Death of the desktop PC?

[nidge]

So I watched the Gadget Show last night, and they said that 2014 would be the death of the desktop PC.
I still use my desktop, I don't have a laptop or tablet, I do have an android phone though
So I was just wondering how many people still use a desktop? Is it dying?

[Dan Dar3]

Yes, if you are a pessimist you could say the traditional desktop PC is dying. Or if you are an optimist, you could say your desktop PC is getting legs and it's becoming more personal then ever And you'll have not one, but many PCs in various shapes and sizes. And funy enough, one of them will still be a desktop

[professor_jonny]

laptops before the advent ROHS lead free solder introduction were quite reliable now days you are lucky to have a modern notebook last 3 years in some cases. the hard drives develop bad sectors and the soldering issuies with south and north bridge chipsets is very common.

The amount of notebooks that come to me to repair with bga soldering faults is amazing unlil they make them more reliable ill stick to my pc.

i do some insurance work clients and i see many dead laptops so maybe im a lillte bit bias but that is my persional experience.

i have 5 semi dead laptops for sale now 3 with bga faults:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =699625084

[Geeba]

Spent most of this evening playing games on my new games PC... Does that count as a desktop? I'll always be a PC gamer ... Saying that I did buy a PS3 to play 'The Last of Us' holy cow that was an awesome game!

[asbo]

I use my desktop PC everyday.
Interestingly PC sales are declining but PC gaming is increasing.
I think casual PC users are switching to tablets and laptops because they don't specifically need that PC taking up room, they don't need to do anything important on it so it makes sense. Whereas someone who needs to do a lot of typing for example really can't get by with a laptop.
PC gaming is presumably on the rise due to all these wonderful indie games and I expect having so many games all in one place on steam is helping too.
At some point the downward curve in PC sales and the upward curve of PC gaming will meet and things will even out. (speculation )

I definitely won't be getting rid of my PC any time soon

[xman]

Might have something to do with the fact PCs just last longer and not needing replacing as often plus the tablet and laptop industry has been effected as the the phone industry has by the, " I must be seen using the latest image".

[Dan Dar3]

Yep, PCs have evolved hugely over the last 20 years to powerhouses nowadays really - multiple CPU cores, shedloads of RAM and disk space, large monitors and whatnot. Once you bought one of these, you will use it for a few years (typing on a 5 years one that went through some small hardware and OS upgrades and aging gracefully).

Remember my first contact with an Intel 80286 PCs with 1MB of RAM, a few tens of MB disk and 14" CRT screen with low refresh rate the used to give you headaches if sitting in front of it for more than a few hours back in the 90's a mix of DOS commands and AWSOME games like Prince of Persia



I remember being so excited waiting for the next number of a computer magazine to find out what was coming out next in PC hardware and OSs and computer languages the next gen was taking ages to come out, sell and repay investment for the next cycle to begin, companies going bust trying to come up with the next big thing. Well, today desktop PCs have reached late maturity, they don't sell like they used to cause they are not "cool" anymore and manufacturers need to excite customers with new products, whether it is touch, mobile, 3d, curved, bendable, wearable etc. And they need to do that badly - a business essentially exists to make profits and it can only do that if sales are growing, stop doing that for a few quarters in a row and you can kiss it goodbye.

They will continue to be around, but their share will slowly erode in favor of more "gaming" laptops (faster mobile CPUs, GPUs and APUs) and AIOs (all in ones) desktops, if not even Android TV sticks and the likes - they look cooler, take less space are more "mobile" (in the house). Remember this is "sales" talk, as in tables and mobiles will "replace" desktops in terms of numbers sold - instead of buying a new desktop, you will probably be thinking to keep the old desktop, maybe use it less and buy a netbook, a large phone or a tablet instead for your casual browsing or reading emails or whatever.

[nidge]

Well glad I'm not alone with sticking with a desktop
I have two main computers, this one, and a Windows XP Media Centre with twin Freeview tuners and the MS remote. Use it all the time for watching and recording TV Not Freeview HD, unfortuantly, but does output at 720p through HDMI. I have another PC on top of the wardrobe for rebuilding Xbox HD's

[asbo]

I have another PC on top of the wardrobe for rebuilding Xbox HD's

I have one under my chest of drawers for the same purpose