It shows its prowess at handling everything from normal office work to intensive Adobe Cloud programs. This Acer Aspire desktop computer is as affordable as it is smart. It boasts a 4K screen great for content creators or the occasional gaming session.
Considering comparable all-in-one desktop computers can cost a decent amount more, you could even take the money saved here and treat yourself to a vibrant and sharp second monitor, a precise and responsive wireless mouse or even a room-filling set of speakers. Those looking for a capable, affordable computer that can handle everything from remote learning to casual use should strongly consider a Chromebox. Chrome OS is not as demanding on computer hardware as Windows or Mac OS, so having full-powered components is a boon in this situation.
But the real attraction is the fact that the screen can swivel from a vertical position to a flat one, allowing you to directly interact with the panel to edit photos and work on illustrations with point multitouch or the excellent Microsoft Surface Pen. It can even power two 4K monitors if you want. With a inch, p touch display backed up by an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM and a p webcam that tucks away, all of your needs from entertainment to photo editing to heavy chrome use will be covered.
However, at less than half the price as the Envy, it might be the better option for businesses, students and shoppers on a tighter budget. If gaming is part of the equation as you evaluate the best desktop PCs, then Alienware Aurora 11 Gaming Desktop is one of the best options.
But if you decide to go with a more modest build, the Aurora still provides plenty of power with the flexibility to upgrade your machine in the future. However, as computing hardware simultaneously gets more powerful and more compact, a growing number of the best desktop PCs are actually incredibly portable.
And if you are looking for the absolute cheapest and easiest way to jump into a desktop computing experience, the Asus Chromebit is it. Desktops and laptops definitely have their relative merits with the major difference boiling down to portability.
The specs you want from the best desktop computers will largely depend on what your needs are. Most computer brands have made a solid desktop computer at some point or another, but here are a few of our favorite companies right now:. Home Gadgets Electronics Apple. Recent Comments Add Comment. Beyond performance, a larger screen can make it more comfortable to work on multiple windows or large spreadsheets or kill some time watching Netflix. Lighter and less expensive than most laptops, these highly mobile devices offer an extra dose of portability and many—but certainly not all—of the features.
Click here to check our computer ratings. Chromebooks use Chrome OS, an operating system developed by Google and whose user interface largely resembles the Chrome web browser. See the best Chromebooks in our ratings here. Chromebooks typically have smaller amounts of storage than other laptops, so consumers should be prepared to stream, instead of download, content like music and movies. You need access to the internet to get the best work out of one of these machines, and store files in the cloud with services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive.
Laptops known as 2-in-1s either have a keyboard that can be bent around the back of the display or a keyboard that can be detached entirely. These are called convertibles and detachables, respectively. They may be useful if you want to use your laptop in bed while holding it like a tablet to stream video, say or if you want to prop up the laptop like a "tent" to more easily show off the display to other people nearby.
You may even find scrolling through photos or merely swiping around the web to be easier than using a mouse and keyboard. For some, a tablet can take the place of a laptop. See our tablet buying guide for detailed information about shopping for one. These machines are lightweight and highly portable. Their weight can vary between just less than a pound to about 1.
In our tests, their batteries can last more than 10 hours per charge. For office productivity tasks, you can add a keyboard to many of them. Desktops typically offer a better bang for your buck compared with laptops, delivering more power and performance per dollar spent. You may not need a ton of power if, say, you spend most of the day inside office productivity software, but they often cost less. Lastly, given the rise of video chatting, you may also need a standalone camera, since freestanding monitors typically don't come with one.
See our desktop ratings , and monitor ratings , available to CR members, for more information. Though they require a lot of room under or on top of your desk, full-sized desktops are the least expensive computers and the easiest to upgrade and repair. At less than half the size of full-sized desktops, compact or slim desktops are ideal if you lack space under your desk or if you plan to put the computer on your desk. All-in-one desktop computers, also known as "all-in-ones," combine the computer and monitor.
The components are tightly packed behind and underneath the display, making them difficult to upgrade or repair. Meant to be space-savers, they're also designed to look less stodgy than traditional computers. The sky's the limit for gaming systems. You get the fastest processors, the most sophisticated graphics cards, multiple large hard drives, and lots of RAM.
