All-in-One Touch-screen Desktop PC's

[tubaguy9]

touch screen computer...hope you enjoy cleaning the screen a lot!

[tubaguy9]

and maybe even the natural oils off your fingers

[tubaguy9]

and maybe even the natural oils off your fingers

That's what the chocolate's for.

so you'd rather have chocolate fingerprints?

[timdicarlo]

I know a few people who own touchscreen computers. Most of them used the touchscreen for about a week then reverted back to the standard mouse-and-keyboard interface. Touchscreens are practical on smaller devices like iPhones, but the simple fact of it is that your arm gets tired after navigating a touchscreen interface for extended periods of time, whereas a mouse and keyboard don't wear you out much or at all. Some people are more bothered by it than others, but it's definitely something to take into account when you're considering the extra expense. If you won't use the touchscreen, save your money and buy a cheaper and/or more powerful system without it.

[steve_decker]

Once you get beyond the 'cool' factor, what's the point? I've played with the touch-screen PCs quite a bit and really see no advantage to the touch screen aspect. I can navigate much more quickly and with much less frustration by using a mouse/keyboard. Is the cool-factor worth the extra money? To some people, I suppose it is. To me, hell no.

[TubaTodd]

In the realm of computers, whatever you purchase will be "out of date" before you know it. This is why I don't like spending very much on a machine that I will likely replace in a few years with a MUCH better one anyway. Soooooo, here is a machine that might be what you are looking for. For $600 it is a nice value for an "all-in-one." The CPU is like that of a beefed up netbook, with the benefits of an optical drive, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HD, nice video card and Windows 7. (See Rick Denney....I'm recommending a Win7 machine )


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883220017

***WARNING***

Whatever you buy, pay close attention to the OS that it comes with. Don't waste your money on a Windows Vista machine that is being given away. Although it is true that most recently purchased Vista machines are eligible for Windows 7 upgrades, you will REALLY need to check the fine print. To avoid any potential issues, just get one with Win7 preinstalled.

[TubaTodd]

The touch-screen really is of no value to me. What I want is the ability to eliminate the rat's nest of wires and cables behind my computer desk. It just happens that at my local Best Buy, this is one of two such PC's that they have.

Although my main computer (Toshiba laptop) was purchased from Best Buy in 2006, there are better deals to be had elsewhere (ie newegg and tigerdirect). I've purchased MANY items from newegg over the years. I've always been pleased with the quality of the product and impressed by the speed of the shipping. I have had to return a few items for various reasons, BUT returns/exchanges were EASY and smooth. Another great place for current deals is http://www.techbargains.com

Back to your original problem...

...What I want is the ability to eliminate the rat's nest of wires and cables behind my computer desk....

...if you decide to go with a standard desktop machine (ie separate tower, monitor, keyboard, mouse, cables, etc) invest in some "cable ties" (aka velcro). Get everything in position and bundle wires together with velcro. There have been other cabling ideas on lifehacker.com.