Acer Aspire S 24

VERDICT

This AIO is both stylish and cheap, though its display and storage dampen enthusiasm.

- James Archer

THERE’S A CERTAIN lack of affordable all-in-one (AIO) PCs being made today, which isn’t that surprising when you think about it: the task of fitting good-quality components, a display and all the connectivity required of a full desktop into a single compact package, all while keeping the price down, can’t be a very attractive one to manufacturers.

The Acer Aspire S 24, however, looks to have taken a decent crack at it. The particular spec we’re testing only costs £869 – that’s mid-range Windows desktop territory – and yet includes a quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB of RAM, a large 2TB hard disk and a 24in Full HD display, not to mention a mouse and keyboard.

FINE TUNED

It looks great, too. All the key components are stuffed in the base, but this is still a very manageable size, and the screen is incredibly thin, with only some tiny bezels around the top and sides. Even if the gold accents aren’t to everyone’s tastes, Acer has done a terrific job at making this PC appear more expensive than it actually is. There’s even a Qi wireless charging pad built into the base – a niche but very cool little bonus.