Could you live without your desktop PC?

Fightsback

Nope can't do without my workstation as some of the things I use it for a lappy just won't cut it.

With lappys when you get a fault it can be very expensive to repair and may not be economically viable. A discrete gpu failure on a laptop can be terminal and uneconomical to repair.

KxMx

Currently have a tablet, netbook and wireless printer.

When the year old desktop needs replacing I'll be getting the biggest, best spec laptop I've saved enough for.

The desktop feels somewhat redundant now, and because the desktop tower is so blinking big (and its smaller that it's predecessor) it's proving expensive to replace the workstation ( replacing it with the same isn't viable)

The printer is located elsewhere so with a laptop I'll gain portability and can buy a tiny table as its home. With a good sized and powered laptop I don't feel I'm losing anything.

woody2234

A Netbook is basically a "laptop" or "notebook" under 12" screen according to Wikipedia and I have a HP mini 100 netbook with windows 7 and Intel Atom 1.6ghz processer which I purchased years ago and it is really slow so I keep it as a spare

Strider590

pinpin wrote: »

I must be in the minority who really can't get on with a tablet.
I have an Ipad that is basically a paper weight! Most of my friends have abandoned their desktops and just use their tablets.
First choice is always my desktop. Then my laptop.
I'm only in my 20's and it's not like i'm some sort of luddite.

I think the more technical one is, the less one can tolerate the restrictive nature of phone/tablet OS.

Hell changing OS on my PC has annoyed me, I went from XP to Win7 because everyone was saying that everything worked fine. I found I couldn't transfer outlook email accounts, Office 2000 did not work, Corel Draw did not work, Nikon Capture NX2 did not work, some old games did not work and it took me weeks and many registry hacks to get rid of some "features" that actually made it harder to use.

I'm currently battling with the audio as Win7 thinks it knows better and keeps normalising my sound output so that audio tracks basically sound like someone is turning the volume up and down constantly, this in VLC and Winamp and with effects turned off in windows and my sound driver.

I get on with phone/tablet even less. On Android it's restrictive because of how file handling works and the way it tries to categorise and organise files for you. On iOS it's the same as above, but Apple make it even harder to interface with desktop PCs.

steviebabes

I have a desktop, laptop, chromebook, tablet & smartphone. I use the chromebook for nearly everything. The desktop it great for business use and as a music & video server. The laptop is handy for replying to emails, word etc. The tablet is pretty much unused, it was bought on a whim.

kwikbreaks

I have a desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. All get used and none of them could substitute for any of the others for me.

Closest would be laptop for desktop but I run stuff on my desktop 24x7 and take my laptop with me when I'm away from home so I'd need another laptop with at least one powered USB hub and it would take more desk space and be less tidy than the desktop.

I also have 3 Raspberry Pis plus a netbook which I keep as a laptop backup and an EEE Box which is currently unused but worth little so I hang on to it in case.

If all somebody does is consume online media with a bit of email Facebook etc. then I don't doubt a big phone or tablet would be fine.

Swipe

My desktop PC is smaller than a laptop or tablet

donny-gal

I have also queried similar myself, but recognise I need some form of PC, so when my desktop dies, i shall retain the screen, keyboard & mouse which I can attach to my laptop for when I have any large amounts of keyboard work to do. I am a touch typist, but manage fine with a laptop keyboard, and the pad mouse, and on a tablet and phone, but for speed and accuracy prefer a full keyboard. I have put the majority of my "backed up" date on a NAS device, so will not have any storage problems. While I can read documents from my NAS drive on my iPad, not figured out how to add any files I download onto it, such as patterns and recipes.
DG

esuhl

There's no way I could live without my desktop PC! I can't imagine not having a full ergonomic keyboard, and a trackball. And how uncomfortable to have to stare down at the tiny screen that's permanently attached to the keyboard! It's also nice being able to gradually update my PC, rather than throw the whole system away and buy a new one (as you would with a laptop).

I have a laptop and a netbook. The netbook is a brilliant little device for using on the train or when staying with friends. It's great for web browsing and watching video, and so light and portable. I hardly ever use the laptop at all -- it's too big to be portable and too uncomfortable to use when I have a desktop PC.

I was recently given my first smartphone. It's bearably useful for getting maps checking train times, and playing the odd quiz game, but not much else. And a tablet wouldn't be much better.

So long as I have a desktop, a netbook and a smartphone, I'm sorted. Forget laptops and tablets!

Oblivion

I couldn't do without my desktop and its lovely HD 24" monitor mainly because I do a lot of photo processing on it and I need all that real estate to really see the detail.

I also love the flexibility that a tower case gives you for adding drives and cards.