Weekend Open Forum: Desktops doomed to irrelevancy?

That's plain "Are PC gamers a dying breed?"!
I think desktops will be here for at least another 10 years. Simply there is still not enough power to keep mobile devices going on for a number of days without an extra battery or so.
The CPU and GPU may be more efficient but not energy efficient.
How many of you use a typical mobile device for 3 or 4 days without recharging it? Doing the usual stuff: call, text message, web, picture - just to name a few.
Besides that not many companies will afford to switch from the desktops to mobile devices.

I agree at least until they can put full power computing and graphics into a mobile device which is probably quite some time in the future.

Rrrriiiigghhhttttt....
And 640K is enough memory for anyone.
And PC gaming is dead. (Well, OK, Ubisoft and Activision are actively working on that one.)
And Larabee will kill ATI and Nvidia.
And the sky is falling.

3 years is way too soon. You'd have to be retarded to suggest something like that. Google really wants this cloud computing thing to be mainstream. They are working their asses off to host our files on their servers. It makes me question their motive.

yea princeton said it right, putting 2 5970s and an i7 in a laptop.....

NO, I don't think so that mobile devices, like laptop will replace desktop versions. There are a lot of factors and limitations that are always there in mobile, you can't avoid it. the fact is, that the mobile systems are growing very well (in way of performance)but at the other hand, desktop components will be there always, better and with much more performance than ever before.

I used to have a gaming laptop. It already had an anemic (8600mgt) video back then.
Now after the bloody LCD didn't work and cost to fix approached 1/2 of a new desktop, I decided to go back to desktop.

I'll prolly get a netbook if I need to be mobile, but desktops are SO much easier to upgrade and fix.

You only realize this after (like I) spent over $1400.00 to buy a gaming laptop with anemic video card, when I could have built 2 gaming desktops and be future proof.

Ahh well.

Until I can go out and custom build a notebook just like I did with my desktop, I don't see them going away any time soon. The biggest problem I have current notebooks is the lack of multiple DVI or HDMI ports.

there's no way desktops will be doomed USB 3.0, new version of SATA, SSDs heading on there way into desktop, 64-bit this is just the beginning of desktop getting ready to show just how far they can grow there's still a long way to even think about desktops going away, there's till Windows 8, 9 we still have to wait for, there are still companies using desktops though right now I work in a company as a student and when ever I go to work hardly none of the employess are working at work most work at home either on there laptop or blackberry, there's maybe some aspects of how you use mobile & desktops. But, there's no way in hell desktops will become irrelevant.

i agree with google executive but he missed '0' after '3'.

mobile computing has come a long way but still can't hold a candle to a high powered desktop.

For regular people who just use there computer to check their e-mails and other basic tasks, yes. But for the rest of us who download everything, play games, make videos, all of that, NEVER. I couldn't imagine gaming on a iPhone or some QWERTY pad hardcore 24/7...

Desktops aren't going anywhere, and every post here confirms that. I don't know about anyone else but until they make a phone as powerful as my computer with a 19inch LCD, then I am sticking to my desktop.

I for one will always have a desktop, dont get me wrong, laptops are all the rave right now and will continue to grow but the desktop is a fixture in all houses, especially with me.

I would say heavy computer users will have both, i use a netbook for everyday stuff, and ive got a bnice little rig at home for bigger things.

I still use desktop PC, but now I know I need laptop more. I guess that 3 years is not enough because price is still the major reason for desktop.

As software and methods change, the desktop PC may slowly phase out, but there are 2 places it will always be strong: gaming, and secure corporate environments. As many mentioned above, gaming horsepower just cannot be matched in mobile platforms right now. There may, someday, be a point where the performance levels hit a range where more advances really won't make much difference in a game quality perspective, but that day is a long way off.

In the corporate world, the business laptop is popular, but for security reasons those are not always wanted. A solid, reliable, non-mobile computer in a secure environment is often preferred over a laptop which can be stolen, easily broken, etc. There is also lower maintenance and easier repair costs in desktop vs. mobile, which enhances their appeal in some mission-critical environments. Terminals often fill this niche, but desktop PCs are much more prevalent.

They said the same about the radio when TV turn up, or the newspaper when Internet grew, or people face-to-face chat when Facebook struk.. nonsese. We'll pass away, but some good things in life never die

I think about the time Moore's law is exhausted (believed to be about 5mn transistors) then they will be all portable and folks will just have a larger monitor on the desk for home and gaming.

I'm afraid even if portable systems get on level with desktop power/performance equivalence, most professionals will still prefer a desktop set up (even if it is all hooked to a mobile device). The need for large displays and accurate input (normal keyboard/mouse) for professionals will not change that quickly. I'd guess 20 yrs would be more accurate for desktop computers to become "irrelevant."