I went out looking at the various systems earlier on, and I have realised the over-abundance of notebooks being sold in contrast to desktops. With notebooks improving with each batch, and them being considerably lighter, do you think that they will eventually replace desktops? And now there are even notebooks which are considered desktop replacements.

I saw a Vaio notebook, it was about 17 inches wide and looks exactly like a notebook. But of course it was very high-end and could be compared to a normal desktop. The price though was really scary; S$6000+, and you can get an average notebook for less than S$2000.

I really think that Desktops will become obsolete in time to come, with notebooks replacing them.

What do you think?

Desktops will always be around, as they are cheaper for the same specification. For example, my notebook cost me around £650, but a desktop PC with the same hardware would have cost £500, but I need the portability. Tower PCs are also more useful as there is a lot more room for expansion. Due to the physical size of a notebook, it's difficult to add a load of HDDs, whereas with a desktop you can add drives to your heart's content.

In some situations you need immobile computers. You want to have a computer there not to be stolen easily. So you use desktop there.

When you need mobile pc, so buy a laptop. They are different in this point. Fixed or mobile.

That is where notebook act as desktop replacements. They are giant compared to the normal notebook, and I do not believe that is something which is going to be moving about, but rather placed stationary in 1 particular place.

This is the notebook I saw earlier which I believe can be used as a desktop replacement

http://vaio-online.sony.com/prod_info/vgn-a60gp/style.html

What do you think of it? It is definitely too big to be carried around.

Whether or not it's too big to carry around, it's still a notebook... And you can't stick 2 HDD's, and 2 optical drives in it, now can you?

Desktop PC's will always stay around, simply because they are easily extendable, whereas, a notebook has what it has, and has little room left to improve... So, no, I don't think desktops will become obsolete... At least, not with me

Desktops will NEVER be obsolete. As said above, they have room for ONE hardrive, ONE CD drive. That's ALL. And then you get into servers. What do you think servers are? Servers are computers, and who in their right mind would run a laptop as a server?@?! It would be absurd.

What happens if you want a top end everything computer. You know, 4GB RAM, 3.6Ghz processor, 1TB HD, with an extra 250GB drive to go with, two lightscribe DVD-CD burners, a floppy drive (Just in case. ), serial ports, top-end graphics and sound cards, oh and the 5 USB ports. I DARE you to fit that in a laptop. It's just never going to happen.

Even with how fast they're advancing, they aren't ever going to outdo a desktop. Laptops may be getting better every day, but desktops have the potential to do nearly everything, whereas laptops have to run off batterys, have to squeeze everything into a very small place, and still be lightweight. And because everything's so close, HUGE amounts of heat are built up, and you can't even get air through to cool it off.

You can tell I'm not a big fan of laptops. =D

Anyway, that's my opinion on the whole deal.

This post has been edited by Sharn: Aug 31 2006, 10:13 PM

I think personal computers will continue to move more towards notebooks, but for anyone who actually cares about their specs and has any sort of pride in their computer, desktops will always be the choice...

As mentioned above, desktops will be around for quite a while. They have power and expandability unmatched by notebooks. And maybe some people don't want to have a relatively small machine for other reasons - take some Media Center PCs, specifically those in a set-top style case, whic fit nicely in the living room - in that case the desktop PC is king. And remember that laptops have either limited power or limited battery life - the use of desktop processors in notebooks (which has been done) will chug battery life rapidly. Even todays powerful notbook chips don't outperform even some medium-end desktop chips.

I guess you are right, many people are using old desktops as servers they put in their homes for storage nowadays. So whether it is an old outdated PC or something very highend and new, they always have a use for it. About the number of USB ports, Laptops are hitting 4 now and you can alway use a Hub to stick another 4 more in, and that would make 7 ports.