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

Just got back from a high school FIRST FRC trip. Don't feel like getting into immature arguments tonight

 

Don't forget that this is NBR is a laptop crowd by definition too so even the desktop owners have or had the need for a laptop at some point.

 

For power, it will always be desktop > laptop > thin tablet > phone. It's just physics and it was mentioned in the first post. But the reason laptops have outsold desktops is that for the majority of what people use computers, the laptop is good enough. That wasn't the case 10-15 years ago. Even for games, sure a $1000 desktop can run Battlefield 3 at 90 fps at ultra (just using an example, not literal) but if the $1200 laptop can run it at 60 fps at high, a lot of people are fine with it.

Some things in the future such as 4k monitors and the next round of consoles in 2013 might make computing needs jump, but the popularity in tablets and Windows 8 being tablet focused are forcing developers to make apps that use lower powered processors and low wattage. It's quite amazing that developers can do a lot with the iPad and Android. Who knows where things will fall in the next ten years, but this push-pull is happening now and it's pretty interesting.

 

Well the tech is definitely diverging. I think it's funny how "simpler" games are making a comeback. 20 years ago, games were developed by one or two man teams because the computing power, especially GPU power, wasn't that great. And the amount of available RAM and storage was limited as well. And now that we have these popular underpowered handheld devices, that kind of development is coming back, which is good actually, from a small business/single programmer standpoint. However, I feel it stifles the gaming industry going back to basic games rather than more complex not only from a graphics standpoint but from a game complexity standpoint. You go from a mouse / keyboard input which means dozens of keys at your disposal to a couple of taps. It's fine for casual gaming when you have a few minutes to kill, but not for serious or more complex games.

But yeah, hopefully 4k monitors will change all that. No 7W CPU/GPU will be able to manage 4x the amount of pixels than a 1080p screen for any serious graphics.

 

What do you mean ? mbp retina have a 650m and it sells.

 

I have and need both.

I use notebooks for when I'm traveling, for just internet usage. Thus, I go for really small notebooks. Past two "main usage" notebooks have been a Vostro V131 with 13.3" LCD and Samsung Series 3 with 11.6" LCD. In fact I often travel with them in just a sleeve with handles, and without even the AC adapter. Portability while still having a keyboard (rather not do tablet + keyboard), since I do a lot of typing on occasion.

At home, I'm a gamer. I use a 2560x1600 30" monitor, plus secondary monitor. Have my speakers, mouse, mechanical keyboard all taking up desk space. My little notebooks won't cut it here, and even my gaming notebooks (which I'm going to be selling) aren't ideal. They run hot and noisy. I'd rather take up a little bit extra space for a desktop computer. In fact, in the process of replacing my ATX tower with a mini ITX rig.

 

Tried to play any games at the 2880x1800 let alone 4k resolution with 650m with 128-bit memory? choke choke choke. It's worse than IGP at 1080p.

 

Not a flaw in the article, but perhaps one in the interpretation? A laptop will always be limited by its size and power capacity. While a desktop can be hooked up to the national power grid.

The point of the article was to provide substantiation (through the comparison) that modern laptops (i.e. desktop replacements) have become substantial computing devices, and for the overwhelming majority of users, are more than capable of tackling even the most complex and intensive computing needs.

 

I can agree with you there; laptops are definitely not the under-powered business toys as they once were several years ago. Just wanted to say that no matter what, the most powerful personal system out there will always be a desktop system that have access to as much space and power as required.

 

1. MBPr isn't quite 4k
2. Some reviewers have said MBPr has some lag and should've waited for Haswell.
3. We haven't seen 4K movies yet. How well do current CPU's handle them?
4. 4K games as mentioned above.
5. Even if today's laptops can handle 4k desktops, what about 2 4K monitors for docked laptops?

Now the question is, is 4K needed on a 15" screen? That's a whooping 294 PPI. But like the megapixel wars, companies will market it whether people can tell the difference or not.

 

That's exactly what they said about 1080p. Nevertheless, the fact remains its the next step in display evolution, and where the industry will ultimately be going.

There are already 4k cameras (they have been out for some time now), so there needs to be monitor that can display it. To my knowledge, at the moment, there is only one 4k monitor on the market and it's current price is stratospheric.

The display industry needs to do better. Like the CRTs that came before it, a 4K+ monitor would be an even better solution.