Dell Inspiron One 23 All-in-One 1080p Desktop

Hi All:

I haven't been here in a while, and I'm just thinking ahead to next year when I have to replace my computer. A neighbor of mine has purchased the Dell Inspiron for a pretty decent price. I'm wondering if anyone has one of these and how they are for gaming.

I'm going to have to get something when XP goes bye-bye. Sigh. I'm also thinking of an IMac, which is expensive but would be superfun to play with, I think.

Jean

It doesn't matter what kind of computer you get... if you like to game, you have to pay very close attention to the video card. Only the very high end IMacs have video cards appropriate for gaming. An IMac is a beautiful machine - my son has one. But, even though game developers are getting better about porting games to the Mac operating system, there will be many games you won't be able to play on a Mac. Even many newer adventure games are requiring more than the integrated graphics you get in many computers. Keep in mind that virtually all new computers will come with Windows 8. You should look into this brand new operating system to be sure it is something you want to tackle. About the only way to get a new branded computer with Windows 7 is to go with a business class computer - not a good choice for gaming.

However, unless you're needing to get a laptop, you can have a desktop built for you which will have Windows 7. There are several on-line computer builder websites. There are even some that will build a laptop with Windows 7.

Lots to think about!

Thanks, Drac! If I were to get an iMAC I'd love the 27 inch one which according to the Apple site has:

27-inch: 3.2GHz
3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX with 1GB

How does that look? I don't know if I could pull together that much money, but I can dream!

The Dell Inspiron Video card, taken from the Dell Site is:

Intel® HD Integrated Graphics
AMD Radeon™ HD 7650 1GB GDDR3

I'm thinking that isn't enough.

My neighbor has Windows 8, and I'll be playing around with it since she's never used a computer before, so hopefully will get familiar enough with it before I decide.

You can see a comparison between the card in the iMac and the card in the Inspiron ***here***. The Nvidia 675MX is much faster. However, the Radeon 7650 isn't that bad. At least it isn't a 7300 or something. If you're not playing Darkside games, it would probably be OK -- at least for now. In 3 years, who knows? The problem with the All-in-Ones is that you can't change the video card.

That IMac is gorgeous! But remember, you will have a very limited selection of games as developers just don't port that many games over to the Mac.

Give me a holler if you have any questions about Windows 8... Plus, we have a Windows 8 and Games thread stickied at the top of the Glitches forum.

Oh, what to do, what to do. Thanks Jenny and Drac. At least I have some time before making a decision. I really want the iMac but if there aren't many games ported to it yet that wouldn't be good.

I've become a bit slow in my old age for Darkside Games, lol. I'm not that good at instances in World of Warcraft, but ok if I just poke around doing quests.

I looked at the Windows 8 games thread. If I do get a Windows computer I'm waiting for 8.1 to see what changes they bring. I'll keep an eye on this forum too for ideas.

Thanks all!

Apparently Windows 8.1 will bring back the Start button.

***Windows 8.1 Video Also Shows the Start Button***

***Windows 8.1 Start Button***

It looks very bland and uncolorful in those examples, but maybe they'll change that in the final release.

Well, what do you know. And the article said that they're bringing back "boot to desktop", too. Not sure these changes will make much difference though.

I haven't worked with Win 8. I'm sure I could adapt, but from what I've read, many people are frustrated trying to work on a desktop with mouse and keyboard using a UI that really works best on a touch screen tablet--some sort of hybrid OS. True?

From what I've read, the start button will be the plain 4-paned icon which is the Windows 8 icon. After using Windows 8 for over a year now, I'm finding I would hate to have to go back to the Start button menu. I definitely had to retrain my brain and was one of the early complainers about it, but since I've found all the tricks, I would hate to go back to it.

In my humble opinion, the best change will be the option to boot to desktop and bypass the Modern UI completely if you want. Another one that I will be looking forward to is the ability to use the same backgrounds on the desktop and the Start menu. The transition will be less jarring.

I haven't had the least bit of trouble using mouse and keyboard on Windows 8. I even purchased a Logitech Touch Mouse which allows you to use many of the touch gestures. I find myself putting it down and going back to my Razer Death Adder because other than the dedicated center click to move between the desktop and the Start Menu, I don't need the other gestures because they are equally easy on the Razer mouse.

I'm very much looking forward to 8.1.

Thanks for the info, Draclvr. It sounds like 8.1 will help make the transition easier for people. Since I use a touch eReader and an Android tablet, maybe I won't freak out when the time comes for me to move up from Win 7!

Another thing they are adding is an actual tutorial on how to navigate as a default app. I read one rep from Microsoft say that was one of their biggest regrets - that they didn't give people any real guidance on using this new OS.

Can't you do that now?
See if this works


That's from the bottom of this page.
http://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=27428

If you make the login screen the same image file as the desktop, they'll be the same.

Thanks, Jenny - I didn't know about that. However, I like the cool Themes backgrounds on my desktop. Supposedly they will let you use your own custom backgrounds from the desktop. We'll see if that shakes out or not.