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So Long Desktop PC, You Suck

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Project_J187
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Did you guys just now notice the Frys laptop display growing and the tower display being the one small row in the back?

R.I.P. Tower

P.S. - I will always have one of you for my PC gaming.
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Thorax
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Every computer I have ever owned has been a laptop, even before I became a college student. A laptop does everything I would use in a desktop, except it is also portable. I hate being tethered to one spot while doing work.
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Voyou_Charmant
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I own both. I use my laptop when I'm drunk/lazy, or traveling. Any other time, I'm happy to have a desktop with a nice big ergonomic keyboard and mouse and nice big multiple monitor setup. I like that the towers are getting smaller, but I still need a proper desk setup and I'm not going to plug in and unplug all of that from my laptop.
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Curves
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I cant predict the future, but, I am looking for a new desktop for home, which I have wanted for a couple of years, but I will NOT be saddled with Vitsa (dispite assurances from some at Giz that its all good, I fear it). I am wondering if, like me, lots of PC buyers are waiting for Win 7.
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zenneth
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
This article is bunk. Various market figures are quoted yet are only partially grounded in reality. The truth is that the market fluctuates from year to year. I vaguely remember this same take a few years ago when laptops were just coming into their own within the entertainment market of PCs. The simple truth is that desktops aren't going anywhere, and the inanity of this article just irritates like sand in the underwear.
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Wilson Rothman
06/29/09

@zenneth: You keep telling yourself that.
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wild homes loves you but chooses darkness!
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I can see how you'd make the argument that desktops are dying out. And insofar as we're talking general-purpose computing, I agree-- though I'd argue that netbooks could pretty much do most of the same things, at a generally sub-notebook price.

But for mine, I'd generally go desktop. I've got an older laptop around here somewhere, but for just about everything I do I'd rather be here at my desktop... especially for doing web-based work. I prefer the screen real estate, the full-sized keyboard, and the fact that my hardware represents EXACTLY what I plan to do with the PC without having to make compromises based on what a laptop manufacturer chooses to offer at my price point (SSDs in RAID, 8GB RAM, etc).

I guess the thrust of this article is that pre-built desktop sales are dying, and that's certainly true. The market has been segmented into pretty specific pieces for a while, now: cheap junk boxes from the likes of eMachines and lower-end Dells and such, mid-range junk like you see in Best Buy, and overpriced, proprietary junk from manufacturers like Alienware-Dell and Falcon Northwest. Maybe we've just reached the point where a desktop is something everyone can build... maybe the idea of desktop PCs as something that have to be purchased, complete, in a big brown box is a moribund concept.

PS and the laptop you tout as being a really great deal seems anything but. The multitouch trackpad is cool, but a lot of the other features seem a bit off. Blu-Ray support on a 1366x768 display? Each keep the resolution and increase the density by SHRINKING the screen, or give me a better resolution display, and I'd be interested... and pairing DDR3 RAM with such a comically piddly processor is a bit funny. It's an OK laptop, but I can't see what the market for that particular device is. Unless you just really, really wanted Blu-Ray support.
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yardameus
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I hate sitting and typing and working at a desk on a laptop. The only thing I hate more than that is sitting and attaching a laptop to a redundant extra screen and keyboard and mouse etc...
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Kaiser-Machead
06/29/09

@yardameus: I generally close up the clamshell and attach my own keyboard and mouse.
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Zanduar
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Interesting article. What are your sources?
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Wilson Rothman
06/29/09

@Zanduar: A stupid question like that sounds like you didn't actually read the article. But thanks for calling it "interesting" anyway!
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Kaiser-Machead
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Since getting the MBP, it's become both my mobile and desktop device, relegating the Powermac G4 to a headless torrent and file backup system, which I can remote access from wherever I have an open wifi available. Desktops still have some good uses which I wouldn't think of using a laptop for, mainly because desktops are also much cheaper and simpler to maintain, such as how I use my G4 now, but I'd never use a desktop as my primary computing device again, unless I have no choice.
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Mac the Tard
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Compared to a Console,

a budget Gaming PC is going to be

Better

Faster

Cheaper

& lets not forget about

Upgradable.
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Ehrich Blackhound
06/29/09

