Recommendation for desktop computer

[Captain Cactus]

Hey gang,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a basic desktop computer & monitor combo.  Something that we can use Microsoft Office on, store photos and videos, browse the internet, etc... No gaming and nothing cutting edge required. 

We purchased our current desktop PC back in 2008 and it's time for a new one.  Prefer new vs refurbished.

Any recommendations?

[AccidentialMustache]

16 Gb ram, "large enough" ssd, and whatever else it takes to get that. If you like hanging on to machines that long (14 years is... impressive!) then make sure the machine has only 2 of 4 memory slots filled, so you can stick another 2 sticks of ram in there in 4-8 years and you'll be good for another 14.

Seriously, non-gaming desktop PCs are a commodity and I can't much imagine spending time deciding "which one" beyond those sort of basic stats above and price.

[Captain Cactus]

Thanks!  Where do people buy these types of computers these days?  I think we bought our current one off the Dell website.  The previous one was purchased from Gateway... remember the cow box?

[evme]

Thanks!  Where do people buy these types of computers these days?  I think we bought our current one off the Dell website.  The previous one was purchased from Gateway... remember the cow box?

I remember the cow box. I've used Dell for laptops but more recently I had a local computer store that does a lot of custom builds make one for me to my desired specs. It's held up very well for 4+ years so far. One thing I think the major brands often do is use cheap components that tend to die relatively quickly. This is especially important for power supplies -- make  sure you get a good one so that it lasts. Having that plus enough RAM and a good SSD should make your desktop last for many years. Just avoid the low end processors like Celeron which are cheaper but not nearly as good (more an issue with laptops I think)

[RWD]

I do remember the Gateway cow box! I actually kept that box for quite some time as a moving box.

For pre-built computers I like Lenovo, though their website is not the easiest to navigate. IdeaCentre, ThinkCentre, or ThinkStation would probably be what you're looking for. HP has decent options as well. Probably the Pavilion or Envy model lines? Dell has decent computers as well, but they are known for sneaking add-ons into your order and pushing repeatedly for warranties (see Secret Shopper series on Linus Tech Tips YouTube channel).

Building your own system is quite simple and rewarding too. Not really any harder than a Lego set. You'll get some higher quality hardware this way and be better prepared for the future (pre-builts can be more difficult to repair/upgrade). Example build:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/P3xDcb

[Dollar Slice]

Thanks!  Where do people buy these types of computers these days?  I think we bought our current one off the Dell website.  The previous one was purchased from Gateway... remember the cow box?

I also like Lenovo. I haven't bought one in a while but assuming they haven't tanked, quality-wise, in the last few years, all the ones I bought for myself, my parents, and at work (laptop and desktop) have been really solid.

[AccidentialMustache]

If you don't care about extensibility and the "big box" of a desktop PC (although a lot of desktop PCs are going to be way smaller than whatever you have, because small form factor PCs are much more common now than in 2008), you might want to check out intel's NUC ("Next Unit of Computing") line. They're little boxes the size of a couple hardbacks stacked. You'd need to add ram (sodimms usually/always?, so like what laptops use) and disk (newer ones should fit a standard nvme ssd) and your own copy of windows (or linux). I don't like that they usually use external power supplies. I don't know if intel got smart enough to make them use power-over-usb-type-c yet. They're laptop chips inside and not particularly upgradeable, but are small and fairly inexpensive. Intel has done them for a while, so you'll want to make sure you're getting something reasonably current (and/or mad discounts for something older).

If you don't care about windows, there's a thread about the new m1 mac mini on the forums somewhere. It'd run office (or apple's equivalent office suite) and browse the web fine, while being similar size and probably quieter. But they are a different cpu architecture and operating system, so beware. Also they tend to be impossible to upgrade, so you may want to go for more ram if that's an option. Disk you can always add a ssd over usb3.

The other option maybe worth considering would be a chromebook/chrome os desktop. If google drive or office 365 will fill your needs, you can get boots-to-chrome and just do everything via the web.

[Just Joe]

We bought a Dell XPS 8900 a number of years ago. Came with 8GB RAM and 1T HDD.

I have since added another 8GB of RAM and an upgraded video card (teens and games).

It was a pretty powerful computer but sold as overstock so similarly priced to a retail computer with less horsepower.

