Do You Still Have A 'Desktop' PC/Mac @ Home ?

[Another Reader]

I have more than one. I need the separate keyboard and the 24 inch screen. The last two laptops had their keyboards destroyed by the pets, aided by coffee. Desktop keyboards are more durable and replacements are $15 at the closest Staples. Laptops were always slow and prone to breaking down. Small screens, uncomfortable typing positions.

Desktops are cheap workhorses. I have two cheap Lenovos with i-3's and an older Dell, which has Windows 7. The Dell product is so-so, the cheap Lenovos are bulletproof. One of the Lenovos is on whenever someone is up.

I bought a $35 Fire tablet on the last Black Friday sale, used it a few times on the road. Use the phone instead? Maybe in an emergency. Try reading a map on the phone.

Of course, I also have my grandmother's cast iron dutch oven and frying pans....

 

[Dawg52]

Haven't owned one for 10 years or so. No more desktops for me.

 

[MichaelB]

No desktop. We use laptops and attach full size keyboards and monitors.

 

[donheff]

I much prefer a desktop to a laptop. I keep mine on a desk in the kitchen where I spend a lot of time. While I have had Linux servers for many years I always preferred Windows for my primary desktop. When this one goes I will probably replace it with a larger screen all-in-one and ditch the tower that sits next to the desk. I also have a laptop that I rarely use and an iPad that I use a lot.

 

[pb4uski]

.... I suspect that laptops will be nearly extinct in just a few years as well. However, I love mine and don't intend to give up using a laptop any time soon.

+1 I like it especially for typing, like posting here. I also have a Kindle Fire tablet that I use for reading, occasional surfing, videos and when traveling. I have a Bluetooth keyboard for the Kindle and it is ok for occasional use but the tactile feel of the keyboard is not anywhere near as good.

 

[eytonxav]

I've had a 21" iMac for the last 3 years. While my work computers were always laptops, I prefer desktops for home use, as I really haven't seen the need to wonder the house on a laptop or tablet and prefer viewing at my desk and comfy office type chair.

 

[timo2]

I have an ASUS low end gaming tower, with two large monitors (one vertical), it has an HDMI port also. with Windows 10. It is great for spreadsheets and reading articles. DW has an old laptop running LXLE, so that will probably run forever.

 

[mpeirce]

If so, do you plan to buy another one when that one goes kaput ?
If not, do you ever plan to purchase one ?

I have a 'mid-2010 27" iMac' that I still use a lot (right now in fact). It was high end when I purchased it (i7, 12GB RAM, SSD, big screen) but I'm thinking about buying a new one later this year.

Why? I'd really like to upgrade to the retina display and and move up to faster ports (Type-C USB 3.1 w/ thunderbolt 3).

It's still running well, but I don't want to wait until it's dead to replace. So I'm anticipating the next release of the iMac later this year and for that to last me another 6+ years.

 

[2017ish]

Just had new/refurbished Dell desktop delivered yesterday (32 gigs of RAM boggles my mind). Until we retire, we will continue to have the side by side desktops as our primary computers. Price point for performance still excellent, helps keep us from devoting too much time to the internets at the expense of each other, and we don't presently have much desire to have a real computer with us on vacations. (DW's Kindle Fire is, IMO, merely a media consumption device....)

Next year, though, we'll be starting to travel in earnest, which will necessitate some serious shopping to get best combination of weight/cost/video_editing.

 

[Souschef]

We have 2 corner computer desks,each with a desktop. My wife just upgraded her 12 year old Dell because she could not stream any movies.
We both have 21 inch monitors, and I love it for data entry where I can put both sheets on the screen at one time.
I have an AB switch for hers so she can watch movies on our flat screen TV.The final touch was a wireless mouse so she can control it from our loveseat.
We both have tablets that are linked to our wireless router. I love the fact I can sit on our porch and read my e-mails.

 

[Zathras]

I have a mac-mini which is our media computer.
Everything else is either a laptop or tablets.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I've [-]destoryed[/-] owned several laptops and currently have a Chromebook, but as a gamer and 3D artist I'm drooling over the chance to build my own rig when I finally find a place to settle down. I haven't had a desktop in over a decade, but I could have bought several high-end rigs for the amount of laptops I've suffered through over that period.

 

[calmloki]

We have a couple refurb Dell corporate CPUs running Windows 7. Think they were $2-300 each on sale. She pretty much uses hers only to do a newsletter and around tax time, then uses her iPhone 5s for more things than imaginable. I camp out at my desk, kicked back with a wireless keyboard, Quicken 2006, and a flint and steel to strike sparks for the whale oil lamp when it gets dark.

 

[Slow But Steady]

We own five desktop computers. I built four of them, and one is a refurbished Lenovo that I bought for $89.

My wife uses a dual core Intel box running Windows 7. She likes her 24 inch monitor. I built that one about four years ago, and it still runs fine.

I have three desktop computers connected to a KVM switch. Two of mine are AMD processors, one three-core and one dual core. Those boxes run Windows 7. I use one for all my personal stuff and one to connect to the plant where I work when I need to check the control systems.

The third box on the KVM switch is one I put together from a pile of obsolete spare parts. I had an Intel 865 GLC (the original Pentium) motherboard from somewhere, and a drive, and some old GT210 video card and my spare parts power supply. I loaded Linux (Zorin, I think) just for play. I might play more after I retire but right now I don't use that one much.

I like cases that can accommodate hot swap drives.

The old Lenovo box is in the bedroom, connected to a 42 inch TV and is used for Netflix and the like.

