Another '80s comeback: All-in-one PCs
Gateway last week launched its first consumer all-in-one in four years. The Gateway One, starting at $1,300, squishes all the parts needed to make a PC into a 3.6-inch-thick flat-panel monitor case and comes with a wireless mouse, keyboard and remote.
Rivals have released similar products. Sony in August launched the Vaio LT PC/TV, which has computer parts tucked behind a flat-panel monitor that can be hung on the wall. Hewlett-Packard this month plans to update its year-old TouchSmart PC, which features a touch-activated screen (similar to an Apple iPhone) and is designed for a kitchen or den.
All-in-ones make up only about 2 percent of the worldwide PC market, says tech analyst Roger Kay at Endpoint Technologies Associates. But that could jump to 7 percent by 2015, thanks to compelling new offerings, Kay predicts.
"We're still in the early stages," says tech analyst Richard Shim at researcher IDC. "But ... things are taking off."
All-in-one PCs have been around for decades. The original 1984 Apple Macintosh was one. But desktops evolved into the now-common monitor and tower configuration because all-on-ones were heavy and hard to upgrade. The failure of one part could crash the whole system.
Apple helped revive the market in 1998 with the popular iMac. (The latest version packs a PC into a 7.4-inch aluminum flat-panel monitor case.) Now rivals are willing to give all-in-ones a try, thanks to:
- Cool, dependable, high-speed components. PC parts used to generated a lot of heat, requiring big cases with noisy fans. New, cooler parts allow for sleeker, quieter designs, Kay says. They're also more dependable, and so fast that upgrades aren't as important, he says.
- Wireless. All-in-one PCs can save space, look nice and make rearranging a room easy - if they're not plugged into a slew of cables. Wireless Internet technologies allow them to connect to the Web and peripherals such as a keyboard, mouse or printer, cord-free.
- Flat panels. There's little difference between a flat-panel computer monitor and a flat-panel TV, letting an all-in-one PC do double duty in a kitchen or living room, says Shim.
Early forays into the market have been tentative but positive. HP's TouchSmart sales far exceeded expectations for a product with the relatively high starting price of $1,799, says marketing director Thi La. Sony, which put out its first all-in-one three years ago, has been "completely taken aback" by their popularity, says product manager Xavier Lauwaert. Sales have quintupled in the past year, he says.
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