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To each his own. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad W520, w/Core i7, Quadro graphics, and 8GB of memory, and it's the one device I use the least. The only reason I need it is for when I travel and have to make presentations and work while on the road. It's too slow to substitute for my desktop systems (Dell PWS and Mac Pros w/dual six-core Xeons), and the tablets are what I want to use while sitting on the couch, in a coffee shop, in an airplane seat, or lying by the pool. The only possible use I have for a netbook is to take on vacation when I think I might need to work a little but want to travel light. Years ago I did take a 10" screen Sony VAIO subnotebook (kind of a precursor to netbooks) all over Asia on a vacation, and it was probably the right device for that. Today I might try it with an iPad, VPN connection, and remote desktop app.
Speaking of tablets, I just sold my Xoom on Ebay and will get the new iPad this week. I'm just tired of seeing all the apps I want available only on the iPad, and tired of how picky the Xoom was about H.264 encoding.
To each his own. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad W520, w/Core i7, Quadro graphics, and 8GB of memory, and it's the one device I use the least. The only reason I need it is for when I travel and have to make presentations and work while on the road. It's too slow to substitute for my desktop systems (Dell PWS and Mac Pros w/dual six-core Xeons), and the tablets are what I want to use while sitting on the couch, in a coffee shop, in an airplane seat, or lying by the pool. The only possible use I have for a netbook is to take on vacation when I think I might need to work a little but want to travel light. Years ago I did take a 10" screen Sony VAIO subnotebook (kind of a precursor to netbooks) all over Asia on a vacation, and it was probably the right device for that. Today I might try it with an iPad, VPN connection, and remote desktop app.
Speaking of tablets, I just sold my Xoom on Ebay and will get the new iPad this week. I'm just tired of seeing all the apps I want available only on the iPad, and tired of how picky the Xoom was about H.264 encoding.
Yeah of course, they both serve different purposes. I don't really like sitting at home, I am extremely mobile and I am always on the road. It would make almost no sense for me to have a desktop. If somebody likes the comfort of a desk and doing work on big screens, by all means use desktop. They are also much more snappy. This is really all facets of my life though, I don't like having a big book shelf, I much prefer using a kindle. I could fit my laptop, a tablet, and a kindle all in my LowePro bag no problem.
There are some really nice iOS apps for doing remote desktop, I was using them on an iphone for awhile. Even on that they worked well, I'm sure they would be even better on an iPad.
It is the 3rd generation and said it to clarify the latest, their naming conventions aren't the greatest...
I have a Toshiba Qosmio right now, it's a core i7. I've also had Dell/ASUS though. I usually get a new laptop about every year then sell the old one off to a friend, give to a family member, or on craigslist. Note I still have other *computers* they just aren't in my house, they are in a rack and I rent them, I used to have a rack in my apartment if that tells you how strongly I prefer working from a laptop. Internet speed and generally faster laptops changed everything. Ask me the same thing 10 years ago and I would have told you no way.
You were discussing the displays on laptops on your previous post so I thought I would ask which laptop you had, assuming you chose one with a good quality screen. But I was disappointed to learn that you have a Toshiba Qosmio. I'm always on the lookout for laptops that have good screens.
However, MediocreButArrogant's W520... now that's a good display! However it still suffers from color distortion at wide viewing angles.
You were discussing the displays on laptops on your previous post so I thought I would ask which laptop you had, assuming you chose one with a good quality screen. But I was disappointed to learn that you have a Toshiba Qosmio. I'm always on the lookout for laptops that have good screens.
However, MediocreButArrogant's W520... now that's a good display! However it still suffers from color distortion at wide viewing angles.
I got an extremely good deal on it through a return. Not what I would normally purchase, but I had to purchase something that day.
It really depends on the person's situation. Personally, I am thinking of buying a laptop for my next computer only for the convenience of carrying it around whether it involves spending time at Panera Bread, Perkins restaurant, the library, or even a different room in my apartment. Let's be honest here. Most people only need a home computer for the Internet whether it's Email, Facebook, Skype, looking for jobs, or even web surfing. At the present time, the internet standard is high speed (DSL or CABLE), so downloading files and web surfing speeds are excellent. As long as the processor is relatively fast and the internet access is reliable, an affordable laptop with a good warranty and protection plan is the way to go these days. If somebody wants to play video games, they could just buy an XBox 360 or Playstation 3.