@World's Greatest Mactard!: Compared to a console a budget gaming PC is cheaper? Have some numbers? (Not trying to be an a-hole, I would just like to see that theory flushed out.) Most budget gaming PCs I've seen cost 2x as much as a console. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places though.
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zenneth
06/29/09

@Ehrich Blackhound: You must be. A true budget gaming PC can be had, minus display, for less than the cost of a new PS3, with graphics that are easily comparable.
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Kaiser-Machead
06/29/09

@zenneth: Which brand(s)? Like Ehrich, I've only seen those that come in, at the very least, at twice the price of a PS3.
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Ryanraven
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I'm going to use the same argument that's been used for years. Until there are HUGE improvments in battery life, without compromising computing power or adding huge amounts of heat I can not see the desktop dying completly. I will cry the day I see a laptop as a server. Upgradeability may never be surpassed. Powerusers will always be on desktops, just for that little bump.
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OMG! Ponies!
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
The XBox 360 and PS3 are the two reasons why I go for a mid-bottom of the line refurb desktop as a backup email and media server. And I don't know if I'm going to replace my 6 month-old desktop (which replaced an 8 year-old) desktop when it dies.
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Mr_Biggles:Windows 7 was my idea
06/29/09

@OMG! Ponies!: I always thought you were a PC gamer phonies I'm sadden by this.
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GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
06/29/09

@OMG! Ponies!: So, if someone made you a bacon-themed tower case, you would turn it down?
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OMG! Ponies!
06/29/09

@Mr Biggles_Just a Dealzmodo Kind of Hobo: Back in the day, I was. I adored flight-sims and I count Wing Commander as one of my favorite games of all-time. But I haven't seen a space combat sim that I've liked since X-Wing Alliance.

I started playing video games on the C64 with F-15 Strike Eagle III being one of my favorites. I love the Sim games (even Sim Earth, Sim Ant and Sim Tower).

But when FPSes started demanding more and more power, I saw that I could get a decent experience on a console. I've grown accustomed to gaming on the couch, as opposed to at the computer desk. And when I got my XBox 360, I realized that I probably would never play video games on my computer again.

SteveDave: No, I do not want a bacon-themed desktop computer. Get me a computer made entirely from bacon and then we'll talk.
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GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
I think the biggest killer of desktops was Wifi. No longer were you tethered to a wire in the wall, and also to your own home. As more places got high speed wireless, you were more free to use your computer in places you never could before, which opened you horizons.

Me myself, I like towers. Except in my bed and living room, I have all towers, and I like them for their upgradability and also ease of repair. And you can totally customize them! But that's just me, apparently.
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RT100
06/29/09

@WearingBlue4BillyMays_GitEmSte...: you really can't argue with the price-performance ratio on those good ol' beige (or racing stripe) towers
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GitEmSteveDave_My Brute Dojo CDIAFIFE
06/29/09

@rt100: Ahhh, The Green Machine. I actually just ordered a new mobo and power supply for it b/c I had some spare P4's floating around, and the computer was/is dead.

The RadioactiveDell case is slated to be finished next weekend.
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angelzero
06/29/09

In reply to So Long Desktop PC, You Suck
Trying to determine causation in such a ridiculously volatile global market is ludicrous.

Let the numbers ride out for another couple of years and then revisit them. Possibly from your laptop. :D
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PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:
06/29/09

@angelzero: I also think that the desktop market may not die as quickly as one might think. The desktop provides a stepping stone for new innovations for laptops. Most technologies are adapted to notebooks from desktops.
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jp182
06/29/09

@Purple Monkey Dishwasher: that is very true. The desktop will be dead when the latest processors and videocards come out for the laptop first.
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negitoro
06/29/09

@jp182: While that's true, that doesn't necessarily mean desktops will retain their general mainstream market relevance. Just because something is cutting-edge technologically doesn't mean that consumers will start buying desktops again - mainly because most consumers could care less.

Desktops will never completely die... but their importance will definitely diminish over time.
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IN THE FACE!
06/29/09

@negitoro: Aren't home built desktops already more relevant than pre-built ones?
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