Desktop computers becoming a "thing of the past"

Lopéz · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:04

I'd be happy with a laptop at work as long as it had a proper keyboard, mouse and 19" screen.

Yas786 · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:20

Lopéz said:
I'd be happy with a laptop at work as long as it had a proper keyboard, mouse and 19" screen.

Have a looky at Alienware, they do a 19" laptop...mind u it will set you back quite a bit of money though

.

DAVEM · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:22

I'm the opposite I hate laptops with massive screens and huge footprints.

I like my macbook, only has a small screen and no "uber" graphics card, but the C2D and 2GB RAM make it fly.

Thought saying all that, I'm quite fond of my desktop too!

Davem

Saytan · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:24

for those who want a screen and keyboard, just plug em into a laptop.

phykell · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:26

[TW]Fox · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:28

Suprised nobody has mentioned docking stations. Connect mouse, keyboard and if you like, secondary monitor to docking station. Dock laptop - bingo, dual screen desktop with keyboard and mouse. Only its a laptop.

phykell · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:28

Deep · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:30

i bought my laptop in october and i thought i would use it to play games and what not, but i have just stopped playing PC games, i dont even use my desktop to play games. i just use ps2 and wii. (soon 360).

I will buy another laptop in june when i go america. im going to buy a small 11" Vaio one. all i will use it for is surfing internet, word for uni and msn.
basic and i might aswell have it looking good while i use it.

the only reason i use my desktop now is to download while i am at uni during the week and thats it. we now have wireless at home so i will use the desktop even less!

phykell · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:34

DRZ · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:35

As an estimate I would say that the ratio of laptops:desktops that I sell is about 100:1

Desktops are simply not wanted at all by your average user.

lay-z-boy · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:38

The day you can fit a qx6800, 8800gtx sli, 4gb ram, xfi + 2 1tb drives in a laptop, call me

Till then (at the rate the h/w industry moves, not that long) I will stick with my desktop.

my laptop is plenty fast though, the m1710 has an enormous kick for a laptop, battery life is good enough for what my mobile use is, if i wasn't so bothered about top settings and quality in games etc. then i would use it as my main machine.

Avg. user however, would rather have a laptop over a desktop as they can be so much more practical.

Lopéz · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:39

phykell said:
Nearly forgot, the best thing about using a laptop instead of a desktop? The peace and quiet! It's really odd working on a laptop after a noisy PC, even though I went to a lot of effort to ensure my desktop PC was relatively quiet. My laptop hardly makes any noise at all though and is much better for working on for that reason.

Apart from when the fan goes "WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR" for 45 seconds
every 15 minutes or so?

Inquisitor · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:42

The only thing that appeals to me about laptops is mobility. Other than that I'd much, much rather have a nice desktop to use for whatever I happen to be doing. Decent monitor, high quality mouse & keyboard, enormous versatility in hardware configurations, sound setups, etc. I don't like using a laptop just anywhere because I find it very uncomfortable to be hunched over a small keyboard and touch pad (even with a mouse it's not brilliant).

phykell · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:42

Shane5578 · 24 Apr 2007 at 23:50

i've got an acer ferrari and i bought my bro a top of the line 17inch core duo laptop, worth over £15k.

apart from major heat and slower hardrive, they are excellent for games and even editing work.

growse · 25 Apr 2007 at 00:00

[TW]Fox said:
Suprised nobody has mentioned docking stations. Connect mouse, keyboard and if you like, secondary monitor to docking station. Dock laptop - bingo, dual screen desktop with keyboard and mouse. Only its a laptop.

Which is great, and I think they're fab (I have one next to me) but you can't plug 3 screens into it

Niche requirement? Maybe.......

phykell · 25 Apr 2007 at 00:01

Mattus · 25 Apr 2007 at 01:54

I have a laptop and a desktop and wouldn't want to give up either of them. I use them both for different purposes. The laptop is great for portability and mobility, ie. I can browse the web throughout my house, or take it to libraries when I'm at Uni.

But it's not as comfortable to use as my desktop nor as powerful, especially in the graphics department. I know you can buy laptops with powerful graphics cards and desktop-equivalent CPUs, but they're hot, heavy and the batteries last about an hour. I want my laptop to be a laptop, not a 'desktop replacement' which is jack of all trades but master of none. I can't fit a laptop with 17-inch screen and Geforce 7900 in my rucksack. Thus I'll keep my desktop for performance.

Dj_Jestar · 25 Apr 2007 at 01:59

That'll include business sales as well as consumer sales, at which point the laptop will far outsell the desktop.

"Mobile working" or "Hotdesking" is the latest fad, innit.

SiriusB · 25 Apr 2007 at 02:44

platypus said:
With computer architecture heading the way it is I see no reason why laptops couldn't replace desktops. They won't be the amazing omgwtfbbq performance beasts but they'll be able to perform just as well as most.

Not necessarily! Take a look at the Dell XPSs for instance, those things have C2D CPUs, 2GB RAM and some even sport the NVidia 7950s. Granted these high-end machines cost a lot of money, but as we all know hardware always gets cheaper and cheaper.

A few years ago my laptop was brand new and considered a pretty good spec. Compared to laptops you can buy now for half the price its a big ole 15" calculator