An XPS is still a $600 computer more or less. A full size case is easier to upgrade later b/c it can usually be done with commodity parts.

https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandId=2202&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&dgc=IR&cid=63473&lid=1663857

We never buy everything at once. We keep our monitors and peripherals as long as we can and then replace.

IF you want - your existing computer might have a few more years in it if you run Kubuntu Linux or one of the lighter weight Mint Linux desktops. All are free.

Libreoffice, Google Docs, and Kingsoft Office are all pretty good these days. Again all free. Also - WordPerfect is still out there. Also runs on Linux I hear.

[Just Joe]

Lookup Digikam or Dark Table for picture storage and picture adjusting - for free. The open-source universe has hundreds (thousands?) of free quality software solutions for Linux and sometimes also for Mac and Windows. There is a Digikam for Windows for example.

Wikipedia does a good job of showing what is out there. Look up one thing, look for the link the comparison table they always seem to offer, and see what the other open-source options are.

[cool7hand]

We try to wait for a deal but have stuck with Dell. We had an HP a couple of years ago, and after two years of warranty repair issues, HP returned our money and we bought our current Dell.

[Phenix]

https://stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows

FYI since you mentioned using MS Office. This is a great deal at $50, but it ends in about 5 hours so get to it if you want an updated version of Office.

[RWD]

https://stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows

FYI since you mentioned using MS Office. This is a great deal at $50, but it ends in about 5 hours so get to it if you want an updated version of Office.

$36 from here (they also have great deals on Windows itself):
https://www.kinguin.net/category/100061/ms-office-2021-professional-plus-retail-key

[Phenix]

https://stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows

FYI since you mentioned using MS Office. This is a great deal at $50, but it ends in about 5 hours so get to it if you want an updated version of Office.

$36 from here (they also have great deals on Windows itself):
https://www.kinguin.net/category/100061/ms-office-2021-professional-plus-retail-key

Nice find!

[RWD]

https://stacksocial.com/sales/microsoft-office-professional-plus-2021-for-windows

FYI since you mentioned using MS Office. This is a great deal at $50, but it ends in about 5 hours so get to it if you want an updated version of Office.

$36 from here (they also have great deals on Windows itself):
https://www.kinguin.net/category/100061/ms-office-2021-professional-plus-retail-key

Nice find!

I purchased my Windows 10 Pro key from them for less than $40. They tacked on a few bucks in fees. So for the Office deal I linked expect the final price to be closer to $43. This isn't a sale either, prices are always this cheap.

[Syonyk]

...you might want to check out intel's NUC ("Next Unit of Computing") line. They're little boxes the size of a couple hardbacks stacked. You'd need to add ram (sodimms usually/always?, so like what laptops use) and disk (newer ones should fit a standard nvme ssd) and your own copy of windows (or linux).

Don't get a NUC.  I've had several over the years, and they seem to reliably last 4-5 years before they start having problems with graphics output - just "getting glitchy."  I've never had this problem with desktop boards, and you can always swap out the GPU if something there dies, but the NUCs seem to have longevity problems at the moment.  They retire to compute boxes, but high res output seems to get iffy at some alarmingly short point in their life, well outside warranty, of course.

If you don't care about windows, there's a thread about the new m1 mac mini on the forums somewhere.

There's the thread in which I purchase one, then sell it having lost quite a bit of money in the deal because I can no longer tolerate Apple...

[AccidentialMustache]

Noted about the NUCs. That's too bad.

[GuitarStv]

If you're willing to build your own PC rather than buy one ready made off the shelf you can get a much better product for your money.  Most of the pre-built desktops I see will skimp on important but non-sexy things (power supply, proper case cooling, etc.).  The PCs I build for myself tend to be reliable for 10-15 years with minor upgrades, and are very silent (I use them while recording acoustic instruments and vocals).

Is there a reason you want to use MS Office rather than LibreOffice?  How are you using the PC (for many people, a UHD TV will work fine as a monitor rather than a more traditional computer monitor)?

[RWD]

If you're willing to build your own PC rather than buy one ready made off the shelf you can get a much better product for your money.  Most of the pre-built desktops I see will skimp on important but non-sexy things (power supply, proper case cooling, etc.).  The PCs I build for myself tend to be reliable for 10-15 years with minor upgrades, and are very silent (I use them while recording acoustic instruments and vocals).

