Barebones Computers

[JASII]

I have a couple of Gateway PCs now. They are on Windows 7, have i7 chips, but I am considering something with a smaller footprint, like a "barebones" computer. I am just wondering if anybody here has switched to one as their main computer and, if so, how well it has worked out for them.

In all honesty, I can't think of the last time that I have used the CD/DVD drive, so I don't think that I will miss that. If I would need one, I can get an external drive and connect it when necessary.

Also, if anybody has done that, if there are any certain makes or models that I should consider, or avoid for that matter, I would like to hear your thought and opinions on this.

I have also considered just going with a Microsoft Surface 3 or 4 as my main computer. I would still use a desktop monitor with it. It looks like I would pay a premium to do that, though.

 

[br0adband]

A lot of companies make tiny computers these days - that's what I presume you mean by a barebones as for me barebones means a kit of components with a mobo, CPU, RAM, and storage which is about it and the end user assembles it. Intel makes a series of devices called NUC (Next Unit of Computing) which is quite tiny but can be considerably powerful with 6th gen i7 processors but they aren't cheap overall - vastly cheaper than a Surface Pro 4, however, but you'd still need to supply a display/monitor to make use of it (and keyboard, mouse, etc). You can find more info about them here:

https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/overview.html

Gigabyte makes some models called BRIX that are similar in concept to the Intel NUC and you can find more info about those here:

GIGABYTE - Desktop PC - Mini-PC Barebone

While I find such devices interesting overall, for me personally nothing beats a laptop to this day, not even a Surface Tablet (although the Surface Book is nice but that base price of roughly $1800+ is just way way too expensive for me and many people). I mean, I wouldn't mind having a Surface Pro or a Surface Book but I swear, I think if I did get one I'd always be thinking I could sell it and just get a proper laptop and be done with it.

 

[flythunderbird]

Another one you might consider is the HP Pavilion Mini:

http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?storeId=10151&eSpotName=HPPavilionMini