The Gen XY Lifestyle
The All-in-One Desktop Comes of Age
The ASUS Zen AiO Pro is a best-of-both worlds answer for people who want a slim desktop computer that can do more than just web surf.
The desktop All-in-One (AiO) of today is making a strong case for itself to be the ‘standard’ computer to buy. No longer do you need a traditional ‘tower’ case that takes up quite a bit of space as well as contributes to clutter with its myriad of cables.
The ASUS Zen AiO Pro essentially looks like an iMac, complete with wireless keyboard and mouse. It has a little more pizzazz, thanks to its unique stand as well as its gold-tinted aluminium trim. It certainly looks and feels like a premium product, though the keyboard and mouse are anything but. We can only assume that ASUS assumes that you’d buy your own keyboard and mouse either way.
At its heart, the Zen AiO Pro has an Intel Core i7 6700T (a Core i5 version is available too) as well as an NVIDA GTX 960M graphics card, which makes it capable of some numbers and polygon crunching.In addition, the 23.8-inch full HD touch-enabled display has a decent colour gamut, and speakers are quite imposing although they sound a little too boomy when turned up loud.
With the guts of a good multimedia machine, it is more than game for some photo editing, video editing, and some light video gaming. Overall, it does a decent enough job – unless you want something for intense work like editing 4K video or doubling up as gaming rig for your e-sports crazy children or grandchildren; in which case only a dedicated system will do.
Our test unit uses a hybrid drive, which means it is a traditional hard disk drive with an additional flash storage module to speed up load times. So while it’s not as zippy as an SSD drive, the upside is that you will have sufficient storage space for videos and photos without having to attach an additional drive. Other multimedia-friendly features include the new type-C USB port, four USB 3.0 ports and two HDMI ports.
The Core i7 version of the Z240IC Zen AiO Pro costs S$2,198, which is a little on the premium side. However it does just about enough to convince that you can safely pick up an AiO next time for more than just web browsing.
