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The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

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Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#161

Post by kderbe »

justincormack wrote: post #108
simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

I would pay for a silent PC. I paid a lot for a quiet Apple PowerPC Mac pro back in the day and built a quiet PC but they are not silent and I have moved to a quieter place and I can hear them (yes the Mac runs Fedora now). I have some silent ARM machines but they don't quite cut it yet though maybe the new quad core one will.

Silent PC Review ( http://www.silentpcreview.com ) occasionally reviews complete systems. Last year they measured an i7 machine from Puget Systems at 11dB in their anechoic room ( http://www.silentpcreview.com/Puget_Serenity_Pro ) which is the best I've seen for an off-the-shelf PC.

I haven't used a Puget machine myself, but I've relied on Silent PC Review's component recommendations for nearly a decade, and never been disappointed.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#162

Post by lgieron »

justincormack wrote: post #108
simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

I would pay for a silent PC. I paid a lot for a quiet Apple PowerPC Mac pro back in the day and built a quiet PC but they are not silent and I have moved to a quieter place and I can hear them (yes the Mac runs Fedora now). I have some silent ARM machines but they don't quite cut it yet though maybe the new quad core one will.

I have one, from http://www.quietpc.com/

It's completely silent, you can only tell that it's on by looking at LEDs.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#163

Post by kefka »

UVB-76 wrote: post #46

People snack on smartphones, dine on tablets, and cook on PCs. A lot of people don't want to cook, so are happy with smartphones and tablets. Why buy a desktop or laptop when an iPad will do everything you need for a fraction of the price? That's what people mean when they sound the death knell for the PC.

As for me, I'd much rather have my personal chauffeur carry around my full kitchen and always fresh ingredients so I can eat in luxury any time I wish.

Thank goodness for tablets with full XWindows support to my desktop and the university supercomputer. I like broken metaphors.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#164

Post by drbawb »

bluedino wrote: post #64

Don't worry, PC manufacturers are currently selling machines that are already obsolete. My dad went to Walmart and bought a computer (why he didn't just ask me to either advise him, or ask if he could have one of my spare/old ones I don't know) and monitor for $399. It's an HP powered by a AMD E1-1500. It's awfully slow. Chokes on YouTube half the time. My dad is new to the online experience, so he basically uses it…

>AMD E1-1500 >Bought a computer _and monitor_

Did he buy a notebook? I've never even heard of the AMD E1-1500 before today. Everything I see says that its a notebook processor, and a pretty terrible one at that. (2cores/2threads, and only 512kb of L2 cache!?)

What's worse is that it's a BGA package, meaning it can never be upgraded. If that's really a desktop machine (and not some form of "all in one") that's vendor lock-in at its absolute worst. They've ensured that instead of buying a $99 processor he has to go out and buy a brand new machine.

---

That's just awful. In 2013 you shouldn't be able to buy a computer that can't stream 1080p movies with ease.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#165

Post by quantumpotato_ »

johngalt wrote: post #124
simonsarris wrote: post #96

I've felt this way since I built my last desktop in 2008. I was sort-of waiting for the "gee its time to upgrade" mark to roll around in 3 or 4 years, but it hasn't happened yet. Any games I want to play it still runs very well, and it still feels very fast to me even compared to modern off-the-shelf systems. When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just…

We would be better off steering into the skid. History has plenty of examples of people who've tried to hang onto the old ways 'because that's how I learned it'. The way forward isn't to try and keep cheap PCs viable for creativity's sake, but to ensure that creative desires are being met on the newer devices. Would I have learned memory management and dual booting if I'd had a tablet instead of a 386? Probably not.…

I fear the ergonomics of mobile computers do more damage than desktops. Source: own experience

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#166

Post by Touche »

colanderman wrote: post #148
JVIDEL wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what planet? I'm not even going to use myself as an example because I do other heavy stuff with my PC, I'm going to use my non-tech friends: one of them got a new laptop with 8GB of RAM, why? because she was complaining about webapps using too much memory and slowing down her previous system. Regular users don't know or care about memory management, they don't even close old windows or tabs, its about convenience.…

Regular users don't know or care about memory management, they don't even close old windows or tabs, its about convenience. Why should they? If a tab's "dormant", the browser can just quiesce JS timeouts and let the tab's memory get swapped out. Not a problem anymore. That most (all?) web browsers don't do this currently isn't the user's fault.

That's not interesting idea, but I'm not sure any browser is designed to be able to fully restore the state of a tab that it's swapped out.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#167

Post by Zak »

zanny wrote: post #121
nahname wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most game makers are targeting consoles, which just went through a longer than usual shelf life. With the new ones coming online, we will see more PC upgrades from gamers.

Also resolution stopped at 1080p for a decade. Now that 4k is happening, there is an easy path to performance for gpu manufacturers.

Resolution dropped

High-end for 4:3 was 2048x1536 (3 megapixels)

High-end for 16:10 was 1920x1200 (2.2 megapixels)

High-end for 16:9 was until very recently 1920x1080 (2 megapixels)

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#169

Post by ScottWhigham »

downandout wrote: post #115

If everyone adopted the attitude of the author of this blog, all innovation everywhere in the world would cease instantly because, for most of us in the developed world, everything is good enough already. There are many points throughout computing history at which existing hardware was overkill for the things that we were asking our computers to do. Had we stopped innovating because of that, the world wouldn't be any…

Wow, downandout, your post truly has it all:

- Genuine loathing for the blog post OP

- Smarmy "I'm better than you" attitude

- Examples of how you aren't like OP

- Call out to historic reasons why OP's mindset is terrible

- Multiple over-the-top statements ("If everyone adopted the attitude of the author..." is my favorite!)

Jeez.

Re: The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones

#170

Post by Zak »

dobbsbob wrote: post #160
Zak wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my friends ask for laptop-buying advice I tell them if they like the keyboard and screen, then its just plain hard to be disappointed with anything new. That's exactly what I'm disappointed with on everything new. The Thinkpad T60p, from 2006 remains superior on both points to everything new from my point of view.

I have the same laptop running debian. Even runs small VMs ok and has survived multiple liquid accidents and dropping

I've upgraded it with a T61 motherboard, 8gb RAM, a tweaked BIOS and an SSD. It runs not-so-small VMs now. I try not to drop it or spill things in it, but the spill-resistant keyboard is good peace of mind.
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