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How to pick
A business machine is not a faster machine, it is a machine built to be owned for five years. What you are paying for is a longer warranty, parts you can actually get hold of, drivers that keep being updated, and a case designed to be opened. If a computer is going to run a business, that matters far more than the specification on the box.
What I recommend
New, and built to be owned for years
These three are what businesses actually deploy, and that is the useful signal. A machine bought by the thousand has to survive five years and be repairable, so parts stay available and drivers keep coming long after a consumer tower has been forgotten. All three are small enough to sit behind a monitor.
Dell OptiPlex 7020 Micro
I run an OptiPlex as the server at home, so this one I can speak to directly. The most common business desktop there is, and that is the point. Opens without tools, parts are everywhere, and Dell keeps drivers updated for years. Available with a 14 core i5 and DDR5 memory, which is more machine than most offices need.
- The most widely deployed business desktop, so parts and drivers stay available
- Opens without tools for service
- Small enough to mount behind a monitor
- ProSupport warranty options are genuinely useful
- Micro case limits upgrades to memory and storage
- Configurations vary wildly, check what you are actually buying
- Dell's own software is worth removing
- Power brick is external and bulky
- Size
- Sits behind a monitor
- Service
- Opens without tools
- Support
- Drivers kept updated for years
- Get
- 16GB and an SSD minimum
Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5
The Tiny form factor, about the size of a hardback book. Its reputation is specifically for running cool and quiet hour after hour, which matters more than peak speed in a room where someone is on the phone. Three year warranty as standard.
- Runs noticeably cooler and quieter than rivals
- Three year warranty as standard, not an upsell
- Extremely small footprint
- Well built and easy to service
- Very limited internal expansion
- Fewer ports than a tower
- Lenovo model naming is confusing
- External power brick
- Size
- About a hardback book
- Known for
- Running cool and quiet
- Warranty
- Three years as standard
- Get
- 16GB and an SSD minimum
HP ProDesk 400 G9
Stays quiet under load with two or three screens attached, which is where a lot of small desktops start making themselves heard. HP ship it clean, without the software clutter on their consumer machines.
- Handles several monitors without getting loud
- Clean software install
- Good cooling for the size
- Widely available refurbished later
- Slightly larger than the Lenovo Tiny
- HP's warranty options cost more than Dell's
- Limited upgrade room
- BIOS interface is dated
- Strength
- Quiet with several monitors
- Software
- Clean, no consumer clutter
- Size
- Mini, fits behind a screen
- Get
- 16GB and an SSD minimum
If it needs room to grow
The small boxes above are sealed in practice: you can add memory and a drive, and that is about it. A tower costs a little more and lets you add drives, cards and a bigger power supply later. Worth it if the machine will be adapted rather than replaced.
Dell OptiPlex Tower
The full size version of the machine above. Same business support and parts availability, with space for extra drives and a graphics card if the work ever calls for one.
- Room for extra drives and expansion cards
- Better cooling than a micro
- Standard internal power supply
- Easier to service
- Takes real desk or floor space
- Proprietary parts on some models limit upgrades
- Louder than a micro under load
- Overkill if you will never open it
- Room for
- Extra drives and a card
- Same as micro
- Support and parts
- Worth it if
- You will adapt rather than replace
- Power
- Bigger supply than a micro
Lenovo ThinkCentre M70t
The same argument as the Dell. Pick whichever of the two is better priced on the day, because there is very little between them in practice.
- Expansion room and standard components
- Three year warranty as standard
- Quiet for a tower
- Physically large
- Some configurations use proprietary power supplies
- Little to choose from the Dell, which makes deciding harder
- Room for
- Extra drives and a card
- Versus the Dell
- Very little between them
- Pick on
- Whichever is better priced
- Warranty
- Three years as standard
Refurbished, which is where the value actually is
This is the recommendation I would push hardest. These are corporate lease returns, three years old, built to be repaired, and they cost a fraction of new. A refurbished business desktop with a solid state drive will outrun a brand new budget tower and last longer. Buy from a seller with a real warranty, and check it has an SSD rather than a spinning drive.
Refurbished Dell OptiPlex Micro
Enormously common on the second hand market because so many offices ran them, which keeps supply steady and prices sensible. Get one with 16GB of memory and a solid state drive and it will feel quick for years.
- Better built than anything new at the price
- Steady supply keeps prices sensible
- Parts and drivers still available
- Kinder on the planet than buying new
- Cosmetic marks are normal, that is what refurbished means
- Warranty is from the seller, not Dell, so check it
- Older processor generation
- Exact configuration varies between listings
- Comes from
- Corporate lease returns
- Check
- 16GB memory and an SSD
- Check also
- Seller offers a real warranty
- Versus new budget
- Faster and lasts longer
Refurbished Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny
Grade A units are the cheapest sensible way into a business machine. Tiny, quiet, and perfectly capable of email, documents, browsing and video calls, which is what most desktops actually do all day.
- Cheapest sensible route to a proper business machine
- Very small and quiet
- Plenty for everyday office work
- Older generation processors
- Battery backed BIOS may need a new cell
- Seller quality varies enormously
- Not enough for anything demanding
- Grade A
- Cheapest way in
- Size
- Very small and quiet
- Fine for
- Email, documents, browsing, calls
- Check
- SSD, not a spinning drive
Refurbished HP EliteDesk 800 Mini
The EliteDesk was HP's better business line rather than the budget one, so a refurbished unit tends to have started life better specified.
- Started life as the better specified line
- Usually more memory and a faster chip than budget refurbs
- Good build quality
- Costs more than an equivalent refurbished OptiPlex
- Same seller warranty caveat applies
- Fan can be audible under sustained load
- EliteDesk
- HP's better business line
- So
- Tends to start better specified
- Check
- 16GB memory and an SSD
- Warranty
- Buy from a seller who gives one
Setting up a machine for work?
I can get it out of the box, onto the network and into your accounts so it is genuinely ready to use.