Who else has gone all laptop and if not, what is the laptop missing?

Like many people, I've finally given up on my desktop. It's still in my possession, but is off the desk. I might buy another one in the future, but have no plans to do it in the forseeable future. Sure, a laptop will never match top end desktop GPU's but consider this: even a mid ranged mobile graphics chip can put out visuals far better than current consoles so modern games on laptops still look great.

Outside of games, my laptop with blue ray drive, when docked to a mouse, keyboard, Audioengine 5 speakers and dual monitors is basically the same as the desktop experience for the things I need--Internet, movies, music, even running a WAMP stack with Eclipse IDE running. The desktop will always have the better CPU/GPU/RAM advantage, but for many people a mid-range laptop is good enough. So who else has given up their desktop and if not, which aspects of your laptop are holding you back?

 

I have not replaced my desktop with a laptop for 1 simple reason, I buy laptops for portability. Reason why a sport a 14" Lenovo, it can game pretty nice and all, but at the end of the day I can't spend time overclocking it just to pass the time... and I keep my desktop doing F@H all day and mining bitcoins... things a laptop simply can't do efficiently.

 

Tinkering with desktops was fun for a while, but after basic software (ie just office, web, media, etc) stopped outpacing hardware there just wasn't any point. I got rid of my last desktop more than a year ago. It could have been much earlier too... I know a lot of users who have been all-laptop almost all their (computer using) life.

 

I've been all laptop since 2007, haven't looked back. I love being able to bring my computer anywhere if need be. Want to work outside on the porch? Game (when i had a machine with dedicated graphics) on your own pc at a friend's? OK!

A laptop also has a cleaner look IMO, with a minimum of cable clutter. Also cleaning/dusting my desk is a breeze!

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Im desktopless since 2006, I sincerely never looked back. I only have a NAS and a server for specific purposes, the former is mine and the latter is bought by govt budget

 

If it weren't for gaming, i'd have gone full laptop + NAS.

 

Laptops I find tend to be more special purpose except monstrous DTR machines. The sore spots are cooling and GPU, to date I have not found a laptop which houses a decent, balanced GPU with good cooling that does not weight more than 3kg. I can't trust my portable laptop to render or encode something without worrying about destructive heat buildup.
I also absolutely loathe gDDR3, midrange GPUs have long surpassed the performance of previous generation high-end chips with GDDR5, yet manufacturers keep saddling us with them due to cost savings and product differentiation. This greatly unbalances the GPU design because it limits performance in certain areas (e.g. AA heavy games, high resolutions etc) while still retaining performance in other loads enough so they can quote a good marketing figure when compared to GDDR5 derivatives.
I also like the repairability, scalability and modular nature of desktops which laptops lack. I can easily find replacements and BIOS updates for my desktop yet most of the time, laptops often cannot be saved if anything other than the screen, CPU, RAM or HDD dies without special equipment/skills. Upgrading a laptop is a pain too since you have to beg or scour the internet for a BIOS update which will only exist if you're lucky, Laptop OEMs are too keen for you to upgrade to their latest machine to bother supporting older models.

 

I've gone all laptop in 2006 and I've never looked back. Gaming laptops provide enough horsepower to play even modern games with good-enough visuals and I don't mind carrying a 17incher in my backpack.

 

Last computer I had was a Pentium III 800MHz with 64MB 100MHz SD RAM and a 15GB Quantum Fireball hard drive (~20MB/s) and 4x CD burner. Not a pretty experience with lots of RAM paging to the hard drive and Windows ME was a nightmare.

Probably the only thing that's holding me back with my current laptop is that the screen is too small (13"). I'd probably install another hard disk for extra space as well if I could.

 

I was desktopless for about a year and a half, just using my W520. Didn't have any problems with it, but I wanted to move all my games off the laptop (due to limited SSD space) and wanted an even more powerful GPU to game on and/or fold for F@H. Hence why I built my desktop. But my laptop is still my main computer.

