Do you think handheld PCs will ever be a thing again?

[Fgtfv567]

18 hours ago, Josephdalepi said:

razer edge

ive got one

 

for 1200 bucks, its not bad

its crazy powerful still

damn thing has a full fledged i5

 

they didnt have an ultrabook back then

that came out this year

 

ive got the blade pro and edge pro, and to be honest i really really want the blade stealth

Can't find any for sale! No online retailer has them in stock, haven't heard of a refresh, and it has a gt 620?!

18 hours ago, WarWeeny said:

you already have portable PCs, it is called a laptop.

The title mentions HANDHELD PCs. As in ones you can play by holding the controller, screen etc using 1 or 2 hands, without your lap and is playable standing and is able to stored in your pocket.

16 hours ago, Bhav said:

Erm, you mean my Nvidia Shield tablet? 

The problems I really have with the Shield line (portable, tablet, maybe portable 2 if announced) is that there aren't enough PC ports to android. I don't like most mobile games (on the smartphone), so PC ports are all I really have. Not to mention that I'll have to repurchase those PC ports or pay for Nvidia grid. My home internet isn't strong enough for remote gamestream, and I don't think I'll be able to find a quality connection at starbucks/have enough data to tether to my phone for remote gamestream or Nvidia grid

 

I really want to see some sort of handheld steam machine, but the closest possible thing was the Smach Z which was cancelled in Dec 2015. Yeah they'll say they'll come back, but I really doubt it. Razer had a concept that was a 4-5in laptop that would have a reprogrammable keyboard, but now it's pretty much vaporware.

The PSVita is pretty much dead, so my only options left are to:

Buy some new games for my old 3DS, get a shield device (mentioned above), really poke around google play for PC ports to play on my S5, or what I'm most likely to do, is to buy a gaming laptop.

[royalcrown]

Yes, it's called smartphones and tablets.

 

Phones are just handheld computers with cellular radios now.

 

Stuff like a Pocket PC, no...why bother when it's a phone without the phone capabilities,

[Tairetsu]

3 hours ago, valdyrgramr said:

I doubt it since the modern smartphone came out MS and others have no interests in PDAs and Portable PCs. Windows phone 7 replaced the xp ones.

I do also think that smartphones have been kind of responsible for the death of handheld PCs, but it's silly, I mean, I get it, most people only really want computers to have a window into the internet, but if you compare the functionality of a PC vs any mobile device, the full Windows/Linux or even MAC experience completely blows it out of the water, and smartphones are already powerful enough to drive a lot of this programs, it's just a matter of having them be compatible with the ARM architecture, or, find a way to power an x86 phone for over 30 minutes. 

 

3 minutes ago, Fgtfv567 said:

thing about the edge 

Unfortunately the Razer Edge doesn't seem to be in stock brand new anywhere anymore, sold out, but very slowly, apparently it had to go on sale multiple times, definitely not a successful product. 

[Fgtfv567]

Just now, royalcrown said:

Yes, it's called smartphones and tablets.

 

Phones are just handheld computers with cellular radios now.

 

Stuff like a Pocket PC, no...why bother when it's a phone without the phone capabilities,

Oh I didn't know I was able to sideload the Steam client onto my S5 AND plug in an external GPU AND a keyboard/mouse!

Phones are not powerful enough to run high-end games like GTA V, even if devs were willing to port PC titles to android! And unless you're Rockstar with the older GTAs, they're really not! Not to mention that trying to emulate a controller on a touch screen is absolute garbage! Yes I know you can plug in a controller, I've done it with my wired 360

[Tairetsu]

4 minutes ago, royalcrown said:

Yes, it's called smartphones and tablets.

 

Phones are just handheld computers with cellular radios now.

 

Stuff like a Pocket PC, no...why bother when it's a phone without the phone capabilities,

I've already answered this.

 

Phones are NOT the same as a Windows PC, they can't run the same programs and as good as they have gotten over the years, they are still far from being able to do everything a PC can do, if you want it for PC games, it's even worst, because games that a phone could run won't run as long as the game itself doesn't get an Android port. 

1 minute ago, Fgtfv567 said:

Oh I didn't know I was able to sideload the Steam client onto my S5 AND plug in an external GPU AND a keyboard/mouse!

Phones are not powerful enough to run high-end games like GTA V, even if devs were willing to port PC titles to android! And unless you're Rockstar with the older GTAs, they're really not! Not to mention that trying to emulate a controller on a touch screen is absolute garbage! Yes I know you can plug in a controller, I've done it with my wired 360

 

This, I can't run Steam games on a phone, I have to buy them again even if they have an Android port, and I won't be able to get steam achivements of stats, or run my DRM free games, I have to do everything trough the google play store, either that or sideload APKs, of, again, programs that have been specifically ported to Android. 

