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

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.

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.