All-in-One Computers

Sleek style, great performance

All-in-one desktops marry the computer and display into one sleek, attractive unit. They look great on a desk and take up much less room than a traditional tower-based desktop. The downside is that expansion possibilities range from slim to none, and that you can generally get more performance for the dollar from conventional desktop systems  featuring separate computers and monitors. Many all-in-one PCs are inexpensive systems -- typically called nettops -- built around netbook components. These computers are not recommended for power users, but you can read more about them in our report on desktop computers.

At the other end of the spectrum are powerful and pricy all-in-one computers that look great and deliver a ton of power and performance. Although most are not as powerful as traditional desktops, the top all-in-one computers have made large strides thanks to discrete graphics cards and speedy processors.

The Apple iMac dominates the all-in-one category, earning Editors' Choice awards from CNET, PCMag.com and ComputerShopper.com, and high ratings from several other sites. Reviewers say the iMac blows its competition out of the water with a sleek design and blistering performance buoyed by the inclusion of Intel's second-generation "Sandy Bridge" processors. The new models also offer a new FaceTime webcam and a high-speed Thunderbolt port (although few Thunderbolt peripherals are currently available). "When you consider the iMac's powerful performance, gorgeous design, and best-in-class LCD, it still adds up to one big, bad AIO that looks great on any desk," Jonathan Rougeot writes at ComputerShopper.com. Although four configurations are available, reviewers say the 21.5-inch 2.5 GHz iMac (*Est. $1,200 and up) represents the best value. It comes with a quad-core 2.5 GHz Core i5 processor, 4 GB of memory and a 500 GB hard drive.

Intel's efficient processor makes the 21.5-inch iMac significantly faster than its predecessors, reviews say. Combine it with the discrete AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 512 MB of RAM and reviewers say it has more than enough oomph to meet the needs of casual gamers, although it still lacks the punch of high-end Windows-based PCs. PCMag.com achieves 70 frames per second (fps) in "Crysis" and a "respectable" 32 fps in "Lost Planet 2," which none of the other all-in-ones it tests could display at a playable rate. Macworld reports 86.3 fps playing "Call of Duty 4" at 1,024-by-768 resolution and 52.9 fps at 1,920-by-1,080 resolution. Testers play games, edit videos and stream movies with no hiccups. It also posts good, if not overwhelming scores in Photoshop, iTunes and multimedia tests conducted by CNET. Although the 27-inch iMac posts better scores overall, reviewers still prefer the 21.5-inch model for most users. "The $1,199 entry-level 21.5-inch 2.5 GHz Core i5 iMac offers the most bang for the buck," James Galbraith writes at Macworld.  

Some reviewers would like to see a Blu-ray drive -- a feature you can find pretty easily on competing all-in-ones. Reviewers also have a host of other features they would like to see, including an HDMI output, USB 3.0 ports, a larger hard drive and a touch screen. While critics note that the Apple all-in-ones are more expensive that Windows-based equivalents, they also add that few Windows all-in-one computers can match the benchmark scores of the iMac series.

If you need more power, the top-of-the-line Apple iMac (*Est. $2,000 and up) comes with a 27-inch display and a quad-core 3.1 GHz Intel Core i5 processor. This configuration also earns several recommendations, especially for gamers and multimedia enthusiasts, who will benefit from the 1 TB hard drive and discrete AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1 GB of onboard memory. "In almost every way, this top-of-the line model beats every other AIO on the market," Rougeot writes at ComputerShopper.com. Rich Brown at CNET agrees, giving the 27-inch iMac an Editors' Choice award after the Apple all-in-one beat the high-end HP TouchSmart 610q-1065qd in every benchmark test he threw at them. Gaming performance is very good -- the iMac achieves 56 fps playing "Call of Duty 4" at 2,560-by-1,440-pixel resolution in CNET's test. ComputerShopper.com reports similar frame rates playing "Far Cry 2" at the same resolution and high graphics settings; dropping the resolution to 1,920x1,080 -- "the resolution you'll see on most other AIOs" -- resulted in a very playable 74.12 fps. "Crysis" reached 95 fps at medium settings in PCMag.com's test and played at a 42 fps clip at very high settings. "Essentially, to be faster on the game grid than the new top-of-the-line iMac, you'll have to get a specialized gaming rig," Joel Santo Domingo writes.

Reviewers say the large high-resolution display is simply stunning. Colors are rich and saturated, text is bright and videos look flawless, although glare can be a problem on the glossy screen. However, like the 21.5-inch model, the 27-inch iMac lacks a Blu-ray drive and HDMI port. You can read more about the Apple iMac in our report on Apple laptops and desktops.

If you prefer a PC that can deliver the goods as a family workhorse and multimedia performer, the HP TouchSmart 610 series (*Est. $1,400 and up) , which PCMag.com's Joel Santo Domingo actually prefers to the 27-inch iMac, gets the best reviews. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the reviews of the system come from the middle of the 2011, before HP began including second-generation "Sandy Bridge" Intel processors in the lineup. The CPU is the only major change to the TouchSmart 610 series, so reviews of the older models still offer great insight into the all-in-one's capabilities, as the second-generation processors will only add to the computer's capabilities, which critics say provides enough power to handle multimedia, everyday computing and most business computing tasks with ease.

Gaming was possible, but not a strength in the TouchSmart 610's older configurations. Engadget.com posts the only review we could find of the system with a Sandy Bridge CPU, and it reports achieving high frame rates in "Call of Duty 4" at 1,024-by-768 resolution, although it drops to a much lower, yet still playable 39 fps when the resolution is set to the TouchSmart 610's native 1080p resolution.

The touch-sensitive screen and HP's TouchSmart 4.0 interface are big attractions. Critics say HP has made great strides and made the touchscreen abilities into a much more natural, almost tablet-like experience -- with an assist from the touch capabilities built into Windows 7. Reviewers say HP's TouchSmart apps are pretty good, but it is the third-party apps from Netflix, Hulu and Rhapsody that really set this desktop apart. Performance when playing video from Blu-ray Discs (a drive is built-in) or via streaming from the web is excellent, and everything looks terrific on the true 1080p display.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 (*Est. $1,750 and up) is also worth a strong look. The system packs in a 3.4 GHz Sandy Bridge quad-core Intel Core i7-2600 processor, 8 GB of RAM, a 1 TB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M graphics card with 2 GB of dedicated memory. It also includes a lot of media extras, like a Blu-ray player, an HDTV tuner, five internal speakers with Intel HD audio, and 3D display capabilities. A built-in microphone and webcam are also included.

While the IdeaCentre B520 posts record all-in-one scores in PCMag.com and PC World's all-purpose and productivity benchmark tests, coming out on top of both the Apple and the HP machines, the Nvidia graphics card doesn't hold up well in gaming situations. PCMag.com reports it could only produce "playable" frame rates in "Crysis" at medium graphics settings. PC World achieved a respectable 48.2 fps on the older "Unreal Tournament 3" in the PC's native 1080p resolution, but "it struggled a little on Far Cry 2, a modern game that's a bit more demanding, where it averaged 23.4 fps on the same resolution and graphical settings." The touchscreen also isn't as responsive as the TouchSmart 610's. If you need a productivity powerhouse, critics say the IdeaCentre B520 is right up there with the other all-in-one choices, but it lacks the iMac's gaming prowess and the TouchSmart 610's overall elegance. The 3D display could tilt the scales in the favor of the Lenovo IdeaCentre B520 for some people, "But for most users looking beyond the gimmickry of blue cat-aliens jumping out of the screen at you, there are other more sedate choices," says PCMag.com's Joel Santo Domingo.