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Chazwozel
I really don't feel like being a dick today, but for some reason I feel that I'm getting dumber reading some of your posts today.
Desktops Obsolete in 3 Years
- Thread starter ThatNickGuy
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I really don't feel like being a dick today, but for some reason I feel that I'm getting dumber reading some of your posts today.
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Chibibar
Desktop PC might be "obsolete" in 3 years for COMMON users.
Common users = web surfer, spread sheet users, email, phone use, video viewing.
Uncommon users = heavy gaming. iPhone can play lots of game, but it doesn't quite beat the PC (in my book) even portable gaming devices, PC can do a whole lot more. A PC contain many high level components would be VERY expensive (even in 3 years) to put in small devices. Heck, now-a-days people use dual video card. That is hard with a laptop.
Common users = web surfer, spread sheet users, email, phone use, video viewing.
Uncommon users = heavy gaming. iPhone can play lots of game, but it doesn't quite beat the PC (in my book) even portable gaming devices, PC can do a whole lot more. A PC contain many high level components would be VERY expensive (even in 3 years) to put in small devices. Heck, now-a-days people use dual video card. That is hard with a laptop.
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crono1224
Also what about heavy processing things like video editing? I agree that for common users sure the desktop is already pretty obsolete for most of them espcially considering what you can do on the smart phones today. But for people who use their computers for hardcore gaming, video/picture editing, and things of that nature I feel you aren't going to either have the ability to or really enjoy it on a mobile device.
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Chibibar
Yup. cause even if the mobile/portable devices can get powerful (even laptops) the desktop series are even MORE powerful. I don't think a laptop (even Alienware level) can't really beat a powerhouse desktop (I don't know a laptop with dual video card yet but I haven't keep up) also the memory stick limitation on laptop
not to mention cooling and CPU you can do on a tower desktop.
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crono1224
Yup. cause even if the mobile/portable devices can get powerful (even laptops) the desktop series are even MORE powerful. I don't think a laptop (even Alienware level) can't really beat a powerhouse desktop (I don't know a laptop with dual video card yet but I haven't keep up) also the memory stick limitation on laptop
not to mention cooling and CPU you can do on a tower desktop.[/QUOTE]
Plus at a certain point wouldn't it be just as inconvient to carry around as a PC, I mean it would weigh like 15 pounds, need to be plugged into the wall, and if you wanted double monitors well....
Forget plugging in. It'll all be wireless. The electricity, the internet, keyboard/mouse, etc. You'll just have the phone in your pocket or sitting on the desk, and you'll type with a regular keyboard and use a monitor. The screen on the phone will be used while on the go.
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Chazwozel
Forget plugging in. It'll all be wireless. The electricity, the internet, keyboard/mouse, etc. You'll just have the phone in your pocket or sitting on the desk, and you'll type with a regular keyboard and use a monitor. The screen on the phone will be used while on the go.[/QUOTE]
I can't wait for wireless electricity.
Forget plugging in. It'll all be wireless. The electricity, the internet, keyboard/mouse, etc. You'll just have the phone in your pocket or sitting on the desk, and you'll type with a regular keyboard and use a monitor. The screen on the phone will be used while on the go.[/QUOTE]
I can't wait for wireless electricity.[/QUOTE]
They already have those cordless charging stations. But I can imagine something more along the lines of those self winding watches if we can get the power requirements low enough
Steering is still mechanical (wth power assist, but if that goes out the linkages are still mechanical).
Baking is still mechanical, except in regenerative braking systems where it's a hybrid - there's a few inches of pressing the brake where it doesn't engage the mechanical brakes, but engages the electronic regenerative braking, then it hits the mechanical braking if you press harder. If the power goes out, the mechanical braking still works.
Gas is mostly electronic throttle these days - not mechanical at all, and is the core of Toyota's problems (both the pedal, the floormats, and now the software are shown to be at fault).
But the big two - braking and steering, are still mechanical linkages.
There are some larger vehicles (think semi tractors meant to haul 40+ foot trailers) that have electronic braking (since it's already decoupled by the hydraulic system) that actually perform better than the older style because they account for overall vehicle stability control - which is fun on a big rig.
