Business Clas PCs with Intel 8th generation CPUs comprise Lenovo M720q and M920q, HP Prodesk 400, 600 and Elitedesk 800 G4 Mini as well as Dell 3060, 5060 and 7060 micro. This 8th generation CPUs is significant in that Microsoft has pegged it as the earliest in which Windows 11 can be installed. If you try to install Windows 11 on any PC with a CPU earlier than the 8th generation, you will encounter a message that says Windows 11 cannot be installed on it or something similar. However, enterprising individuals have managed to install Windows 11 on PCs with CPUs earlier than the 8th generation. While Windows 11 could be installed, there is no guarantee that Microsoft will continue to provide sutomatic updates for these PCs in the future.
The main low power Intel 8th generation CPUs start from Intel Gold G5400t, i3-8100t, i5-8500t and i7-8700t. In between, there are less common CPUs like the i3-8300t and the i5-8400t and i5-8600t. Some of the business class PCs mentioned above such as the HP Elitedesk 800 G4 Mini 65W version and the similar Dell 7060 micro are able to take in the faster but higher power consuming versions like the i5-8500 and the i7-8700. Even then, these PCs are exactly the same size though they need a 90W power adapter to run.
All the business class PCs mentioned above allows for the installation of faster M.2 NVME SSD as well as the 2.5in SSD or HDD. However the HP Prodesk 600 Mini and both the 35W and 65W versions of the HP Elitedesk 800 G2 Mini have an additional M.2 NVME SSD slot for you to add a second one. Therefore one can have a M.2 NVME SSD with Windows 11 operating system and another M.2 NVME SSD to store data. Since the cost of M.2 NVME SSD is higher than a 2.5in HDD or SSD, it makes little economic sense to do this unless speed is really of the essence.
Most of these higher end business class PCs are well equipped with USB-C port on the front panel. As for the lower end models like HP 400 G4 Mini and Dell 3060 micro, they only come with 2 USB 3.1 ports. However the HP Prodesk 600 and Elitedesk 800 Mini have 2 USB3.1 ports in addition to the USB-C port on the front panel. On the other hand, the Lenovo M720q and M920q as well as the Dell 5060 and 7060 micro only have one USB3.1 Gen 2 and one USB-C ports.
At the end of the day, it is a choice between features and price. The lower end PCs with less bells and whistles will be available at a lower price in general. Those opting for the higher end versions have to be prepared to pay a slightly higher price. For those who don’t need extras like USB-C ports, opting for the lower end versions makes sense if their needs are basic.