4 ms·

I might be in the minority here but I've never found a desktop PC to be particularly restrictive[1]; the main things tying me to a desk when I want to accomplis

by philk 16y ago

I might be in the minority here but I've never found a desktop PC to be particularly restrictive[1]; the main things tying me to a desk when I want to accomplish something are a good chair, a few large monitors and a quality keyboard. I could buy a laptop, sure, but I'd still need somewhere with these amenities and saving a couple of cubic feet of living space seems irrelevant. [1] The words "big" and "boxy" seem needlessly pejorative to me. I don't complain about my big, boxy sofa which indisputably takes up more of my house.

jrockway 16y ago
I agree completely. Laptops are expensive and underpowered. Desktops are cheap, easy to maintain and upgrade, and are easy to make powerful. Let me know when I can get a sub-$1000 laptop with a 4 core CPU, SLI graphics, 6G RAM, and a 3TB RAID array. Until then, I'm sticking with my desktop. (When I want to be "untethered", I just use my laptop. I have a 3G modem, so I can go anywhere and just ssh into my desktop. If the laptop gets lost, no big deal -- there's no data on it, and it costs $300. The important stuff is locked inside my house.)
- jbooth 16y ago
  You can get almost all of that, minus the graphics and RAID array, for not much more than 1k. Just saying. I'm on a dual core that I originally got for under 1k 18 months ago and I'm happy. Will probably pick up a desktop for power but this realistically does most of what I need, and there's EC2 if I'm getting really serious.
  - philk 16y ago
    If you have to give up the SLI graphics and RAID array then I don't think what you have left constitutes "almost all of that".
    - jbooth 16y ago
      If you're using a RAID array you should probably be buying a server, not a laptop.
- trop 16y ago
  Not only that, but there's such a backlog of great, reliable desktop machines from the last decade! For most stay-indoors purposes, a seven-year-old Dell machine is just fine, and due to the numbers produced is effectively free (or near-free if you need to add some more memory and a new video card before it seems right). Of course I remember laughing at the crusty oldtimers who, back in 2000, swore they were happy using a '386 running Debian for all their needs. Forgive me if I'm sounding like one of them.
- chroma 16y ago
  Your needs are not the same as most computer buyers. Laptops satisfy users' needs better than desktops. As the article mentions, performance is similar for typical tasks, but laptops are portable.
- patrickk 16y ago
  >Laptops are expensive and underpowered Netbooks are inexpensive and underpowered. I bought one partially to see what all the fuss was about and partially to hack it into a hackintosh :D The small screen makes them useless for anything other than casually browsing the web. I had intended to do some development work on it, but the slow response time and limited screen real estate make that a real headache. The cramped keyboard slows down your typing also. I'm going to buy a fully-fledged MacBook instead. Btw, if I wish to just quickly go on the web, I still fire up the netbook and browse away - I'm commenting on my netbook right now ;-) So it's not a complete waste of money. I can envision myself doing all my real work on a MacBook, while using the netbook to iChat my co-founder or to have tech manuals/webpages open on a separate screen as I need them as reference.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    I meant to use the word "netbook" instead of "laptop" in my last paragraph. Netbooks are great.
zitterbewegung 16y ago
Its more likely that the average computer user will gravitate toward more portable machines.
- patrickk 16y ago
  Agree completely. Most people don't need to do graphically-intensive tasks, such as gaming or heavy Photoshop editing or other performance heavy tasks, i.e. things that increasingly are becoming the only reason to buy a desktop. As far as gaming is concerned, I have a relatively powerful PC myself, but I still opt to use my xbox 360 for gaming as using the 360 controller over the keyboard/mouse makes it easier to dive into a game, plus I don't have to worry about install headaches, incompatible drivers/hardware, patches... etc. The 'next-gen' consoles (360 and PS3) have made many of the reasons for buying a gaming PC redundant - networked consoles over Xbox Live! and Playstation network, and advanced hardware that allows graphics and performance to approach high-end PC performance (granted you can spend a few thousand on a gaming PC that will blow any console out of the water, but that isn't a realistic option both financially and in terms of ease of use for most gamers). For most of the tasks that people want to do on their PC - browse the web, email, compose word docs, skype, instant messaging - I would advise my less tech savvy relatives to buy a cheap laptop.
chrisbolt 16y ago
For me, using a laptop isn't about saving living space. Instead of having a desktop at home, a desktop at work, and a laptop for the rest, I just have a fast laptop that I can connect to a big monitor at home or work. No need to deal with synchronizing files between computers and I only have to back up one computer.
- BerislavLopac 16y ago
  Dropbox helps a lot with that synchronizing thing. :)
sliverstorm 16y ago
Considering 'The World' around me ceases to exist for me when I'm at work (as mentally I'm inside the computer/network), I completely agree with you. So long as I can see the screen, access the mouse and type on the keyboard, I don't care if my desk is laden with screaming baboons. Outside of work though I admit a laptop is tantalizing. Not for space savings on my desk, but for portability.