Agreed, and building a PC is really not that hard. There are even comprehensive guides on YouTube like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL4DCEp7blY

[Syonyk]

The PCs I build for myself tend to be reliable for 10-15 years with minor upgrades

Same - most of my "old desktops" are still in operation somewhere, and still work fine.  Back to about the start of the Core i-era (i3/i5/i7) is still usable, though I wouldn't build something around the first couple generations of that anymore.  5th-7th gen on, or AMD Zen 2/3, totally fine.

One of my old programming workstations has retired (!) to CAD use.  I get some nice parts and pieces out of that trade. ;)

Is there a reason you want to use MS Office rather than LibreOffice?

I mean... have you used LibreOffice for anything?  It's pretty gross around all the edges if you're used to MS Office or Apple's software.

Sadly, it's the only thing that runs on platforms I remain willing to use, so I'll suffer through it, but I do almost all my work in Markdown anymore.  It sucks less.

[GuitarStv]

One of my old programming workstations has retired (!) to CAD use.  I get some nice parts and pieces out of that trade. ;)

Old computers don't die . . . they just become Linux boxes!   :P

Is there a reason you want to use MS Office rather than LibreOffice?

I mean... have you used LibreOffice for anything?  It's pretty gross around all the edges if you're used to MS Office or Apple's software.

Sadly, it's the only thing that runs on platforms I remain willing to use, so I'll suffer through it, but I do almost all my work in Markdown anymore.  It sucks less.

I've been using LibreOffice at home and MS Office at work for more than a decade.  Libre works fine for basic document writing and spreadsheet stuff for me.  I much prefer the Libre UI to was MS has been doing with Office 365 - seems more functional and less confusing.

[Syonyk]

Libre works fine for basic document writing and spreadsheet stuff for me.

That's about as much as I'll give it.  It works for basic functionality.

I've been doing some solar oneline diagrams to help other people out.  I originally did them in Keynote on a Mac, and after... decisions to not use actively user-hostile OSes after the CSAM debacle, I remade them in Libreoffice.  It's painful in just how few things it has, like basic centering and snap to.  It's a step about 20 years back to a late 1990s Powerpoint, and not in a good way.

[Just Joe]

You might look at Inkscape and Scribus and see if either suits your project better than LibreOffice.

I'm a Libreoffice user but I don't require much horsepower from it. I'd drift towards WordPerfect if I was stuck in Windows full-time.

[Syonyk]

I'd drift towards WordPerfect if I was stuck in Windows full-time.

They still exist?  Huh.

If I were stuck in Windows full time, I'd buy a good electric typewriter.

[GuitarStv]

I'd drift towards WordPerfect if I was stuck in Windows full-time.

They still exist?  Huh.

If I were stuck in Windows full time, I'd buy a good electric typewriter.

For free software, Windows isn't bad.  I'd never pay money for it though.

[BDWW]

...you might want to check out intel's NUC ("Next Unit of Computing") line. They're little boxes the size of a couple hardbacks stacked. You'd need to add ram (sodimms usually/always?, so like what laptops use) and disk (newer ones should fit a standard nvme ssd) and your own copy of windows (or linux).

Don't get a NUC.  I've had several over the years, and they seem to reliably last 4-5 years before they start having problems with graphics output - just "getting glitchy."  I've never had this problem with desktop boards, and you can always swap out the GPU if something there dies, but the NUCs seem to have longevity problems at the moment.  They retire to compute boxes, but high res output seems to get iffy at some alarmingly short point in their life, well outside warranty, of course.

If you don't care about windows, there's a thread about the new m1 mac mini on the forums somewhere.

There's the thread in which I purchase one, then sell it having lost quite a bit of money in the deal because I can no longer tolerate Apple...

In our office, all our workstations have been replaced by NUCs running Ubuntu for ~50 employees.  They've worked great. Employees have even bought NUCs for home use, AND had us install Ubuntu on the NUC for them.  The one issue we've ran into is that after about 5 years or so in our office environment, we have to clean the heatsinks. They tend to collect dust in one particular area, that will eventually cause overheating/fan/throttling issues if not addressed. Once that's done, they continue to chug along fine.

edit: Just checked the oldest ones we have in service are D54250WYK s which are from late 2013.

[Just Joe]

Libre works fine for basic document writing and spreadsheet stuff for me.

That's about as much as I'll give it.  It works for basic functionality.

I've been doing some solar oneline diagrams to help other people out.  I originally did them in Keynote on a Mac, and after... decisions to not use actively user-hostile OSes after the CSAM debacle, I remade them in Libreoffice.  It's painful in just how few things it has, like basic centering and snap to.  It's a step about 20 years back to a late 1990s Powerpoint, and not in a good way.

