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The New iMacs and Lenovo A70z: Are "All-in-One" Computers Right for Your Business?
Apple recently introduced a new version of its popular iMac all-in-one computer with a 27-inch high-resolution display. Lenovo also announced a new all-in-one PC, the Z70z. Both systems, and others like them, put processors, storage and drives inside the same box with the display, and often sport wireless keyboards and mice, for greater flexibility and smaller footprints on user desktops. Are all-in-one computers a good choice for your business? If so, why? If not, why not?
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5 Answers
Let's just talk about the All-in-One. First-the All-in-One is more environmentally friendly. Power consumtion is less because there is only one power supply for the computing and the monitor. The packaging to ship is only one box versus 2 boxes for the dekstop and the monitor. The footprint is smaller for yoru desk. If you have a crowded office then it may make sense to have the All-in-One.
All that being said, the above reasons may be nice reasons to use them. However, you have to look at the application the computers is going to be used for. If what is needed to run your business is more than an All-in-One can provide then all those reasons above do not matter. Efficiency is time and time is money.
Now to the question- In my office I could see using the All-in-One for my sales staff. The computing power requirements are fairly minimal and the desk space needed is not very much (smaller footprint would be nice). I want my sales staff out selling. Now my engineering and technician staff need much more computing power so the All-in-One would not be appropriate.
Bottom line, fit the computer for the job requirements and the budget.
As Steve says, fit the computer to the job requirements and budget. Along with that are a couple of other items to consider.
When looking at budget, is it better to spend the money up front for a more expensive unit or save up front to replace later? We had a few Gateway all-in-ones, not a good computer though cheap. Not only did they not last but ended up costing us in production time. Our thought was there would be low demand on these boxes and of course they were cheap. As often is the case, demand on them was higher than expected and they had a tendency to break. That being said, I would expect the all-in-ones of today to be better than before, at least some of them.
Second is form and function. For me it is more feasible to have a MacBook Pro, dock it in the office and take it with me to towers or remote locations. For our office workers, an good quality all-in-one would work, save on desktop and/or floor real estate but provide the quality and work experience needed.
So consider those and research the selections for power, quality and perhaps versatility. You may not see the need for some items which may be standard on a desktop/tower but can you have them or add them on the all-in-one. We needed to besides the quality not being good at the time.
tk
From Lenovo - "The compact ThinkCentre A70z includes a 19 inch, 16:10 widescreen LCD monitor packed into a 2.4 inch[4] black frame that complements just about any office environment."
A70z. I spend a few minutes looking for an Z70z.
The A70z ? No I wouldn't use that. All in One's are tricky do to their being a mini heat tower of sorts. If, after a few years of production the line proves out and they increase the screen size, then maybe that line could be part of the discussion. I think something from HP might have been a better fit ?
As for the 27 Inch iMac. These are more then suitable for all but the real powers users ( engineers, video, audio.) Most users wouldn't stress just a system. I have been placing the 24 Inch iMac's since they came out and none to date has failed. A few have been bootcamp'ed into XP and that has been fine too.
So, yes to the 27" iMac. They should be so lucky.
I would tend to agree with Robert. We've implemented a mix of standard size monitors, dual monitors, and large-screen monitors at our company. Being able to mix and match monitors with a variety of laptops (and docking stations) or a variety of desktop models allows us to provide form-factors that the employees can choose and has increased end-user satisfaction.
But, the biggest issue to me is that the monitors we use tend to last much longer than either the laptops or the selected components of the workstations. By keeping the components separate, we can perform a desktop or a laptop upgrade without being tied to a monitor upgrade, at the same time.
As others have noted here, businesses will need to decide based on number of suppotred users, support models, and anticipated upgrade/replacement cycles for end-user environments.
It really boils down to money.
All-in-one systems are really a pain for the IT department. If for no other reason, no matter what we do users will manage to screw up a computer. I've come to find that all the SAN's, roaming profiles, and group policies in the world still cannot save a user from themselves.
With that said -- it's worth noting that all-in-one thin clients are really nice. You put it on a desk, give them a network connection and *poof* you're done. If it breaks you just bring them another one. This can increase productivity within the IT department by making computer replacement more efficient, but that doesn't necessarily translate to bottom-line ROI because it might be cheaper to have them replace a bad monitor or bad tower vs an all-in-one. Depends on your rate of failure respectively in each area.
From an accounting or operations perspective it could be a bad idea. For accounting purposes a monitor and computer are counted independently so you stand to increase your ROI keeping them separate -- particularly if you bought them at different times. Each company is different but a lot of companies who buy rather than lease write off the depreciation value. Most people get a computer more frequently than they do both, but most companies buy a new monitor when they purchase a new computer to have spares on hand. Whether it's in use or not the it's still losing value from what the company paid for it so they will write it off. I believe you can write technology equipment off for up to 5 years (but I'm not an accountant). This really only applies to larger organizations though. Small Businesses will likely write the purchase off entirely the first year as a business expense.
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