Computers-desktop-laptop-tablet-smart phone

22-rimfire

22-rimfire

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Nov 20, 2005
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I'm in the market for a new one. I own a desktop PC and a laptop. I need to replace the desktop, but I was was wondering about brands. Are they all about the same? The bulk of my work is done on a desktop because it is very comfortable to use for reports and other documents. Suggestions? Stick to the major brands?

I have yet to figure out what I would need a tablet for. The only use I can see is getting online and reading email and so forth. I can do this with my other computers already. Is it all about portability? How about convenience in use? When they first came out, I was all excited about getting one, then reason set in and I honestly can't see a good reason to own one. I simply can't imagine typing a 10-page document on one. Suggestions and thoughts?

On another slant, I am thinking about getting the new Kindle Paperwhite for essentially reading books. I used to consider it important to buy hard back books and have the shelves stacked full like I am some sort of learned person. Starting to think I don't want them anymore if the Paperwhite is truly comfortable to read from. What are your thoughts about these? Color models.... what's the use?
 
If all you want it for is reading e-books, the Kindle Paperwhite isn't a bad choice. However, for a mere $20 more you can get the older generation Kindle Fire HD, or you could find an older generation Nexus 7 off eBay or Craigslist for pretty cheap. There's also the Hisense Sero 7 Pro from Walmart. These will all do e-books (there's a Kindle app, as well as other e-book readers), plus web browsing, movies, etc. There's also the Nook HDD 7" from B&N, for $129, which has full access to Google Play (which the Kindle Fire does not).

I wouldn't consider a tablet to be a replacement for a laptop, but more of a large cell phone that can't make calls. Anything you do on your smartphone that makes you wish you had a bigger screen (games, movies, web browsing, etc), a tablet is great to have and far more portable than a laptop.

Of course, there's the "phablet" category now too. Phones with 5"+ screens and tablet functionality. There's a few that even have 6"+ screens, which is bigger than the Kindle Paperwhite, yet they'll be much smaller overall in size due to narrower bezels.

If you need your portable device to type out long documents for school or work, a laptop is obviously a better choice than a tablet, but there's also an in-between. Check out the Asus Transformer series, or the Microsoft Surface Pro 2. For maximum portability, they're tablets. Or, if you need easier productivity, you can use it with the keyboard (and it's still more portable than a laptop).
 
For laptops, lenovo, samsung, rate well for warranty and customer service. For desktops, I would get one built by either a local computer shop, or some place like newegg. avoid the acer, gateway, dell etc companies, its all crap. Since you have not put high end gaming as a priority, you should be able to get away with a budget desktop for working at home. You may want to consider a tablet and accessory keyboard, if it helps with portability during travel. Otherwise just get a mid-line laptop that has a good keyboard.
Ereaders are a great idea, and having one as a stand alone device is the way to go in my opinion.
 
The desktop today is for people who want the maximum bang for their buck, maximum upgradeability, or who need to do very graphics heavy tasks. For your average home office and surfing tasks a laptop will suffice. Where do you stand? How graphics intensive are your computing tasks? Do you play video games, or do video/photo editing?

On the CPU side of things you can get a laptop with desktop level oomph without any problems. You can get about 80% of the power of a high end desktop CPU with a high end laptop CPU. CPU comparisons are moot anyway though since laptops and desktops these days have beastly CPU's so that will not be the bottleneck. The bottleneck is the ram and hard drive. You want at least 8 gb of ram, usb 3.0 ports and most importantly a FAST SSD. All can be had on a laptop.

GPU performance is different. In a laptop you run into hard thermal output and power draw limits with the GPU. There is just not enough juice in the batteries and not enough space for the cooling hardware. You will only get half or a third of the performance with a laptop compared to a desktop. The power consumption of gaming level GPU's is worth considering if you run your computer for many hours a day. Running a gaming pc all the time will have an effect on your electricity bills.