I have a 27 inch monitor, but it's 1920 by 1080 and I'd really like a higher resolution 31 inch curved screen. I'd need to upgrade my video cards for that.

We also have a laptop that is not used much. We use are iPads all the time, but we don't like to type on them.

I imagine I will always have a desktop computer. In fact, I'm in the mood to upgrade one of mine to be only one year obsolete instead of 5 or six years.

 

[Richard4444]

Desktop in my ManCave. I like the large screen and the view out my sliding door. I have an iPad for mobility, even when sitting on the couch watching or playing - and when I travel, of course.

Rich

 

[Which Roger]

No desktop. We use laptops and attach full size keyboards and monitors.

+1 This gives the best of both worlds. Attaching a keyboard and monitor to a laptop is no different than attaching to a desktop, and if you want to use the laptop elsewhere, just unplug and move it.

 

[Sue J]

When my last desktop was dying I looked into getting a laptop. I like to sit in a desk chair and it would have gone on the desk. I tried DHs laptop and the angle for a laptop was all wrong at my desk. I wear trifocals and it just wasn't comfortable or easy.

I have an iPad mini that I will use in the kitchen or living room on the couch but for most of my computer usage I'm at my desk and I like a good sized monitor.

I was ready to move away from Windows at that point so I bought a wonderful iMac desktop. I love the big beautiful monitor. I like how I have lots of desk space. The visual angle is excellent for me. After using the iPad mini it was EASY to move from Windows to a Mac OS.

My iMac came with the small wireless keyboard but I upgraded to the wired keyboard because the small one didn't have a number pad. I'm a spreadsheets geek so I have to have a number pad

 

[NanoSour]

Time to take inventory of the family state of computing. Let's see.

2 27" iMacs (2009, 2010) - ME
2 21" iMacs (2011, 2015) - DW, DD
2 24" PCs (2014, 2015) - DS1, DS2
1 27" PC (2016) - ME
1 Macbook (2008) - ME
1 iPad (2012) - ME
1 iPad 3 (2015) - DS1
1 iPad Mini (2013) - DS2

All full of backup to backups. I'm pretty sure I'll always have both a desktop and laptop. Not convinced on the tablet.

 

[Totoro]

Also in the camp of laptop-only since 10 years. Don't own a tablet either. Do have a smartphone. It's my workstation, e-reader and TV.

The desktop for most intents and purposes is shrinking and won't be coming back any time soon. There is nearly no point anymore to having one, besides high-end gaming and movie editing.

Intel missed the boat a little bit in smaller and embedded devices, but they'll catch up. It's what they do - only the paranoid survive ..

So long term they'll keep on riding the wave of more computing devices in my opinion. Hard to match them with their scale in such a capital-intensive industry.

 

[FreeBear]

DW loves her Ipad and phone. I can't believe she can actually write more than a sentence or two on them. I hate typing on flat screens…

Also have a couple of ancient Mac Pro's, remember the giant silver "cheese grater" boxes, not the current $$ black "trash can". They are hooked to massive or dual monitors. We use them for photo editing and financial spreadsheets. Of course, most of the time I'm just surfing the web, email, and forums… They are reasonably powerful even by todays standards (SSD boot drives) and we need the cheap storage for photo and music production.

I hate the poor laptop and pad ergonomics for touch typing and extensive screen viewing. Looking down on a pad or laptop is hard on my neck and shoulders. We still keep two office-style desk setups. Wait, I still have my old desk chair from w*rk…

We plan to keep the big boxes running indefinitely, even if it means buying used...

 

[Dreamer]

I have an iMac which I use all the time at home. I prefer the desktop. DH has a MacPro laptop and a Kindle Fire. He does not use the laptop that much and uses the Kindle Fire for reading books. We use the laptop when we go to our DD's house or for traveling. I am going to try to go to an iPad when my desktop goes. I don't know if I will be able to get used to it though. I don't like using the laptop. Maybe, I just need to get a wireless keyboard and mouse for it. If I don't like using the iPad, then I will buy another iMac. I don't like a TV on, when I am reading on the computer or reading a book. I get distracted too much.

 

[homestead]

Decided to replace my wife's desktop last year. Gave her the choice between desktop, ipad or laptop. She chose desktop (macmini), she is the bill payer in the family.

 

[Walt34]

I like my Dell tower that sits on the floor next to the desk and 24" IPS display for photo editing. First thing I noticed with the IPS display was everything else looked sharper too and I like that. I'll probably get a bigger display later this year. I like being able to sprawl out on a largish chair & feet up on a bench in front of the keyboard.

We have a laptop but don't use it unless we're out for more than a day or two, and it is a backup for the desktop if that dies unexpectedly. Don't even own a tablet or smartphone, but not adverse to getting one if we can see the use of it for us. We don't work, very little travel, so the portability isn't as important to us as it is for more mobile folks.

 

[ERD50]

...
I hate the poor laptop and pad ergonomics for touch typing and extensive screen viewing. Looking down on a pad or laptop is hard on my neck and shoulders. ...

Like most others who use a laptop as their desktop, I use an external keyboard (with number pad and cursor key arrow pad), and a three-button scroll-wheel mouse. I hate trackpads for anything but very basic navigation, and am not fond of most laptop keypads.

I also have a little stand that I put my laptop on, that raises it ~ 5" and puts the screen at a good height for me.

-ERD50

 

[TallTim]

Apple iMac 27" and 2 x 27" additional displays ... but then I am am options trader as a vocation in ER and find the extra inches of display v helpful with keeping track of things. I can do the same trades on my iPad mini or even iPhone, but it's a good deal more cumbersome.