 

I can't replace my desktop> I use my laptop for portability. My laptop is a15.6 inch. A laptop can't match the build quality of a desktop with quality parts and nor can i over clock. I could run multiple monitors with laptop but, not as easily or with out some sort of dock.

 

8 years since my very own desktop and I miss nothing.

 

I beg to differ, price/performance ratio, max attainable performance and overclocking potential is something i agree with you, but there are some laptops with excellent build quality out there. They are just more expensive than the average consumer laptop.

 

I'm desktopless for the most part. I have an older machine that really sits as a "guest" machine when people come over, I use it for downloading torrents, and gaming occasionally. I also have a WHS for storage. But can't really do that with a laptop.

 

The sale of laptops surpassed that of desktops several years ago. However, for obvious reasons, a desktop will always be the clear winner for absolute power and durability. Therefore, there will always be a need for desktops especially when heavy duty, continuous computer power is necessary.

Besides, the computer will not just be important to have in the home, but to run/operate the home as well. I don't have one at the moment, but most certainly will be investing in one within the next year.

 

I tried to go laptopless before but I just can't, I need both laptop and a desktop! My notebook is great for mobile work and internet browsing but for massive storage configurations, gaming and some design/multimedia works you can't beat a powerful desktop system with a big, nice screen (IPS screen in my case which beats the standard TN screen on my notebook hands down).

 

Laptops have HDMI ports...

Gaming isn't an issue with a decently powerful GPU in the laptop, and these days are much more cost competitive. I agree a desktop is so much more powerful, but after looking at the cost of updating my Sandy Bridge i5 desktop with GTX 460m it made sense to go with a more powerful laptop that is twice as powerful as my current desktop.

 

^^^ It's funny how I realized that my laptop is CPU top-heavy and relatively GPU-weak, whereas my desktop is somewhat GPU-heavy and massively CPU-weak (though it works well for what I use it for).

 

I... I.. am a laptop addict. ok there I said it . About 6 years now. It's for portability. I do plug in a big monitor when I want to see what I'm doing.

 

I'd like to build a powerful desktop someday, but for now I'm happy with the portability and power of my NP9150. I can take it anywhere and it gives me awesome fps on any game at max settings. Plus, I can hook it up to my 42" 3D tv and game like a king lol.

 

I honestly can't say the last time I had a desktop was. I think it was back in 1999 or 2000.

 

would it be worth it assembeling a nice desktop in stead of a laptop? I was looking for laptops for about 600-800 euro's. Portability is a nice bonus but isnt really a must. Would it be worth sacrefising the bonus for the extra durability and preformance of desktops? Or does the bonus only pay off at the more high end gaming desktops?
I've always had a desktop and i like them. I was looking to get a thinkpad t430 (maybe s). But for 600-800 euro's you could configuere a nice desktop. What are your thoughts?

 

I don't really think it should be an either or, rather, a choice of usability and application. Certainly there is a market for portability, but there are also tasks where a permanent platform would perform better.

For instance, as someone who is involved in graphic art, it would be more prudent to offload the arduous task of rendering to a stationary computer since it would encompass many hours of continuous uninterrupted computing. Something a portable device is just not designed to do. Not to mention, it would kinda defeat the purpose.

Second, there is also the computer that controls and monitors specific home and/or business systems. These certainly can't be portable. Only when your budget require you make a single choice, should it be necessary to choose one or the other.

 

Well, you can build a nice desktop with Case, motherboard, CPU, GPU, power supply, RAM, hard drive for about $800. Then buy a netbook or basic notebook for $400. Heck the AMD Trinity notebooks go for ~ $400-$500 here and can play games nicely.

 

I wish my laptop had a more powerful GPU, that's about it

 

I've never owned a desktop myself but would not be opposed to one in the future. Right now, I don't really need one for anything specific. My usage doesn't require anymore performance. I've only owned laptops and I much prefer the portability that comes with them. I've always been into mobile computing ever since I used to like playing around with Game Boys and PDAs.