Newer cars with advanced stability control can actuate the brakes for you, on a per-wheel basis, but again - the brake pedal actually forces fluid into the brake cylinders if all else fails, so it's still a mechanical system.
Eventually we'll get there, but it'll be a long slow slog, and given the setback that Toyota has shown with one relatively simple system, we're probably going to take longer to get there than we otherwise would have.
But neither breaking or steering are directly connected to the engine itself... i guess fly-by-wire was the wrong word, but i couldn't think of anything better.
And frankly mechanical with electronic assist it probably a better system safety wise.
And frankly mechanical with electronic assist it probably a better system safety wise.
Somehow i doubt it will be as efficient as pluging-in... but i guess it will work with a computer that isn't a power hog...
So it's working...
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Chibibar
well.. it might not be "obsolete" but Window XP might not be able to recognize the new HDD in 2011
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8557144.stm
changing fromg 512 byte to 4k.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8557144.stm
changing fromg 512 byte to 4k.
And in 3 years, a smart phone could be as powerful as your 14yo desktop.
That's fantastic, but I still won't have or use one.
That's fantastic, but I still won't have or use one.[/QUOTE]
I agree, but if you go to upgrade later, it might not be a bad way to go.
I briefly envisioned a smoky room with blades of light slicing through the blinds as you pecked away at a typewriter. The carriage return triggers and slides back to home with a thunk. You stop, exhale slowly a stream of smoke and then stub the cigarette out on the scarred, blackened corner of your desk. After a long delay, you begin clacking away at the keys again.
The Desktop is already on the way out. For the Average consumer the laptop (and now the netbooks) are capable of fulfilling their needs, and Web applications and cloud computing is only going upward.
This is even occurring in the workplace. My workplace machine is a laptop, capable of doing everything I need to perform my job. I'm also allowed a large network drive for storing large files, and have access to virtual machines for cases where I need greater computing power.
This is even occurring in the workplace. My workplace machine is a laptop, capable of doing everything I need to perform my job. I'm also allowed a large network drive for storing large files, and have access to virtual machines for cases where I need greater computing power.
"obsolete" is definitely too strong of a word here. I would say the desktop will lose its dominance as a computing device.
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Chazwozel
Uh, My 2005 laptop has a GeForceGO 6600 in it that I can swap out for a higher end card...
---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------
I briefly envisioned a smoky room with blades of light slicing through the blinds as you pecked away at a typewriter. The carriage return triggers and slides back to home with a thunk. You stop, exhale slowly a stream of smoke and then stub the cigarette out on the scarred, blackened corner of your desk. After a long delay, you begin clacking away at the keys again.[/QUOTE]
GasBandit
Staff member
Uh, My 2005 laptop has a GeForceGO 6600 in it that I can swap out for a higher end card...[/QUOTE]
Two things:
1) While not unheard of, that's still an extremely rare feature, and
2) it's still a mobile gpu, which is like a budget PC video card with a high end price.
Yours is the exception that pretty much proves the rule. The vast, vast majority of notebooks don't let you upgrade, and whether they do or not, the mobile cards can't hold a candle to the desktop cards without increasing price by hundreds of percent.
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Chazwozel
Uh, My 2005 laptop has a GeForceGO 6600 in it that I can swap out for a higher end card...[/QUOTE]
Two things:
1) While not unheard of, that's still an extremely rare feature, and
2) it's still a mobile gpu, which is like a budget PC video card with a high end price.
Yours is the exception that pretty much proves the rule. The vast, vast majority of notebooks don't let you upgrade, and whether they do or not, the mobile cards can't hold a candle to the desktop cards without increasing price by hundreds of percent.[/QUOTE]
The vast, vast majority of PC's have integrated video cards or really shitty ones.
I do believe that top end gaming rigs are also marked much higher than the 'standard' web browsing PC.
As to holding a candle: Dual 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX™ That's available on an Alienware Laptop. Way better than my PC.
