I love my small, low energy but powerful Chromebox 3 (https://www.asus.com/us/Chrome-Devices/ASUS-Chromebox-3/) which connects to 2 monitors. Easy to maintain and does all I need. Just make sure to give it enough RAM.

Try drafting a prospectus on a laptop.

Dual (at least) screens are really helpful if you need Outlook open on one (email / calendar), your main Word document on a second, then a third doc or a browser on your third(?!?).

My second screen and high capacity printer are what I miss about the office.

Try sticking 64GB ECC RAM and Threadripper in NUC and then we will talk.
NUCs are for office peeps who email and zoom all day who probably would be better off with a laptop on a laptop tray with the second monitor and separate keyboard. You will look better on zooom that way as well.
https://www.ergotron.com/en-us/products/product-details/50-193#/

Anonymous wrote:I retired right as the dual monitor thing was coming in. What is the purpose of them?

I have two widescreen monitors and can have 4 documents, PDFs or word docs or websites or email, open at the same time. That's useful for work when referring to or citing. It's good for home use as well to have multiple tabs or pages open at the same time. More real estate.

When I'm using the laptop, I feel cramped.

Anonymous wrote:I retired right as the dual monitor thing was coming in. What is the purpose of them?

I find it SO wonderful to have two screens when (for instance) I’m quoting someone directly. I can pull up the quote / source material on one screen and write on the other.

My husband likes to play video games so we have a desktop computer with one large monitor and an extra monitor as I work primarily from home.

Lenovo's m93p tiny is pretty impressive. Smaller than the NUC.

It's nice as a file server or maybe a media player, but my desktop is designed to edit 4k video and the NUC would slow down that process considerably (yes, I've done the benchmark comparisons). But for many users it's an affordable option they should consider.

I retired right as the dual monitor thing was coming in. What is the purpose of them?

I felt the same awe when I bought a Mac Mini back in 2011. It was amazing how they fit all of that into such a small box. I do a lot of 3D rendering now, so I need the big tower to fit the graphics cards and cooling components, but those smaller things are still cool.

Cost. My desktop is cheaper than those NUCs, and with more horsepower.

18:06 here. These little computers have their place, such as a media PC. But a desktop replacement? Not really.

Interesting, I’ve never heard of these. I’m in the market for a new home computer and really only use it for file storage, internet, and occasional word processing. This sounds right up my alley.

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy with my big desktop and dual monitors. The desktop is on the floor under my desk. Footprint is a non-issue. What are the other reasons to get rid of it?

NP here. Your desktop is probably drawing 100W at idle while a NUC based system is draws 10W. The power difference isn't quite as big during usage, but it is still noticeable. the NUC system is going to be much quieter and potentially silent. They support dual monitors, but large monitors are cheap enough now there is really no need to have two.

If you don't know why you have a big box, you probably should get rid of it.

I'm happy with my big desktop and dual monitors. The desktop is on the floor under my desk. Footprint is a non-issue. What are the other reasons to get rid of it?

Consider this. I just replaced mine with an Intel NUC. It's like 4x4x1.5 inches. You plug in a keyboard, mouse, printer and monitor. Quiet, powerful and and about 1/20 of the space. I can't rave enough about these things.

I will not SPAM for a particular reseller. But it's the best decision I've made in a while and I get to keep my full size monitor. That is all.