 

in fact im a bit nostalgic about desktops. I am a little bit reluctant to buying a notebook. I dont know how a laptop will work for me desktops work great. I dont know how a laptop would preform if you are doing some 3d CAD design for a couple of hours.

 

The same. That is, assuming you've speced it for the task.

 

ok thanks for the advice. But you could spec a desktop much cheaper than a laptop. Thats was where my question came from.

 

The question appeared as a functional one. Price is a totally separate matter.

 

laptop + dock = desktop for me.

 

Went to laptops only a couple years back, now that the gpu's can play the games I like, Civ 5, Xcom.

 

I honestly don't see the point of 17" gaming notebooks for a domestic user who isn't a regular LAN Partier. Mobile GPU's aren't anywhere as effective as desktop ones and gaming laptops aren't portable, at least not without severely holding you back in terms of utility. The same - after an abortive experiment 2 years ago - goes for workstation use: Having even a flagship mobile workstation as your only CAD/etc station is a great way to tie one hand behind your back IMO.

I think a lot of people overestimate their portable needs and underestimate their stationary needs, and end up with something that's relatively crap at both in many, many cases - and many are still better off with e.g. an Ultrabook and a "power desktop". But some just can't get past the 'my everyday notebook has to have a GPU' mentality even though it may actually be somewhat irrelevant given your actual use of computers, not what you think would be the use. Of course there will be many who don't fall into that, but I think, reading forum posts, looking at user choice etc that the vast majority DO fall into that category.

I'm in the fortunate position of being able to try out any mode of use I choose, since I have the resources to buy pretty much whatever I want in tech if it's for anywhere near legitimate work use - so I've experimented with a lot of different ways of working over the years, especially recently. All-notebook has been tried, as well as various balances of both.

And for me, actual work is still done on desktops - in my case, the HP Z800 / 820 are my staples on Windows side, and the Mac Pro - as inferior as it is to the HP's - are my staples on the OS X side. The 17" Elitebooks cover 'throw it in the car' mobile workstations, the Precision M4700 is being trialled for a 'actually has to be carried all day' mobile workstation (the Retina MBP covers this role on the Mac side), and the Samsung 9 / Air / etc covers the rest of the actually mobile bases. For gaming I stick to DIY's.

 

Been desktopless for a year.

I simply don't need a desktop any more and I only realized once I left it for a $350 notebook!

I can run photoshop on my Atom N570!
I've never been a high end gamer and play mostly multiplayer games like dota

But most of all, it's the power draw that has convinced me not to get another desktop!
In Australia, electricity is getting very expensive and it's simply unnecessary to have a full blown beast to run a couple of programs ?Why drive when you can cycle a kilometre to the shops? I remember easily adding 50+ dollars to a bill because of my PC.

Also now living in the UK and saving money for travelling, having this 8.5w notebook has been great for our bills and mobility
I'm also always on the go, always on trains and cycling and going to parks and such, I also change rooms a lot, redesign my room layout so it's just easy to have it all there and not worry about cables or weight. smartphones are simply too cut down for my liking and iPad/Android isn't fleshed out enough (I'm looking at a win 8 convertible mid next year!)


I do miss building PCs though but things change


I know that even a $800 laptop would be more than suffice for me right now (they only seem to get better for the money!) and each PC of mine has lasted a minimum of 4 years excluding this netbook which has been purely for travelling.

funny to think that I picked a 500w PSU to ensure my desktop was well powered. now it seems like an overkill when looking at a 17w ULV and the likes.

The moment bobcat came out, I knew that desktops had ended in my life

 

Umm, no. On all accounts. Recent test done by VideoMaker magazine prove just the opposite 3-1 in tests where mobile workstation outperformed their desktop counterparts.

 

It's simple really, being able to use the computer where ever I please whether it be on the couch, in another room, on a comfortable sofa or on a table.

