Gaming Are Laptops going to die out?

RevPokemon

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I know this sounds weird but it is something I was thinking about and want your input on my opinion.

Laptops I feel are becoming in an awkward spot compared to Desktops and laptops.

Why you may ask?

Let's first compare them to Desktops. Desktops have way more power for tasks like processing and gaming and cost less compared to laptops for the power.

Then compared to Tablets. Tablets are starting to catch up with things like optional keyboards (which don't cost to much), more apps for things you need (like documents web browsing), and IMO have enough if you are a basic PC user who only does stuff like web browsing and watching videos. Likewise you are starting to have windows OS on tablets (tho there are some issues ) and you can get Ubuntu on android if you want. Also I feel tablets have an easier design to the people who aren't very good with technology. Plus tablets have long battery life and better portability.

So basically what I'm saying is since desktops have the most power and tablets have the most portability then what do you think will happen to laptops?
 

Nathan Drake

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Laptops aren't being replaced by tablets, but rather, tablets and laptops are beginning to become the same device. Everything you mention about tablets has them emulating laptops, whether it be with accessories or the OS itself. Then if you look at laptops, more and more of them are becoming tablet-esque with folding capabilities to flip the keyboard back for a tablet view, touchscreens, etc. Price wise, I doubt tablets will ever be able to magically sell the same power hardware for cheaper than a laptop, and thus a wall will appear at some point when, as portable devices, tablets and laptops will not be able to exceed the other at a price to hardware ratio. It actually makes me wonder how permanent tablets are, or if they will start disappearing in the next decade simply due to being a redundant device.
 

RevPokemon

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Laptops aren't being replaced by tablets, but rather, tablets and laptops are beginning to become the same device. Everything you mention about tablets has them emulating laptops, whether it be with accessories or the OS itself. Then if you look at laptops, more and more of them are becoming tablet-esque with folding capabilities to flip the keyboard back for a tablet view, touchscreens, etc. Price wise, I doubt tablets will ever be able to magically sell the same power hardware for cheaper than a laptop, and thus a wall will appear at some point when, as portable devices, tablets and laptops will not be able to exceed the other at a price to hardware ratio. It actually makes me wonder how permanent tablets are, or if they will start disappearing in the next decade simply due to being a redundant device.
So more or less your saying you believe that 2 in 1s will more or less make tablets redundant and in a sense hurt the traditional laptop?
 

kristianity77

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I always thought it'd be the other way around. I thought Desktops would die off first if any did. Back when laptops were in the minority because of price not many had one. I dont think I could go back to desktop now to be honest having made the switch 5 odd years ago.

Plus, the PC might cost "less" for the power over the counter, but it most certainly doesn't when it comes to the electricity bill. It more than evens itself out in the long run believe me.
 

FAST6191

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Something is coming but I am not entirely sure what. There has already been a massive shift in focus and MS is doing odd things in various markets which will probably see its stranglehold lessened a bit.

No matter what mainframes, or I guess they want to be called cloud computing these days, would think servers are not going anywhere and that means desktops are likely to kick around in one form or another (enthusiast world has always been server hand-me-downs/cast offs/cut down). I had hoped laptops would become more modular, standardised and easier to fix/upgrade but that seems less and less likely to happen.

But yeah laptops will probably be a casualty in the general die down of PCs but where it will end up depends probably mostly upon MS are doing and they seem to want to get out of it (they are doing most of what they can to get out of small business which for my money will not help their home market -- "I know it from work" is the rationale for people wanting a lot of what they want), though windows 10 might change something there.
 

Originality

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The market is shifting as smartphones become necessity to many, taking away one of the main reasons to use a laptop (internet, email, social media and youtube). Some who prefer a bigger screen get a tablet. Those who need more productivity (MS Word, photoshop, etc) either get laptops or desktops. LAN party gamers either get mid-high end laptops or small portable desktops. Then enthusiast and workstation grade desktops for those who need the power.

Laptops are getting thinner and lighter, desktops are getting more energy efficient, tablets are getting stronger (although limited to their OS stores), and phones are having more and more features packed into them to the point where some don't use anything else. But it's all about needs, and none of them will die out any time soon (not like the netbooks, which are pretty much non-existent now).
 

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It's really hard to predict what is going to happen, netbooks now seem like a really bad joke. But like Nathan Drake said, it does seem like natural move to simply put touchscreens and fully rotateable keyboard to laptops and as they get more powerful and bigger operating systems already have touch controls there wouldn't be need to use mobile OS so having both in there makes it good for much wider audience and wider scale of needs.

Alternatively they keep costs down by making them dummy devices which communicate with server or home computer for difficult tasks and file storage, which already scares me as internet isn't as reliable as electricity.

I had hoped laptops would become more modular, standardised and easier to fix/upgrade but that seems less and less likely to happen.

They have gone the opposite way and already kilometers down that road, which is really sad indeed. I would really fancy good laptop, but I'm actually afraid to even look for one as I know how horrible they can be as I have been making initial setups and fixing them. With one Lenovo I couldn't even figure out how to make recovery media even after two days research!
 