Cases are usually large and offer room for additional components like extra memory or dedicated sound cards. These tend to be quite expensive. Speed matters. Processors with multiple cores can process more data simultaneously, with four cores now increasingly common on laptops. Our ratings say how many cores a laptop's processor has. Clock speed, measured in gigahertz GHz , along with the number of cores and other factors, determines how quickly a processor can process information.
Many processors can up the speed a bit for a brief time to yield maximum performance. Generally, within a processor family, the higher the clock speed, the faster the processor. Clock speeds typically start at around 1 GHz for a mobile processor. Speeds can exceed 5 GHz for a desktop processor. Power Consumption Another important factor when choosing a processor, especially for laptops: Lower power consumption equals longer battery life.
If you're looking for a very basic or budget computer to browse the web, email, and work on Office documents, basically every processor on the market should be sufficient. If you plan to watch high-resolution videos or play mainstream games, the Intel Core i5 and AMD Ryzen 5 line of processors should be your starting point. How Much Memory? The more memory a computer has, the faster it is, up to a point.
Memory is measured in gigabytes GB. On both desktops and laptops 8GB has become common, with 16GB or more found on higher-end devices. Unless you regularly have multiple large apps open at the same time, 8GB should be your target. Operating System Windows 10 should be easy to use for anyone who has used a previous version of Windows.
Microsoft releases several Windows 10 updates free throughout the year, adding additional features, fixing bugs, etc. Macs can be a little more expensive than comparable PCs, but they're less prone to most viruses and spyware in part because there are more Windows PCs out there than Macs, making them a bigger target for hackers , and Apple's support has been tops in our surveys. The company's phone support is free for only 90 days, but you can get unlimited technical support through the Genius Bar at any Apple Store, though you should check ahead to make sure your local store is open and offering support.
The latest version of macOS is called Big Sur and was released in the fall of Apple also releases several macOS updates free throughout the year. Graphics Adapter and Graphics Memory Also known as the video card, graphics processing unit GPU , or graphics card, this hardware is responsible for drawing what you see on your screen. Graphics processing comes in two basic flavors: It can either be integrated into the same chip that's running the rest of the computer or it can run on a discrete piece of equipment.
Most computers have integrated graphics. This has usually been the less expensive and lower-performing option—fine for most tasks but not for serious gaming. Light video editing and gaming and all other typical computer tasks will do fine with integrated graphics.
They are also the single largest performance boost you can give a computer over an identical computer with a hard drive. Hard Drives Also known as a hard disk, this type of drive uses a spinning hard disk and uses more power than a solid-state drive. It is also slower overall. Hard-drive sizes are measured in gigabytes and terabytes, and commonly range from GB to more than 1TB. Not only is this tower gorgeous to look at with its minimalist glass case, but it also takes a lot of nods from the DIY world.
Of course, the Omen 30L has been updated with the latest Nvidia RTX series graphics cards and 11th-gen Intel processor, which guarantees top-of-the-line performance. At a time when upgrading your own desktop is extremely expensive, a prebuilt option is a good alternative, benefiting PC gamers when a graphics card alone can take your build off the rails. Why we picked the Apple iMac M1 inch :.
Apple is more of a laptop than a desktop brand, but the iMac is an exception. When it comes to Apple, a portion of the charm lies in the aesthetic.
The inch iMac is no exception. Coming in up to seven colors — blue, green, pink, white, yellow, orange, and purple — the iMac offers the ability to choose a look that fits you. The inch or Read our in-depth Apple iMac M1 inch review.
Most competing machines are less powerful and cost more, and some lack a discrete graphics card altogether. Size is the obvious standout feature of the Mac Mini. It only weighs 2. It easily beats the best mini PC you can buy in the balance of size and performance. Read our in-depth Apple Mac Mini M1 review. Apple has a stronghold on the all-in-one computer market, but this Envy model challenges that.
It comes with a large, beautiful display, as well as enough power to fit just about any need. Every model is equipped with a stunning The image is sharp and bright enough to rival the Apple iMac M1, but it is displayed on a much larger screen.
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