I have a 17'' laptop and enjoy watching movies on it, playing a few rounds of GTA IV, Arkham City and The Amazing Spiderman and then I might take it with me when I am at a different location. A desktop offers no such flexibility and confines me to one area.

With capable GPU's such as the GTX 680M and the 7970M, you can play many recent games with less of a compromise in performance than was possible a few years ago. I don't think people realise that you don't need to be traveling on a daily basis to get benefits from owning a laptop.

 

You have GOT to be kidding. Link?

 

I'd like to see that link as well. I'm sure a desktop quad-, hex-, or oct-core + desktop GPU > laptop quad-core and mobile GPU, anyday.

 

Functionally I would think a 22 inch laptop would be unwieldy. I like my big monitors.

 

Theres no point arguing whether laptops are more powerful than desktops. The more important metric is performance for price, desktops have better return on investment if you need it as a workstation simply because the parts don't have to be custom designed and binned for efficiency...period, this will never change.
Desktops also have easy scalability, you can very readily double or triple the required performance on the same machine by upgrading CPU, HDD arrays or even Multi GPUs if required at a smaller platform cost than having to purchase multiple Laptops. On the other hand, mobile workstations are necessary if you travel a lot to meet clients or if you are frequently hop between sites which very easily justifies the price penalty. If you don't need the scalability or mission-critical absolute performance/reliability than Laptops can be very viable because they are more energy efficient and take a much smaller footprint.

 

Living with laptops since 2005. I owned 7 laptops before my current one. Never go back to desktop.

 

Notebooks: whether they're 11.6", 13.3", 14", 15.6", 16", 17" or 18.4" - Yeah - can't live without them!

Desktop: CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THEM!


What are the notebooks missing? RAW, UNADULTERED CPU POWER. CONNECTIVITY. STORAGE CAPACITY.

Number one thing the notebooks are missing (on the field...): MULTIPLE HI-RES MONITORS.

Sure, you can 'dock' a notebook to get multiple monitor goodness, add almost as much HDD capacity as a desktop and enhance the ports/connectivity of the base notebook; but what you'll end up getting is a much worse, noisier, more expensive and much slower performing 'solution' than a properly setup desktop.

Conclusion: still need both.

(And I have and use multiples of each type).

 

been using laptops for 3 years now, pretty much thinking of getting another gaming rig next year and just stick with a small powerful non gaming laptop for work.

terribly miss the large storage space I need for backups and the occasional power hungry gaming with multiple monitors.

my sager though works great when I need to travel for weeks at a time and is also a pain when lugging it around airports for 2-3 day trips.


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Really gentleman? Do I have to do all the work for you? I gave the periodical of the review, so it's not like I'm saying just trust me; and it's even a recent test as well. Not to mention that periodicals don't always come with links. Nevertheless, here you go:

HP EliteBook 8560w Mobile Workstation Review | Videomaker.com

 

I see that they beat out a HP Z400 and Z200 using SPECviewperf, though they didn't mention which GPUs were used in said desktops (could be elsewhere on the site, but in a laptop review you should include that sort of information). I'm going to guess that they had a Quadro 600 in them, which would be beaten out by a 2000M.

Otherwise, for the same cost, you can still get a better performance system in desktop systems than laptops. Even if you want to include a monitor.

 

Exactly. Do better homework next time...

 

I want to see the specs as well, I know my 8770w, 8760w, 8570w, m6700 can at best match about 25%-30% of my high end rendering station. ( 48 cores, 256GB RAM dual quadro 4000's ), but yes can beat out works older stations and Mac Pro's. Current portable workstation to current desktop workstation is quite disparagement to the desktop faster

 

This going to turn into a desktop vs laptop battle

 

I don't see it. I own one of each, and they have their uses. Aside from that, they're both powerful enough for my needs.

Just wanted to point out a flaw in that article, and trying to declare a laptop is more powerful than an older or already-less-powerful desktop means that "laptop > desktop" always.

 

I meant if the conversation went south, but everyone here is pretty mature and holding up the conversation quite nicely. All good points.