by philk 16y ago

jrockway 16y ago

I agree completely. Laptops are expensive and underpowered. Desktops are cheap, easy to maintain and upgrade, and are easy to make powerful. Let me know when I can get a sub-$1000 laptop with a 4 core CPU, SLI graphics, 6G RAM, and a 3TB RAID array. Until then, I'm sticking with my desktop. (When I want to be "untethered", I just use my laptop. I have a 3G modem, so I can go anywhere and just ssh into my desktop. If the laptop gets lost, no big deal -- there's no data on it, and it costs $300. The important stuff is locked inside my house.)

jbooth 16y ago
You can get almost all of that, minus the graphics and RAID array, for not much more than 1k. Just saying. I'm on a dual core that I originally got for under 1k 18 months ago and I'm happy. Will probably pick up a desktop for power but this realistically does most of what I need, and there's EC2 if I'm getting really serious.
- philk 16y ago
  If you have to give up the SLI graphics and RAID array then I don't think what you have left constitutes "almost all of that".
  - jbooth 16y ago
    If you're using a RAID array you should probably be buying a server, not a laptop.
trop 16y ago
Not only that, but there's such a backlog of great, reliable desktop machines from the last decade! For most stay-indoors purposes, a seven-year-old Dell machine is just fine, and due to the numbers produced is effectively free (or near-free if you need to add some more memory and a new video card before it seems right). Of course I remember laughing at the crusty oldtimers who, back in 2000, swore they were happy using a '386 running Debian for all their needs. Forgive me if I'm sounding like one of them.
chroma 16y ago
Your needs are not the same as most computer buyers. Laptops satisfy users' needs better than desktops. As the article mentions, performance is similar for typical tasks, but laptops are portable.
patrickk 16y ago
>Laptops are expensive and underpowered Netbooks are inexpensive and underpowered. I bought one partially to see what all the fuss was about and partially to hack it into a hackintosh :D The small screen makes them useless for anything other than casually browsing the web. I had intended to do some development work on it, but the slow response time and limited screen real estate make that a real headache. The cramped keyboard slows down your typing also. I'm going to buy a fully-fledged MacBook instead. Btw, if I wish to just quickly go on the web, I still fire up the netbook and browse away - I'm commenting on my netbook right now ;-) So it's not a complete waste of money. I can envision myself doing all my real work on a MacBook, while using the netbook to iChat my co-founder or to have tech manuals/webpages open on a separate screen as I need them as reference.
- jrockway 16y ago
  I meant to use the word "netbook" instead of "laptop" in my last paragraph. Netbooks are great.

zitterbewegung 16y ago

Its more likely that the average computer user will gravitate toward more portable machines.

patrickk 16y ago
Agree completely. Most people don't need to do graphically-intensive tasks, such as gaming or heavy Photoshop editing or other performance heavy tasks, i.e. things that increasingly are becoming the only reason to buy a desktop. As far as gaming is concerned, I have a relatively powerful PC myself, but I still opt to use my xbox 360 for gaming as using the 360 controller over the keyboard/mouse makes it easier to dive into a game, plus I don't have to worry about install headaches, incompatible drivers/hardware, patches... etc. The 'next-gen' consoles (360 and PS3) have made many of the reasons for buying a gaming PC redundant - networked consoles over Xbox Live! and Playstation network, and advanced hardware that allows graphics and performance to approach high-end PC performance (granted you can spend a few thousand on a gaming PC that will blow any console out of the water, but that isn't a realistic option both financially and in terms of ease of use for most gamers). For most of the tasks that people want to do on their PC - browse the web, email, compose word docs, skype, instant messaging - I would advise my less tech savvy relatives to buy a cheap laptop.

chrisbolt 16y ago

For me, using a laptop isn't about saving living space. Instead of having a desktop at home, a desktop at work, and a laptop for the rest, I just have a fast laptop that I can connect to a big monitor at home or work. No need to deal with synchronizing files between computers and I only have to back up one computer.

BerislavLopac 16y ago
Dropbox helps a lot with that synchronizing thing. :)

sliverstorm 16y ago

Considering 'The World' around me ceases to exist for me when I'm at work (as mentally I'm inside the computer/network), I completely agree with you. So long as I can see the screen, access the mouse and type on the keyboard, I don't care if my desk is laden with screaming baboons. Outside of work though I admit a laptop is tantalizing. Not for space savings on my desk, but for portability.