Will laptops eventually replace desktops?

[jaggysnake57]

Guys, the keyword is eventually. Yes laptops will eventually replace desktops. Whether this takes 20 years, 100 years, 500 years. It's just a matter of putting more and more power into smaller and smaller form factors.

 

 

I disagree with the survey, I think that laptops will die and be replaced by tablets, while desktops will still be used by power users.

 

this

 

desktops are perfect for us enthusiats who want to mess and offices who want save on manatnace bills. laptops are so much more hard work to fix

[MEC-777]

No. Different people have different needs and preferences. There will always be a place for desktops, laptops, etc. There is no "one way" that will be suitable for everyone. 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Tablets are more likely going to replace laptops long before the desktop gets replaced.

[Mooshi]

Not until workstation level notebooks stop being overpriced vs a desktop with equal power. Could be worse, at least notebooks retailing over the 2 grand mark have some beefy specs. Well, on the Windows side. Can't say the same for Apple with charging 2 grand for a bloody 750m.

[WinNut]

I grew up around laptops because my techie dad forced them on me and never let me build a rig...BUT SOMEDAY I WILL BUILD ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

In other words, I want a desktop and people call me crazy for that.

[Rhotis]

laptops are already yesterdays tech.  The time where it was a question if laptops would replace desktops ended about 5 years ago.  

 

Everything is going smaller so here is what will replace desktops.... your phone.  

 

As phones get more and more powerful you are going to see them more and more useful for general productivity and office use processor wise.  When we reach that break even point where they can do this you will see the general public (not gamers or enthusiasts like us) have their entire productivity and entertainment package in their phone.  When at home (or at work for certain people though not most) you will either plug it into a dock or most likely simply place it on a wireless charger that also interfaces it with a kb mouse and full size monitor.  

 

We may even see things to the point that you place it on that dock or wireless charger type device and it links it to say a high end graphics card and more storage and vuala now you can even do high end gaming technically from your phone (kinda).  

 

This is the future.  I will bet your house on it.  

 

Oh and this is not 20 years away.  This is going to happen by 2020 MAYBE 2025 on the outside.  

[mthilton]

For the general population, it is possible. You can get slightly less performance out of something that is more portable. However, for people that know things about computers, they will appreciate laptops, but they will ultimately get a desktop. Unless something new and innovative comes out, Desktops aren't going away its all about price to performance and customization 

[FireFox]

To some degree they already have, people who aren't that bothered about computers and don't do a huge amount on them are already going for tablets and laptops.

[TheWall]

Can you specify how long in the future? At some point we will have ultrabooks that run games at high enough resolutions and at high enough quality that we couldn't tell it apart from real life, but that is a long time away

[BaconComputing]

Eventually everything will become smaller, like desktops to laptops to tablets to smartphones. Therefore, even the biggest and powerheavy parts will become more compact, like the GPU. So yes, the power of laptops will catch up to the convenience.

[Nickolas47]

No never i think that laptops are going to be replaced by tablets

[Mao_Zedong]

I hope not, that's like swapping my car for a skateboard.

nah, more like swapping a car for one of those cool scooter things that can go up to 60mph or so

[Mao_Zedong]

Probably, but in a while. It will be when an ultrabook can render and hour of 8k video in a few seconds. Price or technology will need to be completely different for that to happen.(Probably in over 20 years)

[MEC-777]

I see a few of you saying gaming laptops are getting more powerful and all that jazz. That's all fine and dandy except for one thing: I don't want or need a gaming laptop! Some people do and some people don't. They are far too expensive (for me anyways) and I can't build from scratch with hand-picked components. 

 

And I know I'm not the only one who prefers it this way. 

 

What I do see is a shift to physically smaller components. There's a been an explosion in the popularity of mini-ITX machines and now with many of those cases being designed and built specifically with gaming in mind (lots of air flow and can swallow a full-sized GPU) people a

[TheArium]

"The future" can be anything, but as long as laptops cannot contain the same hardware as desktops due to heat output and power requirements, desktops will continue to exist. In other words, as long as the desktop can do something the laptop cannot, it will not go away.

[mc141]

Not till I can slap a 850 watt psu dual discrete gpus and a full custome loop. Oh and a cup holder my last pc had a thermal take cupholder with cigarette lighter that never got used cuz I dont smoke.

[Tech_Dreamer]

i think laptops will be extinct and will be replaced more of a light weight tablet even glass as in see through tablets are going to be made to replace foldacle laptops that give of such heat.

 

 

 

[EmotionalSloth]

I think there will always people who need more power, so desktops will always exist.

But you never know....

[ShadowCaptain]

What you have to realise is, as small and powerful as tech can get. You can always make bigger things more powerful. The same goes for cars, laptops, phones. Anything tech related. Bigger things will always be more powerful, you can fit more in.

 

For general users current laptops are way in excess of what they need to do. but for enthusiasts even big desktops are nowhere near where they need to be let alone laptops.

 

More and more people will get smaller and smaller gadgets but everytime more performance is required for next generation stuff, the boxes will get bigger again until we find a way to shrink it, and then more powerful stuff comes around and the whole cycle continues

[Lord Gaben]

Laptop have already replaced Desktops for the average user, but for power users and gamers desktops still prevail

[Willson94]

For general home use its already happened.  In offices its already happened most employees will have a laptop and a docking station. 

Desktop is there for gamers and some jobs that require more computational power.

[n0ah1897]

I don't think laptops will replace desktops. Sure desktops aren't as commonplace in homes as they used to be because laptops are more appealing to the users who want to sit on the couch with the laptop and watch tv (my dad), but desktops still have their place.

[ygohome]

Desktops will remain forever.  People who are on the go all of time will of course always have a laptop, but many of them will also still have a desktop/workstation at their home/office.  I'm not speaking of gamers but more of business professionals.  I think gamers will always prefer the advantages of having the dollar/performance they can get from a desktop.  Laptops will continue to get more powerful and portable, but desktops will always be ahead of laptops in terms of performance.

 

Portable devices (laptops/phones/etc) will continue to evolve but I think they will ultimately rely on a desktop/workstation/server (ie cloud) for storage and calculations/processing (not on the device)... ie the device will act as a thin client but the power stuff happening on a workstations/dekstop server.

[Paralectic]

no, they won't EVER do that.

[Paralectic]

I say to a certain degree yes, just look at the Asus G750.

That's just a fucking fat laptop, no wonder it can have "power".

Better off with a mATX desktop.