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

[Which Roger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeBear ... 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.

[Cobra9777]

I prefer desktops for most serious computing tasks (spreadsheets, word documents, online financial stuff, photo/video editing, music composition). I do regular maintenance, so it's extremely clean and runs fast. I build a new desktop every 3 or 4 years and will continue doing so. Latest build is in the office with studio monitor speakers and three 22" monitors (I like lots of visual real estate for multi-tasking). For casual computing tasks (email, web surfing) when I'm not in the office, I primarily use my Android phone. We have an old laptop that we use when traveling. But otherwise, it's stashed under the main TV running Kodi. DW uses her iPhone exclusively. I'll probably get a Chromebook at some point.

[explanade]

Have 27 inch iMac (2013), MacBook Pro Retina (2014), iPad mini 2, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone 5S.

Also an HP laptop with Win 10.

Have over 700 GB of RAWs in my Aperture library plus older iPhoto libraries.

I use the mobile devices every day as well as the iMac.

As long as I maintain a photo library, I'll always upgrade the computers.

[Big_Hitter]

I've got a desktop that still runs XP, no plans to upgrade...

[ziggy29]

Yes. Tablets are cool for being light and on the go, but it will never fully replace a large display and a full-sized keyboard for me.

For me the only real "need" for a desktop any more is for serious gaming. Apart from that a relatively middling laptop and docking station to a full size keyboard, mouse and display would be more than enough.

[NW-Bound]

I still have 6 desktops in the house, with 3 being headless (no CRT or keyboards) and remotely accessed via another desktop console. Yes, I do turn them on occasionally, and use them for different things (two are file servers). They are distributed through the home, and I can turn them on/off remotely.

However, my everyday-use machine is a laptop. My wife uses one of the above desktops, plus her Android tablet, plus 2 PC netbooks (laptops without DVD drive). We do not use our smartphones much when we are at home.

And besides these machines, I have two NAS drives, but only one is on 24/7.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 For me the only real "need" for a desktop any more is for serious gaming.

agreed - ever since I got a ps4 I rarely turn on my desktop

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar I have an iMac and MacBook. But I could see surviving on only a MacBook if I had a big monitor. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

When I bought my MacBook Air in January I also bought a Belkin Thunderbolt 2 dock which is permanently connected to my big monitor, ethernet cable to the router plus 4 USB devices. This means I only have 1 cable plus power to attach to turn it into a desktop look-alike. (I also have a full size keyboard and mouse at my computer desk)

I haven't had a desktop for at least 8 years.

I also have a 3.5 year old iPad and an iPhone. The new MacBook is so light and just as fast waking up or booting from scratch as the iPad that I don't see me replacing the iPad. (The MacBook has an SSD instead of an HDD hence the speed waking up and booting)

A good test will be over the next 6 months when I plan on traveling only with the iPhone and MacBook.

[RobbieB]

When I hit the road I take my Chrome Book and the smart phone. Chrome is wifi only but smart phone will wifi the book if the hotel craps out which it sometime does.

I absolutely positively hate surfing on a 6 inch screen.

[calico1597]

I have my old tower ready to recycle, the monitor quit several years ago. We each have laptops for surfing in the evenings, I have an Ipad for travel and am finding that I use my smart phone more all the time.

[Marita40]

I was an early adopter of a laptop--when the most basic model was really expensive--and never looked back. I haven't had a desk top in at least 15 years (I can't even remember what it was when I had one). I use the laptop all over the house, sitting up in bed, etc. The only thing that drives me crazy is the relatively short battery life.
I use an Ipad Mini for reading books and for travel.