Feb 1 2011 - All-in-one PCs provide consumers with a single stop solution for those looking for a personal computer to be used in a home environment without the need of a separate case and display. This can reduce cable clutter and also enable the use of a computer in a much smaller space. Consumers have a greater choice among all-in-one PCs than they have in the past. Here are my selections for the best all-in-one desktop personal computers for different applications and budgets based upon my research and experience.
Apple's 21.5-inch iMac offers some great design and simply one of the best screens available. The 21.5-inch screen features a 1920x1080 resolution with spectacular color. For the 2010 product refresh, Apple uses the more powerful Intel Core i3 desktop processor over the previous Core 2. Also new is a dedicated ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor instead of the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9300M. There are some minor quibbles with the design such as the peripheral port placement and the keyboard that lacks the numeric keypad but it still offers the best experience possible. An alternative for those looking for a touch screen and quad core processor in the same price range, the HP TouchSmart 300-1125 is an option.
For image processing-intensive applications, balancing performance with efficiency has always been a challenge. That balancing act is about to become considerably easier: AMD, leveraging its merger with GPU manufacturer ATI, is releasing its Fusion family of Accelerated Processing Units, or APUs. These APUs subvert the traditional tradeoffs between GPUs and CPUs by combining the two processors on a single chip. This allows the APU to handle media-centric data processing with heterogeneous multi-core processor architecture, bypassing the typical limitations found in discreet processor units.
AMD is releasing the Fusion to the mobile and embedded market as the Brazos platform, and it comes in two flavors: the ultra-low power 1.2Ghz single-core and 1.0Ghz dual-core C-series (formerly Ontario) processors intended for netbooks, which require only 9 watts of power, and the E-series (formerly Zacate) processors, which offer higher CPU and GPU clock speeds while maintaining a TDP of only 18 watts, for mainstream ultrathin laptops, HTPCs, and small form factor desktop replacements. Both will use the Hudson M1 controller hub at launch, with an embedded option to follow later this year.
All indications are that the Brazos platform will be a real winner, based on benchmarking tests that show it pulling ahead of Intel’s Atom processors, namely the D510. Between the Brazos platform and Intel’s upcoming Sandy Bridge platform, this is a great time for the digital signage market and other image processing-intensive applications. The first AMD Fusion Brazos boards with the Hudson controller hub should be arriving at our store later this quarter, with embedded variants following sometime in the second half of 2011.
News Update: This morning AMD released a product brief and press release for their new Fusion G-Series of processors for embedded systems. Click for the press release.
You can also view the product brief in PDF format here.
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