22 18 Sept - 1 Oct 2019M
any people choosea
laptop as acompact
alternativetoa
desktop PC, and then plug it
into a big screen when they
wanttoget a better view.
But ifyou’re not bothered
about portability,you could
optfor an all-in-one PC,
where thecomponents are
built into a large screenyou
can use all the time.
We’ve had afew all-in-ones
pass through our labs in
recent months, sowecan
compare this latestAcer
model against the slightly
olderAcer Aspire S 24 and the
similarly priced rival Medion
Akoya E23401. All three of
these models are built around
a 24in screen with aresolution
of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, an Intel
Corei5-8250U processor and
8GB of memory.Build and design
The C 24 has anattractive
slimline design. Its minimal
screen bezels (the plastic area
around the edge of the
screen) havea faux brushed-
aluminium finish, and its
angularstandcomplements
its clean, modern aesthetic,
even if it’s largely made out of
plastic. It’s not aseye-
catching as the S24’sgold
trim, but it’s a good-looking
PCfor the price.
Both 802.11acWi-Fi and
Bluetooth 4.1 are integrated,
while all the physical
connectors are positioned on
therear.These amounttoone
HDMI output, one EthernetAcer Aspire C 24socket, a 3.5mm audio jack
and two USB 2 ports, with an
SD cardreader and two USB
3 ports sitting higher up, one
of which is intendedfor the
included USBwebcam.
This camera perches ontop
of the screen, held onbya
magnet so it’s easytoremovecamera meansyou can be
sure it’s notworking. If
anything, it’s probably bestto
leavethe camera unplugged
untilyou need it, becausefour
USB ports isn’tvery many–
fewer than the portcount on
both the aforementioned
S 24and the E23401.
The bundled mouse and
keyboard can beconnectedto
the same USB port via a single
wirelessreceiver but thisstill
limitsyou tothree ports with
the camera unplugged, or just
two ports ifyou’d preferto
keep the camera accessible.Instead of a chunky desktop computer, why not make your nextPC a sleek all-in-one, where the PC is built into the screen?whenyou don’twanttouse it.
This is an almost identical
systemtothe Akoya E23401,
and it’s a nicetouch.Video
quality is good, with smooth
movement, andremoving it is
morereassuring than a sliding
privacycover, because
physically disconnecting theProduct TestWe test and compare the latest productsAn affordable all-in-one PC that will
solve all your desktop space problems
withoutcompromising on screen quality