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If you think about the present then it's that people use desktops and laptops a lot because it feels more natural, as you've got a mouse and a keyboard both of which have physical keys & buttons whereas tablets it's all touchscreen.

I personally don't like smartphones or tablets due to the lack of physical buttons and it's after my time. I'll only ever use a smartphone when it's really necessary.
 

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Got rid of my super duper all singing all dancing desktop a year ago and bought a laptop, mainly for the space-saving aspects, and have never looked back.
 
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osaka35

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Really, I see them as the same thing, just on a spectrum of versatility vs portability. Tablets tend to be more on the portability side and laptops closer to the versatility side while still being portable. They may change shape or form, but it's not about what you call it, it's about what it can do.

Desktops are meant to be stationary, so they can have a lot of power, be bulky, and provide all the versatility you could want at the expense of portability. They aren't going away, there's always going to be power users.
 

FAST6191

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With one Lenovo I couldn't even figure out how to make recovery media even after two days research!

Unless you have a really crazy laptop with some odd raid or something then go with http://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally/ every time, if you do have the crazy raid/driver requirements then https://www.ntlite.com/ coupled with the above. Granted I usually wipe the hard drive as the first thing I do for a vendor machine.
 
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FAST6191

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Not even going to bother reading this.. Just gonna say no.

Once things start getting made in industrial quantities they tend not to die out entirely, however they often do end up getting very specialist, very low volume and often quite expensive. Barring stuff like the video I link in a second I will probably always be able to patch together a motherboard, a screen, a battery, some storage and some input into a reasonably portable device whether I can buy a premade one of the shelf/amazon is a different matter entirely and what people seem to be discussing here.



It has already kind of happened for laptops -- tried buying a netbook lately? I know various tablets have docking stations that see them wind up very similar but it is not quite the same.
 

aofelix

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no.

keyboard is too good.

I have an iPad and I don't use it. My laptop is just better than it in every way.

The desktop PC isn't going to die either (looks at gaming PC).
 

Hells Malice

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Tablets are cute and convenient for a couple of things, but will never replace laptops. Laptops will always be superior. It's the same kind of argument of "will phones kill handheld gaming devices?" and the obvious answer is no.

Desktops are cheaper and better but are typically bought for completely different reasons than a laptop. Laptops are for portability and convenience. They also don't take up much space if you, say, live in a small student apartment and just don't have the desk space for a desktop.

Hell I know way, way more people who own laptops than desktops. I'd say laptops are actually still a pretty dominant part of the market. I could be wrong, but that's just how it seems based on experience.
I also have never once heard of someone replacing their laptop with a tablet. Not once, it's just not a thing unless someone doesn't NEED the capabilities of a laptop (like if all you do is check facebook and email, but even then phones can do that too).
 
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endoverend

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Not gonna read everyone's replies but I feel like the general consensus is that tablets and laptops are merging into one type of device; I mean, look at all the recent efforts to sync devices and trade-off work and such. Windows 8 was clearly designed for touch-based devices. Mac OS X has been doing a lot recently to communicate between Macs and iDevices. However, Android seems to be the one platform that is limited to tablets and phones only, and it is only growing in popularity. Honestly at this point the only reason people get laptops is because they often come with more power just because they have more space to use that power. Also, laptops have hard keyboards, which many businessmen will be hard-pressed to give up.
 

RevPokemon

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Tablets are cute and convenient for a couple of things, but will never replace laptops. Laptops will always be superior. It's the same kind of argument of "will phones kill handheld gaming devices?" and the obvious answer is no.

Desktops are cheaper and better but are typically bought for completely different reasons than a laptop. Laptops are for portability and convenience. They also don't take up much space if you, say, live in a small student apartment and just don't have the desk space for a desktop.

Hell I know way, way more people who own laptops than desktops. I'd say laptops are actually still a pretty dominant part of the market. I could be wrong, but that's just how it seems based on experience.
I also have never once heard of someone replacing their laptop with a tablet. Not once, it's just not a thing unless someone doesn't NEED the capabilities of a laptop (like if all you do is check facebook and email, but even then phones can do that too).


Well statistically I'd agree way more laptops are sold then desktops except to certain market shares (like gaming).

As for the replacement I can say that I know people who use their tablets way more than a laptop but they always have a laptop for certain things tablets can't do.

I guess my self I can kinda see 2 in 1s becoming popular but who knows?

I think all in all that laptops will stay supreme but will evolve and gain certain positive aspects of tablets such as touchscreens and better battery life.
 

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Unless you have a really crazy laptop with some odd raid or something then go with http://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally/ every time, if you do have the crazy raid/driver requirements then https://www.ntlite.com/ coupled with the above. Granted I usually wipe the hard drive as the first thing I do for a vendor machine.

I was actually trying to make fresh installation of 8.1 but couldn't get trough activation key part as I don't have direct access to it as I have zero experience with this new DPK thing.
 

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