I'm in LibreOffice 7.2. Could these be the functions you are looking for? On the toolbar too. 

[Just Joe]

If someone isn't thrilled with LibreOffice:

https://wps.com/
Free on Linux. I believe they also have Windows and Mac versions. 
https://www.youtube.com/c/WPSOfficeOfficial

And from Germany: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoftMaker_Office
Also platform independent. And free for personal use.

[alsoknownasDean]

OnlyOffice may be an option too.

https://www.onlyoffice.com/

But yeah, if that's all you need, you wouldn't need a high end machine. I'd make a strong recommendation to get an SSD instead of a mechanical hard drive (or eMMC), but most of the rest should be adequate (I'd probably aim for 8GB of RAM for longevity as well). Should be some decent deals around.

This should do the trick just fine for $500 (assuming 256GB is enough). You can use your current monitor (unless it's VGA only), keyboard and mouse, or buy a new one of those on the Dell website if you want a change there too.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/new-inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3910-desktop/nd3910fifhs

If you're a bit more 'build it yourself' you could get something small like a NUC.

Here's some from Best Buy that would also do the trick:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-desktop-intel-core-i3-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-natural-silver/6477686.p?skuId=6477686
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideacentre-3-desktop-amd-athlon-silver-series-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-mineral-grey/6476241.p?skuId=6476241

And if power consumption and small size matter more than performance, stuff like this is available (although note you'll give up a fair bit of horsepower).

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/azulle-byte4-pro-mini-desktop-pc-intel-gemini-lake-41-4gb-memory-intel-uhd-graphics-64gb-emmc/6444439.p?skuId=6444439

[js82]

OnlyOffice may be an option too.

https://www.onlyoffice.com/

But yeah, if that's all you need, you wouldn't need a high end machine. I'd make a strong recommendation to get an SSD instead of a mechanical hard drive (or eMMC), but most of the rest should be adequate (I'd probably aim for 8GB of RAM for longevity as well). Should be some decent deals around.

This should do the trick just fine for $500 (assuming 256GB is enough). You can use your current monitor (unless it's VGA only), keyboard and mouse, or buy a new one of those on the Dell website if you want a change there too.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/new-inspiron-desktop/spd/inspiron-3910-desktop/nd3910fifhs

If you're a bit more 'build it yourself' you could get something small like a NUC.

Here's some from Best Buy that would also do the trick:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-desktop-intel-core-i3-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-natural-silver/6477686.p?skuId=6477686
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-ideacentre-3-desktop-amd-athlon-silver-series-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-mineral-grey/6476241.p?skuId=6476241

And if power consumption and small size matter more than performance, stuff like this is available (although note you'll give up a fair bit of horsepower).

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/azulle-byte4-pro-mini-desktop-pc-intel-gemini-lake-41-4gb-memory-intel-uhd-graphics-64gb-emmc/6444439.p?skuId=6444439

8 GB of RAM is borderline at best for a modern system, even if you're not gaming.  My wife's laptop has 8 GB and it routinely sits at >85% memory utilization and she complains about its performance routinely.  She most assuredly does NOT game/edit video/do anything particularly demanding.  Just modern builds of windows + Chrome + MS office will eat up most of your RAM if you have 8 gigs.

An extra 8 GB of RAM is something like $30-40.  I know this forum is focused on frugality, but RAM is not the corner you want to cut when building a PC.

If there are two pieces of advice I'd give a PC buyer, they would be:

1) Get a SSD (at least 256 gb for windows + your other stuff)
2) Don't skimp on RAM(8 is borderline low, 16 is more than you need for office software but future-proof, 32 is overkill unless your PC is doing some serious heavy lifting)

I'd also add "don't get fewer than 4 cores" to that list, but I'm pretty sure Intel/AMD aren't shipping anything with less than that right now.

[KarefulKactus15]

May as well learn Google office products, that's what the kids are using today.

I was asking a new employee if they knew how to use Microsoft excel.

Her response "what's excel?"

So I describe it and ask if they dont teach that anymore? And than she says "oh so it's like Google's sheets"

Thought that was funny.  She's never even heard of Microsoft office products.

[Just Joe]

I'll second the 8GB and SSD advice above.

