With all the doom and gloom about desktop PCs how come I am building more than ever? I have built two this week and considering it is not even something I advertise that is a lot. Mind you I usually tell customers if they need a new PC that if you buy one ready made from the likes of PCW the parts are not always standard and if it needs to go in for repair under warranty you might be without it for a few weeks while it goes back to the manufacturer, where as I can sort it out straight away.
But the media would make out nobody is buying PCs. I think desktops are dead for the average single PC user who just wants to watch a bit of TV and check their facebook profiles, but most professional users still prefer a good old fashioned PC to a laptop or tablet.
I don't have a tablet myself, my Sony Xperia S handles most my ultra portable internet needs, and if I need something better I have my netbook. I most prefer to my use my desktops though.
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What operating system are you being asked to install? If it's Windows 7 then that might be part of the answer you're looking for.
If I was buying one machine it would be a laptop with a monitor and full size separate keyboard and a mouse. Best of both worlds. Unless you're into gaming and then it might be better to get a decent desktop.
You say you prefer to use desktops - you probably mean you prefer to use a larger screen with a proper keyboard and mouse. Plug the netbook into those and it is probably more useful. Likewise connect an Android phone to a monitor and add keyboard and mouse and that's suddenly a useful machine. Some monitors now come with MHL USB connectivity built in to connect directly to smartphones.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 25 Apr 13 at 10:59
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I find desktop processors run a lot cooler though (better airflow) and are faster. If you look at the CPU benchmark site you will know what I mean. My processor is 18 months old now, (Sandybridge i3) and I have yet to see a laptop which scores as well. They do exist but they cost £1000+.
I give customers a choice of operating system, but as most people buying desktops are using it for professional use, I tend to recommend Windows 7. When people just want something to write an important report with, the last thing they want to do is spend time learning a new interface (Metro). That said the machine I built for my parents Christmas Present is a Windows 8 one, it is a basic Sanbybridge Celeron (G550) and is extremely fast.
For my laptop needs I just use my 1 year old netbook, Atom dual core with 2GB RAM and running Lubuntu. It is extremely good for what I need.
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I'm guessing the media are talking about business sales of PCs falling through the floor. I think many companies are now really sweating their assets (for which I was thinking IT, but true of many assets, including in many cases their employees!!).
Virtual technology is reducing the need for any significant processing power at the desk, with users being issued with lowish spec re-purposed machines to run their VDI sessions on. If the machine breaks and is out of warranty, and can't be easily repaired in-house, they've often got hundreds of spares in the basement from all the redundancies.
Also companies are starting the Run What You Brung policy - which can't yet replace good old fashioned PCs but is already going some way towards that, and is impacting laptop demand where I'm currently working as users are being encouraged to use their own if they don't want a desktop.
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I think Smokie is spot on. The big drop in sales is business. And I think the driver for BYOD is not so you can use your favourite laptop or tablet. It's so you access the virtualised desktop from your own mobile device thus (a) moving you onto a virtualised environment and (b) making you provide your own access device :-)
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You can't beat a desktop for all round use and convenience, plus the means to upgrade as and when and as often as required...:-)
But I still have a smart phone, a lap top and a tablet......
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I don't get the convenience angle for a desktop vs a laptop. Apart from expansion, ability to house more drives and upgradability, what else does a desktop offer in terms of convenience? Floor standing maybe to not take room on your desk?
Don't get me wrong, my two main machines are an iMac and a PC/Hackintosh. The latter has a lot less in it these days in terms of drives etc. Runs very quietly even when gaming.
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>> I don't get the convenience angle for a desktop vs a laptop. Apart from expansion,
>> ability to house more drives and upgradability,
There is no longer any need to upgrade. Horsepower, memory and storage requirements fall rapidly through the floor when everything becomes cloud based.
That, as much as Windows 8 and the recession is whats killing the PC market, its a perfect storm.
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>> There is no longer any need to upgrade. Horsepower, memory and storage requirements fall rapidly
>> through the floor when everything becomes cloud based.
Iff... it's some time before network connections will be reliable enough for that, surely?!
If you compare networked-computer reliability today with 15 years ago, the improvement is beyond belief. No longer do you sit there re-rebooting a machine which takes ages to crank up, in a process that could sap an hour out of your working day. I cannot remember the last time I had to reboot during the day. BUT, the network does disappear from time to time; the internet does slow to a crawl sometimes.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Fri 24 May 13 at 10:02
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>> >> There is no longer any need to upgrade. Horsepower, memory and storage requirements fall
>> rapidly
>> >> through the floor when everything becomes cloud based.
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>> Iff... it's some time before network connections will be reliable enough for that, surely?!
No, its here and its now. The fact that you bemoan the effects of lost or slow network when it happens proves it. You are dependent on the network, not the PC.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 24 May 13 at 10:11
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>>No, its here and its now
I don't think so, not yet.
The technology is there, and good; The communication is there, and mostly good; but not good enough to make it seamless. And it will need to be seamless to overcome the emotional objections that some people, including me, have.
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Price.
A laptop with the horsepower of my desktop comes in around the 3 grand mark.
Also never underestimate the value of upgradability. It's a heck of a sight easier to spend a bit every now and again bringing components up to spec than it is to drop a few thousand on a new machine.
If I were to use a laptop, I'd then be looking at another heavy chunk of cash for a docking station, which gets thrown away come laptop upgrade time. Finally, when I take the laptop with me, the desktop still works......
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So, for a light user like myself - office stuff, email and internet plus a liking for Youtube stuff what can't one of these sub £50 jobbies do that my desktop can?
Seems like a cheap option when the lump I'm using now expires. I take it you can connect to a printer?
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Doing office stuff is where the tablet or smartphone starts to get clunky. You can really only view or make small edits to documents you've already written.
However, move up to the most basic of netbooks - I'd go far as to say a Chromebook with a few GB of onboard storage (or a USB stick!) if your internet connection is reliable enough to use Google Docs - and you'll be pushes to find any home or basic office computing task you can't do on it.
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Desktop PCS - Surpringly high demand - rtj70