Last edited by anonymous51; 03-12-2012 at 01:11 PM..
It really depends on the person's situation. Personally, I am thinking of buying a laptop for my next computer only for the convenience of carrying it around whether it involves spending time at Panera Bread, Perkins restaurant, the library, or even a different room in my apartment. Let's be honest here. Most people only need a home computer for the Internet whether it's Email, Facebook, Skype, looking for jobs, or even web surfing. At the present time, the internet standard is high speed (DSL or CABLE), so downloading files and web surfing speeds are excellent. As long as the processor is relatively fast and the internet access is reliable, an affordable laptop with a good warranty and protection plan is the way to go these days. If somebody wants to play video games, they could just buy an XBox 360 or Playstation 3.
While I agree with you for the most part, I feel your point about playing games on a console doesn't work for PC gamers. Many games are just horrible experiences on consoles.
I'm with you here. We have several consoles in the house, but I stick with the PC for most of the games that I play.
I'll be revealing my ignorance on this subject by saying this, but I thought playing a game on a console would be the best way to experience them, since (I thought) a console was optimized specifically for that purpose.
I'll be revealing my ignorance on this subject by saying this, but I thought playing a game on a console would be the best way to experience them, since (I thought) a console was optimized specifically for that purpose.
For some games they can be, and depending upon the quality of your computer the console can be a better experience.
I'll give a couple of examples where I think a PC is better:
As discussed on another thread here recently, the XBox 360 was released something like 5 or 6 years ago, so the technology in it is actually pretty dated compared to the newest computer. Even my 4 year old computer with a 2 year old video card produces better graphics on new games than my son's 360 does (and he's plugged into a 50" plasma TV, where I only have a 22" monitor).
I have lots of games that are only available on PC. Of course there are also games that are only released on consoles, and even exclusive titles that are only released on certain consoles, but I think that the number of PC only titles far outweighs the console only ones. Until recently getting a game onto a console required a lot of money, where releasing an independent title on PC can be fairly inexpensive to do.
I prefer a keyboard and mouse to a game controller. For certain game types the controller feels slow and clunky compared to using a keyboard and mouse. Most PC gamers that I know prefer the PC for the better graphics, and the keyboard / mouse input. Of course there are games that are better with the controller, and I have a 360 controller plugged into my PC for just those games. There are also lots of additional controller types that can be plugged into a PC for specific game types.
On top of those things, many PC games get extra content that never makes it onto the console versions, including community created content and mods. Some games even provide the PC versions with free content that is charged for on the consoles, although that is becoming less frequent with the prevalence of DLC.
The last point I'll make can give either platform an edge, and that's developer focus. Usually developers build for a certain platform, and then port the game to the others. Almost always the original target platform has the best experience. There are some big name developers that have the money to do a really good job on 3 or 4 versions of the same game, but many times one version or the other suffers. For instance, Saints Row 2 was ported from the console version to the PC, and was done so poorly that it's become an example of how not to do a port. They couldn't even be bothered to get the arrow keys or mouse support working in the menus.
Plus, some games are originally made for the console and ported over to the PC. Usually, they do it improperly and it turns into a horrid experience.
The thing about consoles is you just put the game in and go, it just works. With PCs, sometimes you might need (or want) to upgrade the video card or processor or something if you want the higher quality settings.
The downside about consoles on certain games is lack of modification. With skyrim, for example, there is a HUGE community of mod makers that change the game completely. With the 360, you can't install any mods, and if you come across a bug, there is no console so you can't fix it yourself, you have to wait for Bethseda to fix it...which they might not do, depending on the severity of the bug.
In any event, there are certain games that I will only play on consoles (mostly FPS, like MW3 or BF2) and there are certain games that I will only play on PC (strategy games, ARPGs like skyrim or diablo 3 [yes, they are making D3 for the console], etc.).
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