desktop, replacing faulty parts is easier and therefore cheaper. I expect that compact all-in-one machines lie in between laptops and traditional desktops in this respect.

With a laptop, even a failing battery gives protection against brief interruptions in the mains supply. With a desktop machine, a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) can both protect the hardware and help avoid file corruption.

Linux does not readily support all makes and models of printers and/or scanners – so that is one area where Windows is arguably superior. Luckily for me, my old Canon MP750 is supported quite well for printing from Linux. I can also use its scanner under Linux, but the Canon supplied Windows software does a much better job of making scanned copies of documents.

I still have an old Windows desktop that I use for printing and scanning – and for playing Windows games on (if I can find the time).

I would recommend Medion – they scored well on a Which reliability evaluation and I have found their kit very reliable and support very helpful – both for PC’s and a Medion satnav I own. I did a recent exercise on their site to price up a desktop replacement and for the spec I found an All-in-one came out cheaper. I think that when I replace my desktop PC’s I would opt for an All-in-one – in my experience, although desktops do allow easier upgrade, people rarely actually do change the hardware spec that much. In 9 years of owning 2 Medion PC’s I have only added more RAM – this can also be done on All-in-one’s.

I have been very satisfied with my HP desktop set-up with a Brother printer which I have had for over five years now I think. I don’t exactly stretch the machine and much of the time it is in use as a word-processor really. Since I don’t have any other equipment on which I can access the internet I have depended on this PC and it has never let me down. One advantage of a desktop is that you cannot drag it around with you and use it in inappropriae places or at inappropriate times, although some people might see that as a drawback I suppose.

I am happy with my washing machine, cooker, microwave, hi-fi, etc which are all over 25 years old and still doing a good job. I would not be happy without a modern computer, though I do dig out ones older than yours when I need to run obsolete software to access old files or because I don’t have equivalent modern software.

If you are happy with your old computers then keep using them, but keep backups in case you have a problem.

Planner

It sounds as though you have a fair level of expertise in which case you could consider using UBUNTU open source operating system. It is almost as user friendly as Microsoft Windows and good technical support is available through Forums etc.

These is also open source software available for most common tasks including an office suite (LibreOffice).

The only time that you may experience difficulty using this free of charge operating system is if you have any special purpose software or an obscure peripheral for which drivers may not be available. You will probably find that it runs OK on your computer because it generally requires less resources than Microsoft Windows.

Why not try backing up one of your Windows PCs and give UBUNTU a try. If you have taken a complete backup of you existing system, you can always go back to Windows if you do not like.

Planner, Saturday’s Daily Telegraph (Rick Maybury) covered the XP topic. Essentially he said keep using it and don’t worry. Microsoft Security Essentials will no longer update virus definitions, but there are plenty of free alternatives, it says, with examples.

Thanks to Mike and Malcolm r for their comments. I had never heard of UBUNTO – until now of course. I’ve had a quick look at the web site and I might give it a try. I do have a bit of expertise being an ex electronics engineer from the days of ‘valves’ but I moved into IT for a few years before I retired. My overriding principle is KISS keep it simple (stupid) which in my experience is always the best approach. Your comments have reassured me about keeping my XP machines operational.

If you like XP (as I do!) then you might like the “Lubuntu” flavour of Ubuntu best.

I particularly like a derivative of that called LXLE (see http://lxle.net/) which comes bundled with lots of useful software preinstalled.

These versions give a Destop experience that is pretty much a “crib” of the Windows XP desktop.

The main standard version of Ubuntu now comes with a very different destop called Unity, which not everyone likes. A bit like Windows 8, Unity is quite different from the general Windows 95/98/2000/XP (etc…) model, so there is a steeper initial learning curve – arguably for little ultimate benefit. Unity has done for Ubuntu something akin to what Windows 8 has done for Microsoft – so a derivative of Ubuntu known as Linux Mint now seems to have become the “most popular” Linux family.

I have had a couple of low cost Dell desktops – both have been great machines. I still have the Vista-era quad-core desktop – this cost me about £300 in Tesco when they were selling them.

One way to get a fast “destop” would be to buy an off-the-shelf machine sold as a “server” – these seem to come with the fastest and most reliable components in them.

Another way would be to entrust a local computer shop to assemble a besopke machine. When I used to frequent computer fairs in Birmingham, I often saw firms such as Bytetech Computers doing such work there on a “while you wait” basis.

Desktops are also suitable subjects for “home build” projects. You won’t necessarily save any money compared to the cost of an off-the-shelf product – but you can at least tailor the machine for your exact needs.