Is the desktop dead?

I've had an iPad for 18 months. It took awhile to get into it, but it is now 90% of my use. It even surprised me by becoming my preferred method of reading! I still have a nice desktop and it still has many important uses that won't be going away anytime soon, so far from dead. Btw, I've worked in technology since 1980, but don't consider myself very geeky.

I think the desktop is far from being obsolete. The raw power and expandability of a desktop is always important. I use mine for all my editing, but I still use my laptop for writing papers and browsing the web, but my iPad is the best for portability. I like that I can fit it in my CamelBak without a problem.

Bourne said:

I think the desktop is far from being obsolete. The raw power and expandability of a desktop is always important. I use mine for all my editing, but I still use my laptop for writing papers and browsing the web, but my iPad is the best for portability. I like that I can fit it in my CamelBak without a problem.

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I agree that the desktop is far from dead. Digital devices may have their uses, but there are limitations, ergonomic and otherwise, inherent in small size. You just can't do some of the things on them that you can do with a larger, more versatile desktop.

In any case, as long as businesses find desktops and servers useful they will alsways be available. I don't see that changing for the forseeable future. I buy second-hand anyway, so I am cool for the next several decades. I love my Hercules emulator and SimH!!!

My approach tends to be on how I want to use the device....production or consumption.

My wireless smartphones are great to "consume" browsing, download from Android Market or iTunes, etc. My tablet allows me to "consume" via a bigger screen. My laptop provides an even bigger screen to "consume" but remains at a border-line between production or consumption.

Desktops allow me to stop thinking about battery issues. They allow me to start thinking about production...not so much...consumption. Though limited in internal space for component upgrades...unlike towers...desktops could remain a cheaper alternative to the more expensive towers.

When it comes to production, I go to my tower. Not cheap but it does what I want. More useful keyboard, mouse, screen, multiple hard drive access, 36 USB ports, etc.

Hope this helps.

I use both, but usually I use the desktop. The freak graphics card it has is way better than anything mobile and affordable has. Also I enjoy 24" screen more than 15".

I would have a laptop for about a week before I either broke or lost it.

Last year I went through eight keyboards, I keep spilling things on them.

You know you can get plastic covers that help protect the keyboard while you use it, right? lol

Those just make it worse. Plus I have an ergonomic keyboard, so they wouldn't fit anyway.

I use all types...

Desktop - For my web design and image work
Laptop - Easy for my wife to use at home in any room and take to work
Tablet - When I want to check something while watching TV or while in bed
Smartphone - Send and receive emails while I'm out - very handy!

They all have their uses. If you have loads of paperwork to consult, you're going to be sat at a desk anyway, so why not have a desktop. They have a long way to go yet.

So it would seem with a quick search.

Unless a laptop has been brought out that's modular, has a proper keyboard and can play Skyrim on ultra settings I'd say desktop is still head and shoulders above any laptop or mobile device (don't get me wrong, they have their uses.)

paul1149 said:

Power consumption is something many people probably should consider. A desktop that is on all the time pulling 300W can use two dollars a day in electricity, depending, whereas most laptops use one-fifth of that, without peripherals. That can add up, and aside from the initial outlay of "green", it makes laptops the greener choice environmentally. Someone recently made the good suggestion that for this reason older laptops make good home servers or NAS units.

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Holy crap where do you live where electricity is that expensive!!! According to your two dollars a day for a 300W draw for 24 hours, electricity would have to be $.27 per kWh! That's freakishly expensive. I believe my electric rate is $.08 or $.10 per kWh. I'd have to look at the electric bill to be sure but dang your electric is high.

Can't you attach external monitors and keyboards to a laptop?

Desktops are better for the money. They are also much more customizable!

Cell phones are good if you have an emergency and can not reach a land line. Also, talking on a cell phone during a thunderstorm does not carry the same risk as talking on a landline.

AdamKane said:

Can't you attach external monitors and keyboards to a laptop?

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If the right ports are there. External keyboards should almost always be supported due to the ubiquity of USB ports. External monitors depend on the graphics card and the type of port - D-sub (*VGA), DVI, HDMI, etc. I want to say that even my sister's netbook has a D-sub port on it. My mom's laptop has an HDMI port we've occasionally used to hook it to our HDTV.

The desktop is very much alive, as the gaming computer industry thrives on it. Laptops just cannot compare to desktops as far as storage and performance go. Desktops have much, much more room than laptops and anything that's small enough to fit in a laptop can be multiplied in desktops. Some people just prefer desktops because they are more comfortable, you can adjust the screen/keyboard position, etc.

That said, at the moment I only have 3 laptops (one's dead that I will rebuild and one's very old). I have a desktop at my mother's house that's not really used anymore, so I may get that one day and fix it up nicely.