For more on desktops vs laptops check out this article:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7287/analyzing-the-price-of-mobility-desktops-vs-laptops

What I am getting at here is that you don't necessarily need every gadget. You ask which desktop to get, I ask do you need one at all?

Hardware manufacturers will gladly take money from you for a desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, and an e-reader if you let them. Updating all those gadgets every generation gets pretty expensive after a while. Not to mention the hassle of maintaining all those systems. If you decide you do not need desktop class performance and modularity you can get by with a laptop. Plug in an external screen, keyboard and mouse and the system is just as comfortable to use as a desktop. You probably even have those peripherals already. My choice is to get an ultraportable laptop and plug it in to a full size screen and keyboard when you get home.

For the tablet, smartphone, and e-reader category I choose the phablet. It fills all 3 roles adequately. Just to be clear though you will not be doing real productive work on any of these devices. They are all used for consuming information, not producing it. To be productive you need a keyboard.

Anyways software wise a phablet does everything a tablet does, the screen is just a bit smaller. You can even install software on it to read e-books. If you need to do real work on the go you can take your ultraportable laptop. About the only thing a tablet really wins on over a phablet is if you read a lot of PDF type documents. Those documents do not scale well on the smaller screens. Still, for that kind of reading I prefer a full size desktop screen I don't need to hold in my hand. They make screen mounts for a reason after all. :D The e-readers win only if you need really long battery life or can't stand reading on a color screen. E-readers exist for every operating system so you do not really need to have a dedicated device.

For the ultraportable laptop I would go with the sony vaio pro 13. The thing weighs 1 kg and has a 13 inch screen. Nothing on the market can touch it at the moment. The surface pro 2 weighs the same, has a smaller screen, fewer usb ports and no keyboard. For the phablet samsung has the best offerings.

Yay, long post. :p
 
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As far as "desktop brands" goes, I've never had a name brand, and that goes back well over 20 years. I've always found a hole-in-the-wall computer shop and had them build me one from parts. (except for my 80286 machine. I built that one from parts, myself.) Having one built allows me to specify "basic" or "fancy" on various segments, so that I spend my money on the parts I think are important, instead what some manufacturer decides to push.

I normally max out on CPU and make sure I get at least double the minimum recommended memory. I get "basic" level for the rest. I always specify a tower box. That lets me add or swap out stuff as needed. My last two computers have just been main board/CPU/memory swap-outs. My wife is due for a new machine soon. I will have one built by the local shop.

For laptops, I am a big fan of ASUS. My family has had four. All have been reliable.

Can't help you with tablet or smart phone.
 
I'm also building my own desktop computers. Much cheaper, better options and better reliability. I currently have 4 of these 'built by me' machines.

I built the last one from scratch for my wife in 2009, and I just upgraded the CPU, and added 4GB of memory ahead of a Windows 8.1 upgrade from Vista. The computer I'm typing on now was built from scratch in 2007, and I upgraded its CPU, HDD and memory prior to installing Windows 8.1 in October. The third machine received new everything after taking a dump last summer. New MOBO, CPU, HDD, memory, and even a new power supply. It currently runs XP, but is getting Windows 7 at my daughters request.

Sorry for being long winded, but my point is that there is no need to by a Dell, Gateway, HP, or whatever desktop computer. Spec it out, and either find a local shop, or do it yourself. It really isn't difficult. The best advantage to these two options is down the road if you want more memory, HDD space, a faster CPU, you don't have to spend a bunch of money to upgrade.

As for laptops, we have 2 Dells, a HP, and my daughters MacBook Pro. The HP is mine, and it is 2 years old. Nice computer for what I paid, but it is getting replaced soon by either an Asus 11" touchscreen PC, or the Surface Pro 2. The HP is just too big to lug around every day.
 
I have had a Kindle 3G ereader for a while now. Really easy to read from, I don't even need my glasses. I like the convenience, take it on a hike, on the bus, to the laundromat. Hundreds of books. Email. Free 3G connection.

