Desktop Form Factor

[pdenadel]

I am curious what type desktop form factor most people are using for professional services offices.

I am leaning towards ultra small something that can be mounted to a monitor.

Are the smaller boxes prone to having more issues?

 

[mikeroq]

I'm not a super big fan of the USFF "tiny" types. They work but are limited in expansion.

I stick to the SFF. Nice and small, still can install a low power video card if someone needs more monitors or light graphics work. Anything more move up to a workstation model in tower form factor.

SFF gives more memory (depends on model but I pick 4 slot ones), expansion cards, built in optical drive, some have options for two hard drives plus an m.2 drive.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

My clients are love love LOVING the ThinkCentra AIOs.....it's pretty much all I'm selling now for desktops. Like the M910Z models.
Got hundreds of 'em out there now over the past couple of years, and in typical Lenovo Think class fashion...they're proving to be solid reliable workhorses. I get 'em with SSDs. Got retail clients too using them for point of sale rigs...the slightly smaller model.
And work well in dual monitor setups too.

 

[pdenadel]

Ya my primary work place just got one 24 inch screen with the bracket to mount ThinkCentre m710 to check it out its pretty nice.

 

[seedubya]

Mini towers where I can. Simple to service when something goes wrong. Which is almost never - everything's either HP or Lenovo.

 

[SAFCasper]

Probably 50/50 between SFF and Mini-tower. A lot of clients shove the tower under a desk so size makes no odds.

Not a bit fan of USFF but they have their uses in public facing areas where you need something small, neat, silent and hidden from view.

 

[nerd2u]

SFF and some USFF when the customer just wants extremely small.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

We use Dell micro towers if they don't need an optical drive and SFF if they do.

 

[timeshifter]

My clients are love love LOVING the ThinkCentra AIOs.....it's pretty much all I'm selling now for desktops. Like the M910Z models.

I'm a big fan of AIOs too. I usually direct people to Dell. The last couple Dell AIOs were about $1,200 for something with an SSD. May have been 27". But these Lenovo M910z can be had for about $800 with a 256GB SSD. Seems like a nice price.

 

[frase]

Dell or Lenovo SFF

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

There is a special place in hell for all of you!

...just kidding...i mean as long as its easy to work on. Little surprised to see AIOs in this thread, those models easy to work with?

 

[mikeroq]

Business grade aio should be easier to work on. However seems like a lot of them are getting easier. Usually two captive screws and the back just pops off letting you access everything.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Your PCMD]

I have deployed a dozen or so of these Intel NUC's without any issue. Throw in an NVMe drive for the boot drive with an SSD for storage &/or backup and off they go. These are some pretty snappy units thats for sure and hold up better than I thought they would. I did test a couple at one client just to make sure I wanted to offer these to clients. So far, so good.

For those on a budget, these NUC's work well also.

As far as memory, its laptop memory and who doesnt have a bunch of that? If I dont have any available, I use these.

 

[mikeroq]

I'm a big fan of AIOs too. I usually direct people to Dell. The last couple Dell AIOs were about $1,200 for something with an SSD. May have been 27". But these Lenovo M910z can be had for about $800 with a 256GB SSD. Seems like a nice price.

Where are you getting a M910z with a 256gb SSD for $800? i5?

 

[sapphirescales]

I try to make sure that every computer I support and sell is mATX. Anything else is an extreme disservice to your customer unless they CAN'T have a tower due to space constraints. I need to be able to replace the power supply, motherboard, etc. with parts that are on hand and in stock. I can't tell my client "oh yeah, sorry your computer is down, but if we wait a week we can get some special parts shipped in. Just hang tight until then." The only option if a power supply or motherboard or whatever goes out on one of those SFF towers is to just replace it with something else I have in stock (hopefully with a computer that's in a mATX case). Either that or get a power supply shipped in and let their employee sit there and do nothing for a few days.

 

[Markverhyden]

I'll let the customer decide to a certain extent. I do like the Dell Optiplex Micro's and the Lenovo equivalents. But, as mentioned, not much in the way of upgrading. So if that is a likely future path I'll do the SFF's.

 

[DMC Unlimited]

I try to make sure that every computer I support and sell is mATX. Anything else is an extreme disservice to your customer unless they CAN'T have a tower due to space constraints.

This is the approach we take as well. If we're selling it to the client we want to be able to stand behind it if something goes wrong and get the situation resolved quickly. We still custom build all of the mATX desktops we sell to our clients (like in olden times). We brand them and the client knows we're there if anything should go wrong with the hardware. We include 3-year hardware warranties for our business desktops and 2-year on the residential side.

We have sold Intel NUCs in situations where space is an issue, but no all-in-ones.

 

[sapphirescales]

This is the approach we take as well. If we're selling it to the client we want to be able to stand behind it if something goes wrong and get the situation resolved quickly. We still custom build all of the mATX desktops we sell to our clients (like in olden times). We brand them and the client knows we're there if anything should go wrong with the hardware. We include 3-year hardware warranties for our business desktops and 2-year on the residential side.

We try to build every new desktop we sell. Custom builds are leagues better than anything Dell or HP can spit out, business class or otherwise. Custom Built > HP/Dell Business Class > HP/Dell Home Class. The number of hardware failures is quite low (less than 1%) and our clients love them.

 

[timeshifter]

Where are you getting a M910z with a 256gb SSD for $800? i5?

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/deskto.../m-series-aio/ThinkCentre-M910z/p/11TC1MZ910Z

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

. I can't tell my client "oh yeah, sorry your computer is down, but if we wait a week we can get some special parts shipped in. Just hang tight until then." .

Done this game for over 25 years...over 300 active biz clients, amounting to over 4,000 "nodes" out there, never had to tell anyone to wait a week for some special parts unless it was a laptop. And even then..it's like..next day...because we only sell biz grade laptops that have good warranty support and part avail.

There's no "dis-service" being done if someone doesn't do a standard shin knocker tower under the desk.
For clients that can't afford down time (and yes we have quite a few of those), things like *4 hour onsite warranty and *spare units are the smart thing here. Similar to network equipment..can't afford down time? When selling switches, sell an additional one. Or for the UTM/firewall, sell 2x units...have them setup in failover mode.