AIO-PC's VS Laptops

6xes

im suprised people tend to opt for Laptops, when you can pickup relatively cheaper, All-in-one PC's for a comparable price, especially so if you look into the second hand markets for these AIO PC's

I recall when i began this music quest with maschine Hardware/Software... one of my first thought's was to get a dedicated machine to do my music on..i originally opted for a laptop... but looking back now... im so glad i never went in that direction, as the issue was always going to be ports and the lack of them...

most laptops these days you are lucky to get 4 ports... without the need of USBhubs

A 24inch AIO-PC with 6usb ports & having a better cooling system than a laptop &running a i7-3770s with just 8gb and SSD can work wonders with audio...

you wouldnt believe it... but i picked this up for $130NZD a couple of years ago... its not my main PC mind you... but its only 15%-18% slower than my i7-4770k which is my main workhorse

im curious what are the 2nd hand prices for a i7-3770s or better AIO-PC in your neck of the woods?

6xes

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-3770S-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4770K/m2218vs1537

Kubrak

My strongest computer (I have 6 of them) is my "hobby" computer for music production. I have started with notebooks, but the first had weak CPU (i7, but just 2C/4T), the second had bottleneck in RAM (only 16 GB) and CPU (i7 4C/8T). Getting notebook that would have specs I need would cost a fortune (more than I was willing to pay) and I did not need notebook, just something that is easy ocasionaly to transport... And I ended up with miniPC (size 15x15x8 cm, roughly 6x6x3 in.).

One could attach it to monitor and make it DIY AIO-PC.

https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini%20X300%20Series/index.asp

They also make two even smaller models and one bigger.

https://www.asrock.com/nettop/index.asp

chk071

@6xes I think people simply reach for laptops because they like them. A desktop PC always will have much better bang for the buck. It's quite extreme actually... in most cases, you will get 100% more performance for the same price when you buy a laptop.

For audio or gaming, I wouldn't even think about getting a laptop. It's always desktop for me. My current PC has a 230 € CPU which smokes the Apple M1. (One of those things again... there's so much hype about that CPU while it's merely a great mobile CPU, with the usual trade offs in terms of performance vs. power consumption.)

If you want performance, get a desktop. Nothing more to say about that.

JesterMgee

many want a laptop for portability, what it’s designed for so you can produce or perform outside your walls.

I have both a PC and Mac laptop but use a PC tower for production and work at home because it has all the IO, storage space and power for my daily demands. I love the portability of my Mac and the fact it stays on for months and never slows down, but it’s not all that powerful, macOS has some terrible workflow cripples and the IO (2 USB ports) is so detached from anything “pro”.

Personally I would never cripple my home work with an “all in one” pc, means for a start you are stuck with whatever monitor it’s strapped to, second all the cables have to rout up to that monitor, third is you happen to get a failure in almost anything the whole thing is useless just like a laptop.

6xes

@JesterMgee

theres no denying the portability that Laptops provide!! And the Apple M1 mac laptops provide amazing performance&batterylife... and in that particular instance it does break the mould but at a significant cost!

when making a case for DesktopsTowers vs AIO-PC, one cannot go past a Desktoptower and the modular aspect it can provide!!

price points in the secondhand market AIO-PC vs Laptop was the direction i was attempting to highlight in this Thread..and from what i've observed...(secondhand) price vs performance has laptops overvalued and under performing per dollar. perhaps i just got lucky with the $130 i7-3770s AIO-PC

chk071

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/31880#Comment_31880

"many want a laptop for portability, what it’s designed for so you can produce or perform outside your walls."

Exactly. That's the primary point people get a laptop for, I think. Many people don't realize though that you get double the performance in a desktop for the same price in most cases.

I'm more of a desktop guy in general, though. I have a laptop, but, I'm on my desktop 99% of the time. Better performance, bigger display, keyboard and mouse. For stationary use, it's the much better option in my opinion.

Kubrak

Well, it depends. I used to have only stationary PCs for a decade or so. Then PC, and notebook for mobility. Then only notebook for almost two decades... It had suffitiently enought CPU power for my needs. And I have used it mostly stationary with external keyboard, mouse and large monitor....

But music production on notebook would be way expensive and needed many compromises. So now I have 5 notebooks for work/lessure and one miniPC for music production.