If I don't have it with me, I can read those books on my Blackberry. :)
 
As far as work is concerned, tablets absolutely suck for typing and editing large files. There is a lot of functionality lost with no keyboard and mouse (physical), also the apps are still limited in what they can do. I prefer a tablet to answer emails and browse, not much else unless you have work specific apps for databases, inventory control, etc. I will stick to my desktop and laptops.
 
I am pretty stuck on having a desktop for work stuff. I have a home office. I carry the laptop when I need to, but usually it is where I need to be able to "produce product" (ie reports) when I am away from home. I find them okay to use and they keep getting thinner and lighter. I have several laptops and typing on one now.

Casual emails get accessed by smartphone now rather than thinking I need to have my laptop with me.

The brand issue is interesting and I will take your comments to heart. I've had two Micron manufactured desktops and currently am using a Gateway brand prior to HP buying them out. Laptop is HP and another brand that I absolutely hate and pretty much let the thing sit. It contains software that can be useful for certain tasks and allows me to open really old files where as MSWord or Excel sort of hiccup.

The local option is also interesting and one I have ignored for years. Might have to check out a couple of these places locally that build desktops. I know it is not rocket science in terms of parts and construction.

I appreciate your help. I tend to buy top of the line which usually means a gaming computer now when I buy as I seldom upgrade parts after the fact. The reason for "top of the line" is significant memory and speed that as the years pass become more and more important. Not really into computer games, but I do play from time to time. I totally dislike buying a new game for a new computer and the darn thing won't load due to some difficiency.
 
Old..and low tech however I see most stuff, including knives, as consumables. I have really enjoyed the basic $69 Kindle and use library e-books only for the most part.
Will probably always have an e-reader.

An iPho and a couple of Dell laptops and I'm good. When the one of the laptop dies, will probably replace with iPad Mini.

If you want productivity from me, you're 16 years too late- retired 1998..and loving it.

Best.
 
Just my $.02 based on your last post. Since you tend to go towards the higher end I'd suggest the build it (or have it built) approach for a desktop. On the mid ($700+) to higher end ($1k+) you can usually get more bang for the buck doing it that way, with better components than what might be in a production PC from the likes of Dell/HP/etc. If you were looking for a cheaper system, then I'd say go with whatever shows up cheap in the Sunday ads that has an Intel i5 processor or better since it's pretty hard to beat some of those prices building it yourself.

You might consider a gaming laptop as a desktop and laptop replacement. Those will usually have enough horsepower and good enough monitor resolution to work in place of the desktop. You can always hook into your keyboard/mouse & external monitor from the laptop. The down side would be eventual battery degradation and you can't really upgrade piecemeal. Asus used to make some good ones at reasonable prices, which some of my friends have and really like.

Check out Tom's Hardware and anandtech as some stated earlier. If you are looking at building yourself http://www.newegg.com is a good resource for parts. Another good resource for finding good prices on components or complete systems is http://slickdeals.net/.

Just to muddy the waters further. We got some Samsung Galaxy Tab 3's at work which one of my co-workers bought a bluetooth keyboard case for. These and the iPads actually work fairly well for note taking and emails. If you are looking to do more than that, then I'd stick w/ the desktop or laptop.

Lastly, I got the paperwhite as a gift for Christmas and really like it. It replaced an old Kindle. Its nice to not need an external reading light or lamp when I'm reading in bed. I dig it over using a tablet since it is a little easier on the eyes and I don't need the extra capability of a tablet (though I do have one). For what I wanted, just a regular book substitute, and with the better battery life over the tablets it was worth it (to have it gifted to me). If I was buying for myself I would have looked at the Kindle Fire HD, since the price was close but the battery life would have still had me get the paperwhite for my purposes.
 
I can remember when I budgeted $50 a month for telephone (land line) and only used computers at work as they were very expensive in the early days. Now with a home office, I spend close to $500 a month just for phones and then you add in yellow pages and other advertising. Lots of money spent for communications.

