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 AU$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.
ATX
ATX is an industry-wide specification for desktop motherboards. The standard includes space for more full-length add-in cards and typically six to eight expansion slots. Double-height apertures are also provided at the rear of the chassis to allow further I/O arrangements.
MICROATX
The MicroATX case has a smaller footprint and fewer expansion slots—typically three or four. MicroATX cases require special MicroATX motherboards. These motherboards, however, are designed to also fit inside a regular ATX case.
NLX
NLX is specifically intended for use with low-profile PCs. NLX systems use a riser board that sits vertically in the case and is connected directly to the power supply. Each of its expansion cards connect directly to this riser board, as well as the HDD and FDD connectors.
FLEXATX FlexATX is known as a very small form factor (SFF) and most of these cases require specially designed motherboards. As a result, most of them come with motherboards pre-installed. The Emagen system we received is a prime example of this type of form factor.
Low-profile cards
Low-profile cards make it possible to design smaller desktops by defining shorter-height adaptor cards that offer the same attributes as full-height PCI and AGP cards. Low-profile cards also share the same electrical characteristics and software drivers as standard expansion cards.
CPUs
Most of the machines we tested featured Intel´s P4 processor. Speeds ranged from 2.0GHz to 2.53GHz. We also had a look at an AMD Athlon XP 2000+ machine and the new Apple iMac, which features a 700MHz G4 Power PC processor.
Generally speaking, all were fast and would be able to run everyday office applications without any problems. In fact, in some cases, the top-end processors seemed to be a bit of overkill. Depending on your specific needs, you could possibly get away with an Intel Celeron-based machine.
RAM
All the machines bar the Apple iMac shipped with DDR-RAM. The Apple featured SD-RAM, which is theoretically the slower of the two. All the machines came with 256MB of RAM, which is what we would consider to be the minimum for new PCs.
Graphics subsystem
Your graphics subsystem can dramatically increase the overall performance of your PC. Most of the machines we tested featured on-board graphics. This arrangement generally works extremely well in 2D but performance is often lacking in 3D. However, we don´t feel a 3D card would be a requirement in most corporate situations.
I/O ports
We are seeing more and more PCs sport additional USB ports and fewer legacy ports. FireWire ports also seemed to be popular with the mix of PCs that we looked at, but it´s hardly necessary in a corporate PC.
Central management software
There are many software suites that vendors provide that can help you manage your PCs and software images from a central location.
You could initiate all sorts of servicing like the upgrade of hardware components and software applications.
Management software can also keep an eye on what versions of software everyone is using. Software upgrades can also be implemented from a central location. Users would only have to re-start their PCs for the changes to take place.
There are many levels of management that a customer can take advantage of—it all depends on budget and requirements. But it should be noted that these management systems are becoming ever more powerful and extremely more vital when it comes to managing hundreds of PCs.
