When I was in Bangkok a week or so ago we went to Pantip Plaza, a 6 story shopping centre in the heart of Bangkok that specializes in electronics, gaming, gadgets, audio and computing. I currently have a 15.4″ laptop which I use everyday at home to work and a 8.9″ netbook I use for travelling.
My 15.4″ Asus laptop is close to 2 years old now and whilst it’s still a great laptop, I’d like to upgrade my main pc. Also, after using my 8.9″ HP 2133 for 3 months whilst travelling, I realised that it just isn’t powerful enough to do what I want it to do. It remains a great little netbook but when I am checking emails and working online I want things to open quickly and the processor in the 2133 is really weak.
So I was paying attention to all the latest laptops and pcs whilst browsing around Pantip Plaza.
I’m still a bit of a Sony nut when it comes to laptops (and I don’t know why because they’re always so damn expensive!) and was really impressed with their new Sony P series, Sony’s great little 8″ widescreen laptop which only weighs .64kg. Apparently they designed the keyobard first and then built around that, which is why the screen is widescreen. I was doing my best to lie to myself and justify buying it but I really need my next portable laptop to be more powerful.
Their TT series remains my favourite line of laptops though the basic model starts at £1,500. I do plan on getting a new portable netbook or ultraportable when I travel next time but I’ll perhaps get something a little bit cheaper.
All in one PC’s
2 years ago, one of the main reasons I bought a laptop for my main pc was so that I could take it to a friends, downstairs or sit somewhere else in the house using it if I so wished. After 11 years of using a desktop pc, I was looking forward to having this option. However, since buying it I believe the laptop has been away from my desk about 3 times at most.
Therefore, for my next pc I am considering getting a desktop. Or perhaps, getting an All in One PC. I played around with the HP Touchsmart, Sony All in One, Dell XPS One and the Apple iMac in Bangkok. They were all great machines.
In particular I was impressed with the HP Touchsmart, an all in one which has touch screen capabilities. Browsing through music, pictures and video was just like using an Apple iTouch or iPhone. It would make a great entertainment centre and no doubt a talking piece in someones house.
All in One VS Desktop
I like the design and functionality of All in One PC’s. Though I don’t know if they are a worthwhile investment long term. Computers generally feel out of date after 3-4 years so perhaps it’s a better investment to just buy a shuttle pc and link it to an external monitor. After all, you can now get a 24″ monitor for under £200.
But is this a fair comparison. If an All in One PC is only a few hundred pounds more expensive than an equivalent desktop or laptop then surely having everything in one device makes more sense? I’m still not sure myself so over the next few days I am going to look at the most popular All in One PC’s and see if they offer value for money.
One thing’s for sure, over the next year or so you are going to see more and more All in One PC’s on the market. In particular, you will see an increase in the rise of NetTops, low budget all in one pcs which use the same equipment and chips as the numerous low cost Netbooks which everywhere nowadays.
Asus already have their Asus EEE Top Desktop PC out. For under £400 you get an integrated 15.6″ WP Touchscreen Monitor, Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM 160GB Hard Drive and Webcam. It also has XP Home preinstalled. Not too bad in my opinion. I also read today that MSI Wind is releasing an All in One called the AE1900 in the next few months. I bet we will see many more announcements from rival companies over the next few months.
Seeing as I love Sony laptops so much, I think it’s fitting that my first post to concentrate on a specific All In One should be Sony. I’ll post that tomorrow so stay tuned :)