Desktop machine recommendations?

[RyvitaHayworth]

New PC time. I am a bit out of touch with the PC market, being an Apple user, but my husband has asked me to look up a new PC for him for work. So obviously rather than actually spend time comparing specs from various suppliers I came straight to MN...

Can anyone recommend a good PC for office use - so really just MS Office, an email package and a browser - no singing or dancing required. Would like it to be as wireless as possible, and an all-in-one like the iMac. Lovely screen would be nice. In fact, a PC version of the iMac would probably suit perfectly.

Thank you! I will be sure not to mention you at all when his gratitude for my hours of research knows no bounds .

What's your budget?

I would think up to about 1,000.

The HP ones similar to the iMac seem to be touch screens. A bit over the top?

Is there any reason to choose a PC over a Mac these days? Isn't everything compatible with everything else now? Except Access, which won't be an issue.

Dell do non-touch versions of their business all-in-one PCs. Have a look here. Prices start from £600 or so.

I'm not convinced on the value of touch on such devices. I remember spending huge amounts of money back in the early 90s on touch-based desktop PC displays for a work project and they get uncomfortable to use very quickly as your arm gets tired. Touch works brilliantly on handheld devices but not so well on desk-bound ones.

I'm mainly a PC user but I do have a Macbook Air as well. I find swapping from Windows to OSX irritating because they look similar enough for me to assume they work the same but they don't. It's the little things that end up annoying me the most, like the Mac's keyboard layout being different, and me having to remember which coloured blob on the top of the window does what.

Office on Mac does work very much like Office on PC and they are very compatible but it's all the other stuff that's the issue. To take an example that annoyed me recently, sharing printers. It's very easy to share printers between PCs. It's very easy to share printers between Macs. Sharing a printer among Macs and PCs can be a lot harder.

If your husband's work is a PC-based operation then introducing a Mac without a good reason - eg, he needs a particular Mac application for which there simply isn't a good equivalent on PC - could well end up just being a pain.

Thanks a lot Snorbs, much appreciated.

I went for a Apple refurbished iMac. Switched from PC and never regretted. They work well, looks good and have high quality components. They are more expensive but, in my experience last longer.

However, if money is tight, get a refurbed desktop from a reputable supplier on eBay. I've bought nearly 20 PCs for bargain prices and they all work very well (but for my dislike of Windows).