Computers... another money pit regardless of the type. They are a little too consumable, but the technology evolves so quickly.

If I were routinely making presentations off site, I'd probably have a table. But as mentioned, it consumes information rather than producing it. I still think that is the sole use for desktops and lap tops now as they both consume and produce information.

My next purchase will probably be the Kindle 3G paperwhite and I will stop buying most hard back and soft back books at that point if they are as comfortable to use as people say. $$... hmmm... new knife or Kindle.... ? I can't imagine reading a novel from a smart phone (app or not). The back lit feature of the Nook is what pretty much convinced me that I would use the E-reader versus just another gadget that you spend money on and seldom use.

Then a pretty high end desktop will come into play unless mine dies prior to the purchase. All the important stuff is backed up daily. I am going to talk to some of the local computer makers/builders about a custom built desktop as suggested here. They will have to convince me that their product is better however.
 
I have probably read close to 50 e-books on my smartphone. That's just books mind you, not counting surfing. I also read on my computer so no problems reading on backlit displays here.
 
I use a mid level Lenovo laptop running Windows 7 and various versions of Linux for work. It's probably the best Windows based machine I've ever used. No issues thus far. I've had issues with Dell and HP in the past. Whatever you do, don't get Windows 8.

My setup at home is all Apple. iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad, iPhone and a few Apple TVs.

I would suggest going with Apple if you don't mind the expense or possible learning curve.

A quality tablet is a great investment. You will use it far more than you expect. 80% of my reading is done via iPad.
 
I'm "anti Apple".... sort of a throwback from the Steve Jobs times. So I don't even consider anything Apple. Smartphones are all Samsung and Android. My sister(s) love their ipads/iphones.

Wish I could have a tablet to use for a month to just see how it fits into my situation. I am very curious but hesitate to incurr the expense.

I hear pros and cons about Windows 8. I would prefer a Windows 7 operating system IF I can buy one that way. Both this laptop (HP) and my desktop (Gateway) are Vista operating systems which kind of show their age now. I got used to Vista and it's stable. My other laptop (Toshiba) is also Vista and was nothing but problems from day one. My laptop is a gaming computer and is/was fairly high end with a lot of ram memory.

Wife's laptop is Windows 7 and an HP. She has had some problems with it, but I can't tell if her problems were caused by her or the machine/software.

I only got a smartphone a couple years ago now. I decided to join the 21st Century and it was a good choice/decision. Prior to that, I had the texting function turned off. Now I use it a lot for business. I visited Best Buy and the associate there convinced me that with my use, I really didn't need a tablet as I had the laptop for business travel or when I feel like using it. She actually got her smartphone out and showed me what an email looks like. Pretty basic stuff now, but I was a skeptic. I still maintain (meaning I pay monthly for it) a hotspot for the laptop and yes, I know I could use my phone for that once I get it set up. The hotspot allows me to get online and potentially do serious work at more remote locations like people's homes. I don't sit in a coffee shop or McDonalds with my laptop unless I am killing time for some reason.

The reason for the desktop replacement is that I believe I have registry issues and I can't depend on the thing working. (I have no idea how to fix this.) I was downloading some big MS updates and the power went off and that started all my computer issues.) If I download any update, the computer shifts into black screen (like there is insufficient resources available) sometimes for as much as 8 hours. It has been a HUGE inconvenience from a productivity point of view. I don't have all the same stuff available to me on my laptop, but it gets used now when the desktop shuts down. In fact, the desktop is doing it's black screen thing right now.....
 
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The only good HP laptops are the Elitebooks, which are a business class one that are built better. I have used these for many, many years with out ever having an issue. I still have one now but I dont use it much as I am normally on my custom built desktop. I think my laptop is an i7 and my desktop is an i5 both with 8gigs of ram and dedicated video cards. That is all you should need.
 
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