RE: RAM. I've used Crucial.com for memory upgrades. Sometimes an aftermarket upgrade is cheaper than buying the big RAM at purchase time.

RE: SSD. Buy the 256GB SSD and then add a 1TB+ HDD for file storage if you have a big pile of media or files. OS and software go on the SSD, everything else on the HDD.

Back to RAM: I'm sitting in front of a 2012 Dell Precision workstation running current Kubuntu. It has 8GB of RAM and with Chrome open (only Chrome) with several tabs open, Linux says it is using 2GB of RAM. I'm using the KDE desktop which most people agree is more resource hungry than other lighter desktop systems but it is what I prefer. Its not the OS that is resource hungry as much as it is Chrome. If I open multiple tabs of Facebook, I can run out of RAM.

Otherwise it is still a good, snappy useful machine that I use all day every work day. I have a newly new laptop for Windows/CAD.

[RWD]

It has 8GB of RAM and with Chrome open (only Chrome) with several tabs open, Linux says it is using 2GB of RAM.

Amateur.

[RWD]

It has 8GB of RAM and with Chrome open (only Chrome) with several tabs open, Linux says it is using 2GB of RAM.

Amateur.

For reference, that's my work laptop with Firefox (~40 tabs), MS Outlook, and MS Teams open.

[GuitarStv]

It has 8GB of RAM and with Chrome open (only Chrome) with several tabs open, Linux says it is using 2GB of RAM.

Amateur.

For reference, that's my work laptop with Firefox (~40 tabs), MS Outlook, and MS Teams open.

For something that's basically a glorified chat program, Teams is shockingly memory inefficient.

[PDXTabs]

It has 8GB of RAM and with Chrome open (only Chrome) with several tabs open, Linux says it is using 2GB of RAM.

Amateur.

For reference, that's my work laptop with Firefox (~40 tabs), MS Outlook, and MS Teams open.

For something that's basically a glorified chat program, Teams is shockingly memory inefficient.

Well, it's Electron based. But also has really good cross-platform support so I don't complain.

[neo von retorch]

Have a bit more than Firefox (10 tabs) open... Edge has 7. But then 2 database programs, an API client, Teams, Outlook, Excel, Slack, Thunderbird, Messenger, Discord, VS Code (3 windows)...

Teams is using a bit under 1GB of RAM with an active screen share and 10 active video streams. 600MB on main thread and 300MB on the active meeting. Seems to be using 5-6% of GPU capabilities.

Of course this is off topic :)

To OP, I think building your own PC is just so satisfying. And really quite straight forward these days. I have lots of experience, so my viewpoint may be biased. But using pcpartpicker takes out so much of the guess work, and physical assembly is really easy these days.

Would recommend Ryzen 5600G (ish - the G is important because it has a built in video card which is all you need), DDR4 PC3200 (or PC3600 if it's really close in price - look to Corsair, G.Skill). Combo of one NVMe M.2 drive for OS (Samsung, HP, Crucial) and a large secondary drive for data (can be M.2 if you get a motherboard that supports 2 and prices are OK - otherwise just get a 2.5" SSD.)

Motherboard could be B550 from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI. ~$120 price range.

I like Corsair, Superflower, Seasonic, EVGA for power supplies. 500W would be plenty in your case.

[jnw]

Come to the light side, Mac Mini M1 :)  It's runs MS Office :)

[YttriumNitrate]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a basic desktop computer & monitor combo.  Something that we can use Microsoft Office on, store photos and videos, browse the internet, etc... No gaming and nothing cutting edge required. 
We purchased our current desktop PC back in 2008 and it's time for a new one.  Prefer new vs refurbished.
Any recommendations?

Although it sounds like you would rather have a new computer, used gaming computers that are a few years old tend to be fantastic for everything but playing the latest and greatest games at the highest setting. PC gamers seem to be continually upgrading their computers so there tends to be a steady supply of lovingly built used gaming computers at reasonable prices. Since gamers tend to overbuild their computers (e.g., bigger power supply than needed for original setup), it is quite easy (and cheap) to do an upgrade of them a few years later when the price of components has dropped.

I usually look for gaming PCs that are about 3 years old in the $300-$500 range, and can easily get a decade of use out of them.

[Syonyk]

May as well learn Google office products, that's what the kids are using today.

