Looking for PCs that will help you win back some desktop real estate? Here are some of the latest machines designed to do just that.
Corporate customers looking for space-saving PCs these days are blessed with a wide variety of options to choose from. Slimline cases and “all-in-one” formats are growing in number, and space-saving TFT displays are dropping in price as their numbers grow.
Enterprises are focusing on space issues for a number of reasons. More efficient use of office space is a topic that is on the minds of many in these tough economic times. Then there are organisations that have in-house training facilities as well as secondary schools or universities for whom cramming a lot of workstations into a limited space is a top priority.
The one drawback to going slim with your desktops is price—in choosing these designs, you will be paying a slight premium. For the same price you’d pay for a slimline design with TFT display, you could buy a more feature-packed PC, and it would offer greater flexibility and expandability. Slimline PCs and all-in-ones just can’t fit as many expansion slots as standard PC designs, and usually integrate things like sound, video, modem, and LAN on the motherboard. (Though this saves space and may reduce the overall cost slightly, it means the customer is stuck with those components.)
And space-saving PC cases tend to be slightly more expensive because they aren’t manufactured in huge volumes like standard midi tower cases, for example.
TFT displays are also a major draw for organisations looking to save space. Not only do they cut back on the amount of desk real estate required, they’re also very light, they consume less power than a standard CRT, and emit less electromagnetic radiation, making them even more appealing.
Compared to a standard PC, we estimate that you will be paying an extra AU$500 to $700 for a space-saving PC (the TFT accounts for the majority of this).
The use of riser boards and low-profile cards that has enabled the design of low-profile, cost-effective systems is all part of the ATX form factor. Here’s a closer look at the available space-saving form factors and at some of the other components specific to these designs.
The Emagen Shuttle may not be the best, but it has the greatest potential. The barebones case and motherboard are manufactured by the Shuttle company (www.shuttle.com). It has great potential because there are already better models out that include an AGP 8x slot and support the new Pentium 3.0. In fact, you can buy a better model than the Emagen one (and one with an AGP slot) in Australia, from here: (www.auscorp.com.au).