Mini pc and small form factor (sff)

In a way it does sound like a Laptop does meet your needs, so not quiet sure why you want to move back to a desktop ? the bigger screen size and easier keyboard / mouse ?

Similarly the All in One seems to be the optimum for space saving, its a design Apple have used for years.

You can buy new mini desktops or even the smaller but more expensive NCUs from several well known UK builders.
Mini PCs - Palicomp

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/small-form-factor-pcs/

We still have a "small" tower but its in a cupboard under the desktop and these days we seldom need to access it as the DVD drive is little used and USB ports are usually available via the monitor.

If you want to know how poweful a CPU chip is you can find out from this site.

PassMark Software - CPU Benchmarks

 

As well a CPU performance, worth looking out for the more modern motherboards that have one or two onboard slots for NVme modules instead of the bigger slower SSD drives.

Look up your old laptops CPU performance, if its a decent make you might be surprised that it could still be faster than some of the current budget CPUs !

 

@JennyJB has already said the essentials and so, I don’t repeat it.

If you want to do more than checking your mails and writing in our forum, then you need a desktop system. Not necessarily a huge tower, but a smaller tower will do it.
No “All in One”, please. Dell/HP have difficulties to provide drivers on time. I had customers where both had stopped the support due incompatibility with Windows 11.
No second hand, please, because Win 10 is out of support and Windows 11 needs hardware from 2021 onwards and will need newer hardware in the near future.
Which brand depends on the support.
Lenovo is a no go. They stop the support after 3 years.
Dell/HP always good and keep providing updates for years.
Every other no-name is a risk. Less known brands stopped the driver support once the first year was over.

 

Hi Simone,

As you say you are in the PC trade, wondered if you can give any insight into the point I made to @Loofah earlier that he might want to wait until W12 announce what hardware it needs.
Searching the web does not yet give any clear indication if even a W11 capable PC will be suitable, likely down to the CPU needed for AI ? or will there be two versions of W12, one with AI and one without ?

Although we take your point about Branded PCs and most manufacturers driver support being poor, like Loofah has done in the past, we have always built our own desktops and never had any long term problems with using the motherboard drivers from Asus etc. so think that is still a good way to go ?

 

@ricky101 I’m not in PC trade but as part of my job as software support, I see a wide range of hardware and what companies did over the years (since 2007).
I’m not working since January but will be back soon back to work.
Thanks for your tip to wait for Windows 12.
The problem with systems made before 2019, even the one sold in 2016/2017 with Windows 10 was, that their hardware was made for Windows 7 systems, and 10 years old when people bought a system in 2016 for example. They were faster, but the Windows feature support was still the same. It was a drama to tell those customers that their 3 to 4 years old systems were too old.
Every 9 to 10 years, there is a huge step in hardware and to work with a system as long as possible, then it’s wise to buy a new system 2 to 3 years after such step. 2018 was such huge change, but there are systems from 2018 that never got updates despite having an i-8xxx processor (as Intel named the since 2009 starting with a number in hundreds like 6xx before 2011 was released the first i-1xxx).
Systems made in 2019 all support Windows 11, which supports those AI features your are referring to.
If Loofah buys a system now in 2025, it will support Win 12 (most likely released in Autumn 2026 seeing that Autumn 2025 was cancelled). That machine should have a good life for the next 5 to 6 years unless the AI development changes to something we don’t know currently.
What hand-made systems concerns, I have such system and it works fine because Windows installs drivers if possible.
On the other side, you must be very good in your job if your assembled machines have always worked. I had customers who bought from all the best, but the hardware spoke different languages and didn’t work with each other. That’s why many of my customers sticked to the main provider.
In other words, Loofah can wait another year, then it’s wise to buy with Win 12 on it, however the past has shown that this was no guarantee to have a new system. It depends on what Microsoft intends to do with Windows 12.

 

@simone_in_wiltshire - Thanks for your interesting reply and yes can imagine how involved you must become is sorting out such customers problems when there are so many variables like the Hardware, Windows and User Programs, not a job we envy, though similarly expect it can be equally rewarding.

Probably why we have had good success with our self build pcs over the years is that we are not gamers so do not need expensive and complex video cards, generally using the onboard Intel or AMD Graphics.

We do get fed up with all of Microsofts Windows problems and have several times booted into Linux which is now becoming much more user friendly and for many would be a very good alternative, though there are still a few programs that can only run on Windows.

As you say, think it would be best long term if Loofah could wait for a PC with W12 on it.

 

The one from your link, Dell OptiPlex 3070 Tiny Core i5-8400T, is from 2018 and will definitely not work in the next years. £300 for a 7 years old system that is at the end of its life is a lot.

What do you do exactly at your Laptop and what programs do you need, @Loofah ?

I switched to Linux some years ago, because the only compromise was photo-editing. Everything else was done with programs that worked in Windows and Linux.

 

I agree with not getting an all-in-one. The other thing to consider with those is what happens if part of it fails. If the PC fails you've still got a slightly bulky monitor, so that's not so bad. If the monitor fails that's very annoying!

My main machine is still a huge old tower machine, I think it must be 10 years old or more, a Zoostorm. I upgraded the hard disk and RAM a few years ago and I run Linux on it (Kubuntu). The things I use it for:
Internet access & email
Watching YouTube especially BigJetTV live - with FlightRadar24 open on a second monitor
Processing photos from my camera - basic stuff only like cropping and adjusting brightness
Printing out downloaded sewing patterns and reading the instructions.
All things that I find more comfortable with a twin monitor setup and a nice full sized keyboard I can touch type on.

I bought the mini PC because the tower was getting so old and I was worried it might die, and wanted a backup machine that wasn't going to take up space - also to have access to Windows software if needed. But I rarely use it. I will need to get it out soon and let it pick up a ton of security updates.

 

We have a docking station for my husband's laptop which he uses for work and we can swap in our own laptops. That way he can use the large monitors and full size keyboard when working.