Review: 4 Things We Love About Dell’s OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One

The CRN Test Center finds the all-in-one PC to offer terrific display quality, performance and collaboration features.

Without a doubt, the preference for PCs in work-from-home environments has shifted to laptops rather than desktops.

But for many users, we think there is still a strong case to be made for having a dedicated desktop PC for working at home--especially if it’s an all-in-one. And even more so if it’s an all-in-one that’s well-equipped when it comes to collaboration and performance, such as Dell’s OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One.

[Related: 7 Big Dell Product Launches Ahead Of CES 2021]

At the CRN Test Center, we’ve been trying out this AIO from Dell and we’ve found it to be an excellent option for getting a lot of work done--particularly in situations when a larger screen or an Ethernet connection is called for.

What follows are the top four things we love about Dell’s OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One.

Display

In a work-from-home setup, just using a laptop all day is not always the greatest--or most productive--way to do things. For many, that’s meant adding a monitor for those times when a screen is called for.

But an all-in-one PC can take up about the same amount of space, and doesn’t require reconnecting your laptop every time. That basic benefit alone may make a modern AIO like the OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One worth considering for some workers--while the display on the AIO makes this option even more appealing.

The OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One features a huge display at 27 inches, which plenty of space for enhanced multi-tasking using multiple apps, windows and browser tabs. We found some tasks that required opening a lot of windows at once could just get done faster on this display.

The display quality itself is terrific, with FHD resolution, high brightness and anti-glare. Our unit also includes touch capabilities which is certainly nice to have for certain tasks.

Another plus with this AIO is the inclusion of slim bezels on three sides of the display--top, left and right--which both makes for good aesthetics and helps to limit the overall size of the PC (and the amount of space it takes up).

Performance

Of course, having a lot of display space can only help you so much if the PC itself is sub-optimal on speed. But Dell’s OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One has no issues there.

We found the PC to offer excellent performance in our tryout, thanks in no small part to some very nice specs for the machine--an eight-core chip from Intel’s 10th generation (the Core i7-10700 with vPro), 16 GB of RAM and even discrete Nvidia graphics -- the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650. Ultimately, users that are turning to this AIO to boost their productivity should have little to complain about with the performance on the OptiPlex 7780 AIO.

Ports

We also very much appreciated the ability to connect to Ethernet, which is becoming more and more of a rarity for laptops and thin and light designs take over.

Ethernet makes a difference on speed. We have gigabit internet service, but we’re never able to actually get those speeds over Wi-Fi on a laptop. However, with Ethernet on this AIO, it actually comes very close to gigabit download speeds.

That means a boost to productivity, as well as the fact that it’s just nice for things to happen rapidly. (While some business laptops do still come with Ethernet ports, that will mean plugging and unplugging from Ethernet as you move around during the day.)

The OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One also has a good port selection beyond Ethernet--including five USB-A ports, a USB-C port, HDMI input and HDMI output, dual-mode DisplayPort (DP++), a universal audio jack and a line-out audio port.

Collaboration Features

Also making this AIO a strong option for work-from-home environments is the inclusion of several helpful collaboration features.

Our tryout unit includes a pop-up webcam that emerges from the top of the display when you press down on it--and then can be hidden again when you’re done for privacy and security purposes. Options include a webcam that provides 2-megapixel FHD image quality or a webcam with infrared capabilities for Windows Hello facial authentication.

Along with the webcam and large display, the other most notable collaboration features are the quad-mic array and the speaker system -- which we found to offer both superb sound quality as well as high volumes. Additionally, the AIO came equipped with the Intel Unite conferencing software, which aims to enable more manageable and secure meetings.

As configured for our review (with the specs we outlined, and with 512 GB of storage), Dell’s OptiPlex 7780 All-In-One is priced at $2,412.