who has ditched a desktop permanently?

[CurlyDave]

I use an Apple MacBook Pro, about 3 years old now. When at home, I use both the main screen and an external monitor (all the Apple laptops can do this right out of the box). The beauty of this is that the computer is usable as a stand alone, but the extra screen is great.

For the last 10 years I have used laptops as my main computer.

 

[Soundguy]

Ditto that.. the 1.6ghz atom porc in my netbook is as fast as a desktop I bought 5ys ago.. go figure..

I also have a couple optiplex systems floating around.. my wife's school sold them for 25$ each a couple years ago.. I bought 2.. and I used them if I need to swap in a hdd and copy files or if a pc won't boot..e tc.

have one plugged in to the router at home now that you mention it.. i had forgot about it.. it's an emergency internet browseing machine..

soundguy

We have the Dell inspiron mini 10. It probably has more power and features than the desktop I bought ten years ago. I have no clue if you can run it in a performance mode or not.

I noticed a product at Newegg the other day that allows you to plug in SATA drives almost like usb flash drives. It and a 1T drive was on combo sale for $99. I didn't buy it because I was concerned about bending the connectors on the drive with repeated swaps.

In concept, however, I think we're going to see smaller, portable processors with enough drive space to operate on a portable basis and separate, larger external storage drives that are plugged in only when needed for backup.

We're getting to the point where there are so many older desktops that they can be had pretty cheaply and will still work for typing, internet access, and some media applications. I bought a working, complete Dell 170L optiplex system a week or so ago with the original software for $60. I intended to use it in an application where it wouldn't matter much if it were stolen or broken, but it would still be adequate for its intended use until that happens. It's not like a netbook that is going to walk off if I leave it laying around. Plus, I can mess around with different types of Linux and if I totally mess it up, it was only $60.

 

[2manyrocks]

I understand the benefits of having two screens for things like video editing and some word processing, but what do you use 6 screens at once for? I didn't even know you could connect that many to a computer at once.

 

[dmccarty]

I have been using laptops for years. Now days with remote desktops, XWindows and virtual images you can just use the laptop as a terminal. A powerful terminal. Working at home today since I and the kids are sick. The laptop is connected to a system at work. I very seldom actually touch a keyboard on the system I am working on but instead use some sort of remote access software. Heck, quite a few of the systems I use do not have keyboards connected to them. :confused2:

For most users a laptop is all they need today.

However at home I still have a tower system. And I would not mind getting another one or improving the one I have. It has 3+ TBs and I am about to add more. It has four cores but I wish it was faster. I think it really needs a faster HD and I am watching SSD prices. I am doing quite a bit of photo editing and which consumes disk space, disk speed, memory and CPU. Memory is fine but disk space is a constant problem. Disk speed would improve my processing and backups. I think CPU is ok but can't be sure if the bottle neck is the CPU or disk speed.

A laptop simply could not do the work my tower is doing.

Later,
Dan

 

[eepete]

2manyrocks: When do circuit board layout, I use the big landscape monitor for the board. The other monitors have circuit schematics and datasheets for parts. Back when I used to use a light table, I'd have tables on each side with various books open to the pages with the data sheets for the part numbers in the design.
So I can have a high resolution PCB, schematic, and 8 data sheets up at once when doing a PCB. The video adaptor on a MAC is only about $175, the 23" HDTV resolution monitors are under $200 on a good day at Best Buy. So while the big high resolution monitors are high $$s, adding a bunch of little ones is in the noise. The MAC can have up to 4 display adaptors for a total of 8 monitors.

When not doing circuit boards, the other monitors sit there with my calandar, contacts, iTunesk, skype, a few other windows on them.

An even simpler reason: No such thing as too much horsepower or too many monitors .

Pete

 

[Abe460]

you can get a laptop with a dual head video card.

I have a gateway with one and my friend has an alienware laptop with one..

soundguy

My work laptop has two outputs, but I don't have reason anymore to have two screens, let alone three. I've got a lot more to do outside than inside now that I live six miles on the other side of nowhere.

I'm not building any more desktops for a while. I'm thinking when we build our house, I'll go a little crazy with home automation and I'm sure a media server.

 

[2manyrocks]

If you had 9 monitors, I guess you could play a home version of Hollywood squares if you remember that show.

 

[texasjohn]

Yep, not everybody needs a lot of screen real estate. Depends on what you do, and how good your eyes are. Old eyes like large screens

Me, I discovered that when doing a lot of work I was flipping between screens a lot... wastes time. So, went to 4 displays. They can be used as follows

book layout..one page on each screen...so, you can see how a change on one page propagates forward to other pages

Email, calendar, internet, email reply

photoshop image, photoshop tools, explorer with thumbnails, utilities/ftp/etc.

file explorer screen, file explorer screen (for comparison of files/drives), IE, FIREFOX.

MS WORD FILE (source), MS WORD FILE (source), MS WORD FILE (target for copy/paste),

file/drive maintenance or backup copies: different drive shown on each screen, drag/drop between screens.

mix/match above screens or use as different desktops.... insert your favorite applications

 

[MossRoad]

I have two laptops and two external monitors on my desk at work, for a total of 4 monitors. I monitor a lot of processes remotely on many machines. It is really handy to not have to tab between windows so often. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

The tried to get me to use a laptop at work for plc stuff I still prefer a desk top I don't have too far to go so I built a crash cart with all my stuff on it and use it to do the programing.
IT keeps pushing us to go the laptop route wont do it for now.They are resistant to let us network the plc's on "their" network, I pull the wire and program so we (other techs and I) got our own pirate network they do give us the IP addresses so no real hassle if it gets cross connected.

tom

I cannot see pushing a cart around with a PC and monitor on it if you have access to a laptop. That's a good way to bring the attention of the "efficiency experts".