Dell OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One Review: Dell's All-in-One Goes Enterprise
by Dustin Sklavos on September 19, 2012 7:01 AM EST- Posted in
- all-in-one
- Systems
- Dell
- Ivy Bridge
Conclusion: Curtailed by the Display
Having put the screws to the Dell OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One, I come away pleasantly surprised in many ways. This is one of the few all-in-ones I've seen where the overall design feels appropriate to the hardware. All-in-ones have a nasty, reoccurring problem with heat and fan noise stemming from the way they often cram the hardware behind a display that's generating plenty of heat on its own. The result is a form factor that should benefit over notebooks by the additional real estate for cooling but promptly sacrifices that benefit by clumping those hot components right next to each other anyhow. Dell's 9010 AiO doesn't have that problem. Without dedicated graphics soaking up precious cooling, it maintains reasonable temperatures and becomes a pretty stellar acoustic citizen in the process.
The question that I posed early on with the 9010 AiO was whether or not it justifies its existence against other solutions and whether or not it's a good choice for the use cases that Dell is targeting it at. Unfortunately, this is where we start getting on shaky ground, and the blame can be placed entirely on the poor quality display. eIPS displays are increasingly common and inexpensive in the wild, and even Dell offers them, so there's no reason why the 9010 AiO shouldn't sport one or at least the option for one. The poor viewing angles of the TN-based display cause the 9010 to immediately rule itself out of contention for kiosk use, photo editing, and video editing.
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What are we left with? Situations where the i7-3770S in our review system is overkill, unfortunately. The 9010 AiO becomes appropriate only for mass deployment in offices, schools, and libraries where not much more than a terminal is really needed. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's a situation where even the option to upgrade could've allowed the 9010 AiO to serve multiple masters just as effectively. Markets were sacrificed, full stop.
That's really where the disappointment comes in, too. One of the unfortunate parts of this job is having hardware come in that is so close to being a great solution, only to fall short because it seems like a penny pincher with no business designing hardware decided to cut a feature or make a sacrifice that they didn't think anyone would notice. Is the OptiPlex 9010 All-in-One a bad all-in-one system? Heavens no, it's among the best I've tested, and easily recommended for situations where a basic system is needed in bulk. But it could've been a lot better if someone hadn't pinched the wrong pennies.
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Rick83 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
So is AMT actually supported by the BIOS of this machine?I agree, that AMT should become ubiquitous, especially for larger scale deployments, it's probably a requirement. But then for home servers, HTPCs and similar application it also becomes interesting for the tinker/enthusiast crowd that has a number of headless units that need to be managed.
For my server, this made me look at Supermicro boards, as the ASUS C216 based board removed the 82579 in favor of a second 82574 NIC, and probably wouldn't have done the required BIOS/Firmware work to get it supported.
BoloMKXXVIII - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I am not knocking Dell, I just don't understand the point of AIO PCs. Does a mini case behind the monitor really take up any more room? With heat issues, lack of expansion options and additional cost of repair I can't imagine purchasing or recommending a AIO PC. If space is that much of a premium get a laptop or a tablet with a keyboard.frozentundra123456 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
I totally agree with you, but all in ones seem to be taking over from traditional desktopsAt least in the best buy I went to recently. I guess they do look cool initially, but I think a lot of people don't realize the compromises of the design. Personally I would choose either a traditional desktop or a laptop.
Dug - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
Depends on time and money.If the machine is priced right, you either have next day warranty which is pretty standard with Dell, or you have a replacement ready to go while the other goes out for repair.
Labor is too much to do repairs in house, when there are far more important things for IT to be doing.
The benefit of AIO is just that. You don't have multiple configurations, multiple wires everywhere, etc.
If someone has to move, its much easier to pick up one device and carry it over then dealing with multiple wires, power supplies, video cables, etc.
We currently deploy iMacs with Windows 7 on boot camp.
Using Clonezilla for a base image to deploy makes it very quick for setup and deployment.
The fact that it has camera, mic, speakers, bluetooth, wireless, wireless keyboard and trackpad, a very nice screen that's easy on the eyes, no noise, makes it very nice machine for $1100. That and you only have one cable connection.
We tried to find something comparable, and there are alternatives, but everyone else fails at the complete package, mostly the screen. If someone has to sit in front of the computer for 8 hrs a day for the next 3 years, it's easy to justify a little more for a good screen and a product that has a great track record for reliability.
NARC4457 - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
There are 2 major items that are wrong with this machine based on how my business operates.1) We replace machines at the end of their 3 year warranty. But we have kept monitors throughout many replacement cycles, and tend to be much more resilient than desktops. Replacing both units together is a waste for our situation.
2) These specs are too high for a general business user. SSD? Core i7? WAAAY too much horsepower. Give me a 5400rpm and a core i3 with HD-2500 and that's all I need.
ggathagan - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
1) Then don't buy them.On the other hand, the monitor portion is probably not as high a percentage of the total cost as it might have been in past years. The TN panels get less and less expensive every year.
2) It's rare that Dell locks you into one processor or one drive option.
You can get anything from a G860 to the i7-3770S in the review and there are 6 different drive options.
mr_tawan - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
> SSD prices have fallen like rocks over the past year while the flooding in Thailand coupled with arguably anti-competitive mergers have made the value proposition of mechanical storage less compelling.Well at least having flooding in my homeland could cause a good things!! (Well I'm kidding).
And this year flooding might come back to Thailand. I don't know. I believe we have serious problem with water management nowadays (given that we have Ms. Barbie PM lol).
nbrownksu - Wednesday, September 19, 2012 - link
The author seems to be ignoring the fact that you can customize these machines. He states that they're overpowered for use in a computer lab or library setting, and he's right, but I just went to Dell's website and configured one of these with a Core-i3 and 4GB of RAM for exactly that reason.We've been begging Dell for a form factor like this for our campus computing labs for years in order to simplify deployments and clean up the look of the labs compared to a traditional desktop system. For us the cheaper monitor is a benefit to the system.
MrVan - Thursday, September 20, 2012 - link
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/workstat...At around $2000.00 each, HP Z1's have transformed our Graphic Design department as serious Mac replacement with its 27-inch, 2560x1440 IPS display.
No, I am not a reseller or HP employee, I simply enjoy the experience of owning these machines.
Dug - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
That's a very nice machine.