Yeah, until they decided to go rewording your docs for you for assorted reasons... their new AI tone police is quite absurd, and tells me a lot about the way they wish to go with their business products, and I was planning to use their services for a new business, but we may just self host now. :(

RE: RAM. I've used Crucial.com for memory upgrades. Sometimes an aftermarket upgrade is cheaper than buying the big RAM at purchase time.

Absolutely.  I would say, "Almost always, an aftermarket upgrade is cheaper."  However, if you can pay a tiny bit extra to get 8GBx1 vs 4GBx2, I'll usually do that, then stuff the other slot with as much as it will take.

And I agree about RAM, for any new-to-you purchase, 16GB is a good "general use amount."  You can do less, I run plenty of stuff on 4GB with my gutless ARM wonders, but I'm not normal nor do I suggest that to most people...

It's a decent filter, too.  Anything too old to support 16GB on the x86 side of things is likely to be painful.

Though 16GB is a bit tight for Qubes, which just about anyone who cares about security should be moving to.

RE: SSD. Buy the 256GB SSD and then add a 1TB+ HDD for file storage if you have a big pile of media or files. OS and software go on the SSD, everything else on the HDD.

You don't end up saving much, though.  The mid-performance 1TB+ NVMe drives just aren't that expensive anymore, and it's nice to not have to shuffle files around.  Though, I suppose, my fileserver handles most of the big stuff.  I've got some spinning rust on the home computer for bulk storage, and I almost never end up using it.  Gigabit to the server is more than sufficient, even for random DVD processing.  But for "most users," having 1TB NVMe is a better option, and about the same cost, as having a smaller boot drive and larger storage drive, and then you don't have to manage the space.

Come to the light side, Mac Mini M1 :)  It's runs MS Office :)

And, good news, they've "delayed" scanning your content for some indefinite period of time!

Nice machines.  My M1 Mini is the nicest computer I've ever used across a wide range of metrics, but it's sold to someone in Canada now.  I took a big loss on that whole setup, I hope they make good use of it.  I use my iPhone for the few "required things" I can't do with KaiOS (some building access key stuff and drone ops), and I'll drag my old MacBook Pro on travel if I don't want to subject the rest of the family to the brokenness of my other machines, but that's about it for them.

[GuitarStv]

But for "most users," having 1TB NVMe is a better option, and about the same cost, as having a smaller boot drive and larger storage drive, and then you don't have to manage the space.

I've always preferred an OS/Data split for a computer setup.  I've found that it tends to make data recovery/transfer between machines a lot simpler when stuff goes wrong.

[JGS1980]

I've had two Dell PC's in the last 26 years. 12 years for first, 14 for the second. I'm in the market again now. Costco has some great deals if you pay attention.

I usually get mid-market PC's and keep them forever (kind of like cars).

I prefer to pay a little more now and not have to pay for upgrades. Time is money.

[KarefulKactus15]

I find mid market to be the sweet spot for many things

[YttriumNitrate]

I've had two Dell PC's in the last 26 years. 12 years for first, 14 for the second. I'm in the market again now. Costco has some great deals if you pay attention.
I usually get mid-market PC's and keep them forever (kind of like cars).
I prefer to pay a little more now and not have to pay for upgrades. Time is money.

You used a computer from 1996 until 2008? That's impressive. What processor speed was it? 100 MHz? I thought I was doing good using my 300MHz computer from 1998 till 2005.

[Phenix]

I find mid market to be the sweet spot for many things

Mid-market is my sweet spot for phones. The associate at the store will steer you straight to the iphone or galaxy lineup (and offer you an "incredible" deal on a samsung tablet). What I noticed when I was in the store earlier this month was that the monthly payment for the high-end phones hasn't changed much over the years, but that's because it's now a 36-month plan instead of 24-month. If you've got a specific need for $1,000+ phone (i.e. it makes you money or you're not the one paying for it), have at it. I feel someone would have a difficult time convincing me that your typical smart phone user needs anything above a mid-tier ($200-$500) smart phone.

[jnw]

I really like the Mac Mini M1 because it's absolutely silent, inexpensive, very fast and uses like 5-10W power when in use.  Previously I had a hackintosh running on Intel.  Was very loud with processor fan, case fan and graphics card fan; and it sucked up a lot of power.  I calculated the electricity costs for 5 years, and the savings in electricity, from the switch, pays for almost half of the $549 Mac Mini M1.  So it was like getting the Mac Mini M1 for $300.   (Fortunately the video card I had bought for $179 a few years back appreciated during the cryptocurrency mining last year and I sold the video card for like $400.. So just the video card sale more than paid for this Mac Mini M1.)