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makare
I would think so. My friend has an amazing laptop which I covet unabashedly. It cost 3000 dollars. I think a desktop that could do the same things would have been half that. But I could be wrong, I have to get a lot of help getting a computer together because I often don't know anything about it.
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Chazwozel
The price of laptops revolves around the price of the larger (easier to manufacturer) PC parts. If the retailers were to change standards (and they will just like the tower craze) to something portable like a smartphone/22 inch monitor combo the prices would drop. Blu-Ray is expensive as hell compared to DvD. Wait for DvD to phase out and watch Blu-Ray drop to the same cost.
GasBandit
Staff member
Uh, My 2005 laptop has a GeForceGO 6600 in it that I can swap out for a higher end card...[/QUOTE]
Two things:
1) While not unheard of, that's still an extremely rare feature, and
2) it's still a mobile gpu, which is like a budget PC video card with a high end price.
Yours is the exception that pretty much proves the rule. The vast, vast majority of notebooks don't let you upgrade, and whether they do or not, the mobile cards can't hold a candle to the desktop cards without increasing price by hundreds of percent.[/QUOTE]
The vast, vast majority of PC's have integrated video cards or really shitty ones.
I do believe that top end gaming rigs are also marked much higher than the 'standard' web browsing PC.
As to holding a candle: Dual 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX™ That's available on an Alienware Laptop. Way better than my PC.
[/QUOTE]
YOUR PC maybe. And it also costs (googling....the alienware in question is the m17x according to notebookcheck... googling price...) $2500. I built a desktop that can outperform it for under a grand.
As for "most PCs come with onboard crappy video cards," only the low end consumer ones do, and even most every single one of THOSE are upgradable to any card you want.
They are, and that's probably not going to change, but tech equivalency isn't what people actually buy computers for, it's for fulfilling their needs, whether it's office work, homework, mobile computing, playing games/movies/music, etc.
Laptops/PDAs/tablets/etc have a huge everyday needs advantage in being mobile. That's always been their selling point, and now they've actually caught up to multimedia/office work/internet needs in terms of pricing. We've reached the point (again) where the technical capabilities of our computers far out-distances what we actually need them for, only this time it's starting to happen with mobile devices and laptops instead of desktops.
This, exactly. I can certainly see the new generation of products like the iPad overriding the laptop market, but for PCs, I have to agree with everything that GB has said. I built my gaming rig for under 1k and it blows any laptops out of the water.
Either way, gaming enthusiasts such as myself will be using towers for quite a long time.
figmentPez
Staff member
Those mobile chips in crossfire should just about match a desktop Radeon 4850, which can be had for about $130 or less.
That's fantastic, but I still won't have or use one.[/QUOTE]
I agree, but if you go to upgrade later, it might not be a bad way to go.[/QUOTE]
Yes, it would be a terrible way to go. As I mentioned, I use my computer primarily for writing. I am not typing a 50,000 word piece on a goddamn phone, I don't care how smart the fucking thing is, and I sure as fuck am not going to try and edit that piece on a 4" screen.
Graphical power reaching a ceiling is one of the things i can't wait for... then they won't be able to just rely on having more pixels or crap and will actually have to make games that look good even 5 years after....
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Chazwozel
Haha: ITT: Computer nerds who can't let go.
Your argument is akin to saying that 1960's muscle cars will always be the majority of what people drive. The parts are cheaper, the engine is simpler, you can work on it yourself and swap out endless parts to make it faster. Yet, I don't see many Firebirds driving around compared to mainstream Honda sedans.
Your argument is akin to saying that 1960's muscle cars will always be the majority of what people drive. The parts are cheaper, the engine is simpler, you can work on it yourself and swap out endless parts to make it faster. Yet, I don't see many Firebirds driving around compared to mainstream Honda sedans.
Do Honda sedans have heat issues if you place them right on the desk?! I have a few friends who have laptops shut down because of too much heat that way, and one friend even had a laptop fry the processor or something... even after he got one of those coolers you put under them.
And aren't honda's cheaper?! It's not just the parts we're talking about here...
And aren't honda's cheaper?! It's not just the parts we're talking about here...
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