Some competitors, like the HP Pavilion 27 and Lenovo IdeaCentre 5i offer similar wired connectivity. Still, the range of ports on the Inspiron 27 is excellent for the price. The next time you're online and thinking that you really need a bigger screen than the one on your current laptop or tablet, take a look at an all-in-one desktop. You may be surprised how much screen, and how much power, they deliver for the money versus a like-priced laptop. It’s hard to see how Dell could improve on this design, especially at this price. Every touch point is inviting, every panel durable, and every seam is slim or kept out of sight. Dell’s only serious competition is HP, which uses a similar design for its Pavilion All-in-One. The most obvious difference is the stand; Dell opts for wide, TV-style legs, while HP uses a traditional square monitor base. The bundled soundbar is loud and enjoyable

Of course, buying a highly integrated system like this is more exacting than your average desktop. Why? You're buying a computer and a monitor in one, and the inherent limits on what you'll be able to upgrade down the line make smart buying upfront crucial. Indeed, landing the right AIO is more like shopping for a laptop than a desktop. The well-designed stand meets the chassis at the bottom left and right edges, which means it offers excellent stability and stays out of your way when you're trying to plug and unplug peripherals. The stand offers a generous amount of tilt, so much so that I found a comfortable viewing angle even for my 6-foot-2-inch height while standing and looking at the Inspiron 27 7000 placed on a waist-level lab bench. The speakers sound great in dialogue-heavy content such as podcasts or YouTube videos. They provide enough volume to fill a large room with sound and offer the range to handle a variety of vocal styles. The Dell didn't enjoy as much of an advantage in our CPU and multimedia tests, though it routinely topped the Aspire and IdeaCentre. The Dell OptiPlex 5490 led the way largely because of its eight-core, 16-thread Core i7 desktop processor, while the 24-inch M1 iMac took top honors in the cross-platform HandBrake, Cinebench, and Geekbench tests. Graphics Testson Dell internal analysis using publicly available specs in August 2023 comparing maximum effective capacity for PowerStore 1200 and FlashArray //X20. Assumes average 4:1 data reduction for PowerStore, 5:1 for Pure Storage. Actual results vary. All Dell Inspiron 27 models have a 1080p display. The base model has a matte, non-touch screen, but the model I tested had a glossy touchscreen upgrade. Hard drive retention: Hard drive retention is not available on models with a soldered hard drive, including XPS 9315 2in1, Chromebooks or Venue tablets, except the Venue 11 Pro.

Intel SME Study Disclaimer: Based on a 2018 survey of small business owners in five countries. Details here intel.com.au/smestudyThankfully, Dell includes a wireless keyboard and mouse rather than a wired pair that clutters your desk. Both peripherals are white to match the rest of the system. The keyboard is compact and the optical mouse is ambidextrous; both are serviceable if no match for Logitech's or Microsoft's best. The Dell Inspiron 27 achieves a single-threaded score of 1570 in Geekbench 5. That’s a strong score, defeating the Core i5-12400 in the Acer Aspire TC desktop, which scored 1446. It also beats mid-range mobile AMD Ryzen processors. The Lenovo Yoga 6 laptop, powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, scored just 1075 in this test.

The mouse is the better of the pair. It’s a simple and comfortable, compact device with three buttons and a scroll wheel. Nothing special, but it did the job. An entry-level Logitech mouse, like the M325 Wireless Mouse, is a better choice with superior materials and more buttons—but the bundled mouse is fine.So, you just started shopping for an AIO. The first thing to look at (no pun intended) is the display—the centerpiece of any AIO. While some less-expensive AIO PCs will come with panels smaller than 23 inches, those are better suited to exceedingly cramped spaces such as classroom labs or dorm rooms. (Go much smaller than that, and you might as well just buy a big-screen laptop.) What you really want is a display at least 23 inches on the diagonal—and larger is better if you can do it. The biggest all-in-ones we've seen to date have curved 34-inch screens. Accidental Damage-Additional Information: Accidental Damage Service excludes theft, loss, and damage due to fire, flood or other acts of nature, or intentional damage. Customer may be required to return damaged unit to Dell. Limit of 1 qualified incident per contract year. For more information, consumers visit Accidental Damage Service Contract (Consumer) or commercial customers visit Accidental Damage Service Contract (Commercial). But there is an issue with the display: the “screen door effect,” which results in faint, visible lines across the display. This is caused by a gap between pixels that’s large enough to be noticeable. The Dell Inspiron 27 suffers a mild version of this issue, so everyone might not see it, but those that do will most likely find it distracting. The keyboards and mice bundled with AIOs are too often afterthoughts, but my review unit came with a comfortable wired keyboard with number pad and a sturdy albeit smallish wired mouse, both coordinated with the system's white color scheme. You can also opt for a cordless keyboard and mouse, using the USB 2.0 port as a receptacle for their receiver.

Because they have bigger screens, AIO PCs are physically larger than laptops. Of course, you give up the ability to easily move them from room to room, but AIOs are still more portable than tower PCs. All-in-one PCs don't have the expandability that you're going to find in most towers, but they do tend to have better looks.

In addition to the quad-core, 1.6GHz (4.2GHz turbo) Core i5-10210U CPU in the version I tested, the Inspiron 27 7000 can be configured with a Core i7-10510U chip. Both are laptop-class parts from Intel's latest 10th Generation "Comet Lake" processor family. My tester also featured Nvidia GeForce MX110 graphics with 2GB of dedicated video memory, an upgrade from the base model's Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated solution. The only conclusion that can be drawn from the two 3DMark tests is that the 12th Gen Core i7's Iris Xe integrated graphics are clearly superior to Intel's older UHD 630 silicon and closer to Nvidia's GeForce MX330 entry-level discrete GPU. None of these systems will satisfy hardcore gamers, but none is intended to. Unfortunately, the Core i7-1255U falls behind in multi-threaded workloads, reaching just 5132 in Geekbench 5’s multi-threaded test. That’s far behind the Acer Aspire TC’s score of 7284, and merely ties the Lenovo Yoga 6, which scored 5105. If you're planning on using the touch screen at least 50% of the time, look for systems with screens that can recline down to horizontal, or almost horizontal. This lets you use the system like a large tablet, so you don't have to hold your arm out constantly to use the touch screen. Think about using an ATM: The vertical screen is fine for a 90-second transaction, but it would become tiring after 10 minutes or more. It comes down to simple ergonomics. (Credit: Joseph Maldonado) This is to be expected since both the 27-inch and 21.5-inch iMac use far more capable desktop CPUs. It's not a mark against the Inspiron 27 7000 that it can't keep pace with a prosumer-class machine. On the positive side, the Inspiron actually performed quite well in our Adobe Photoshop benchmark, which puts a stopwatch on systems as they apply a series of filters and effects to a JPEG test image.