[KarefulKactus15]

Pcs have come a long way. For any gaming I have a small custom ITX build that has had incredible value for me as it almost always receives used parts when other people upgrade to top tier stuff.

With that being said if you don't have ultra high res monitors or keep 25 chrome tabs up.  .  .

I bought this for the office PC at a business I own.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0899N2L6T?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

No issues at all, it runs 24/7 as we never turn it off.  Plenty fast for office stuff and very affordable.  It's a basic browser PC and other basic office task.  I can't imagine it struggling with any normal task that isn't gaming or stress testing.

It scores about 3,000 on passmark. Don't let this fool you with top tier CPUs putting out scores of 40,000 these days... That's only a recent invention.   That score would have been good enough to game in 2016.

I'm pleased with it, it's cheap, and if you have a monitor versa mount it doesn't even take up desktop space

[RWD]

I bought this for the office PC at a business I own.

Dual LAN, nice. That could make a pretty good router with pfSense.

[Moonwaves]

Pcs have come a long way. For any gaming I have a small custom ITX build that has had incredible value for me as it almost always receives used parts when other people upgrade to top tier stuff.

With that being said if you don't have ultra high res monitors or keep 25 chrome tabs up.  .  .

I bought this for the office PC at a business I own.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0899N2L6T?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

No issues at all, it runs 24/7 as we never turn it off.  Plenty fast for office stuff and very affordable.  It's a basic browser PC and other basic office task.  I can't imagine it struggling with any normal task that isn't gaming or stress testing.

It scores about 3,000 on passmark. Don't let this fool you with top tier CPUs putting out scores of 40,000 these days... That's only a recent invention.   That score would have been good enough to game in 2016.

I'm pleased with it, it's cheap, and if you have a monitor versa mount it doesn't even take up desktop space

This is interesting. I found this on offer on German amazon for less than €190. It might be a good option to take the pressure off my ten-year-old laptop. I rescued an old monitor from work recently and would only need to buy a keyboard.
I'd be using it for: Word, PowerPoint, Excel (I translate on the side and this is the format most things come in), occasional streaming (netflix, youtube etc.), blogging. So, nothing like gaming but intermittently very heavy use all the same. Obviously all the usual stuff like anti-virus, VPN, etc. as well.
Would anyone who knows about such things care to take a glance at the one I found and offer an opinion? It's not quite the same as the one Kroaler linked.

[alsoknownasDean]

Pcs have come a long way. For any gaming I have a small custom ITX build that has had incredible value for me as it almost always receives used parts when other people upgrade to top tier stuff.

With that being said if you don't have ultra high res monitors or keep 25 chrome tabs up.  .  .

I bought this for the office PC at a business I own.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0899N2L6T?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1

No issues at all, it runs 24/7 as we never turn it off.  Plenty fast for office stuff and very affordable.  It's a basic browser PC and other basic office task.  I can't imagine it struggling with any normal task that isn't gaming or stress testing.

It scores about 3,000 on passmark. Don't let this fool you with top tier CPUs putting out scores of 40,000 these days... That's only a recent invention.   That score would have been good enough to game in 2016.

I'm pleased with it, it's cheap, and if you have a monitor versa mount it doesn't even take up desktop space

This is interesting. I found this on offer on German amazon for less than €190. It might be a good option to take the pressure off my ten-year-old laptop. I rescued an old monitor from work recently and would only need to buy a keyboard.
I'd be using it for: Word, PowerPoint, Excel (I translate on the side and this is the format most things come in), occasional streaming (netflix, youtube etc.), blogging. So, nothing like gaming but intermittently very heavy use all the same. Obviously all the usual stuff like anti-virus, VPN, etc. as well.
Would anyone who knows about such things care to take a glance at the one I found and offer an opinion? It's not quite the same as the one Kroaler linked.

The J3455 CPU is quite a bit older (2016) than the J4125 (2019). A quick Google indicates the latter benchmarks around 40-50% faster.

Although the specific model numbers of the low power Celeron and Pentium Silver lineup are super confusing.

Sent from my Redmi Note 8 Pro using Tapatalk

[neo von retorch]

In addition,

6GB DDR3 vs 8GB DDR4
64GB eMMC vs 128GB SSD (SSD is vastly superior storage to eMMC)