[Fgtfv567]

1 minute ago, Tairetsu said:

I do also think that smartphones have been kind of responsible for the death of handheld PCs, but it's silly, I mean, I get it, most people only really want computers to have a window into the internet

 

Unfortunately the Razer Edge doesn't seem to be in stock brand new anywhere anymore, sold out, but very slowly, apparently it had to go on sale multiple times, definitely not a successful product. 

Top: Average Joes everywhere...

Bottom: I don't think the edge is powerful enough today, a 620M MIGHT not handle rocket league... I've heard it's big, heavy, and thick too

[royalcrown]

1 minute ago, Fgtfv567 said:

Oh I didn't know I was able to sideload the Steam client onto my S5 AND plug in an external GPU AND a keyboard/mouse!

Phones are not powerful enough to run high-end games like GTA V, even if devs were willing to port PC titles to android! And unless you're Rockstar with the older GTAs, they're really not! Not to mention that trying to emulate a controller on a touch screen is absolute garbage! Yes I know you can plug in a controller, I've done it with my wired 360

You can on windows phones. Plus what's your point, what current handheld PC let's you do that, shield ? Go ahead and make a call on one or text from it...

[Fgtfv567]

3 minutes ago, Tairetsu said:

I've already answered this.

 

Phones are NOT the same as a Windows PC, they can't run the same programs and as good as they have gotten over the years, they are still far from being able to do everything a PC can do, if you want it for PC games, it's even worst, because games that a phone could run won't run as long as the game itself doesn't get an Android port. 

 

This, I can't run Steam games on a phone, I have to buy them again even if they have an Android port, and I won't be able to get steam achivements of stats, or run my DRM free games, I have to do everything trough the google play store, either that or sideload APKs, of, again, programs that have been specifically ported to Android. 

Honestly you have no idea how many times I've googled "handheld PC gaming" to be disappointed by the cancellation of the smach Z, the shield lineup, and a whole bunch of irrelevant crap. Hell, I can't even find a good 13" gaming laptop! One of the only ones is made by Alienware, and at 900 bucks, is out of my 600-800 dollar budget

[royalcrown]

5 minutes ago, Tairetsu said:

I've already answered this.

 

Phones are NOT the same as a Windows PC, they can't run the same programs and as good as they have gotten over the years, they are still far from being able to do everything a PC can do, if you want it for PC games, it's even worst, because games that a phone could run won't run as long as the game itself doesn't get an Android port. 

 

 

[Fgtfv567]

2 minutes ago, royalcrown said:

You can on windows phones. Plus what's your point, what current handheld PC let's you do that, shield ? Go ahead and make a call on one or text from it...

I want you to buy a Lumia 950XL, plug it into the display adapter, use continuum, and try to play rocket league on it. ONLY THEN WILL YOU SEE ME AND TAIRETSU'S FRUSTRATION HERE WHEN YOU SEE THE ATROCIOUS TEXTURES AND LOW FRAME RATE. COUPLED WITH THE FACT THAT YOU NEED A MONITOR TO EVEN TRY TO BOOT UP A GAME LIKE THAT.

Also, I don't use a PC or shield device to call or text via 4G/SMS, that's not what I'll be using it for. That's why I bring my S5 with me. And if I do need to message someone, I have skype on all of my devices

[Tairetsu]

Oh god, I can't quote your comment Royalcrown, but what Microsoft has right now is not full Windows on the go, it's Windows 10 apps.

 

It's the other way around, it's PCs running phone apps, the phone apps are designed to work similar to the PC counterparts of them, and when you have the phone connected to a screen they can look the same, but this only works with apps designed specifically with that in mind, and they are Windows 10 apps, they are not PC programs. 

[Tairetsu]

1 minute ago, Fgtfv567 said:

I want you to buy a Lumia 950XL, plug it into the display adapter, use continuum, and try to play rocket league on it. ONLY THEN WILL YOU SEE ME AND TAIRETSU'S FRUSTRATION HERE WHEN YOU SEE THE ATROCIOUS TEXTURES AND LOW FRAME RATE. COUPLED WITH THE FACT THAT YOU NEED A MONITOR TO EVEN TRY TO BOOT UP A GAME LIKE THAT.

Also, I don't use a PC or shield device to call or text via 4G/SMS, that's not what I'll be using it for. That's why I bring my S5 with me. And if I do need to message someone, I have skype on all of my devices

It wouldn't work, you cannot run Steam on Windows 10 mobile, that's not a thing that currently exists. Windows 10 devices are not capable of running programs that have not been designed specifically to run on them. 

[Fgtfv567]

4 minutes ago, royalcrown said:

 

 

OFFICE ON YOUR PHONE?!?!?!?! I don't even know where to start!

First, we're talking about VIDEO GAMES on a handheld machine. VIDEO GAMES.

Second, if I need to write an essay, I'm sure as hell not going to do it on a 5 inch screen. I want a real keyboard and more screen real-estate.

[Fgtfv567]

1 minute ago, Tairetsu said:

It wouldn't work, you cannot run Steam on Windows 10 mobile, that's not a thing that currently exists. 

I realized that after I submitted the post.....

But if it were x86 and used the right hardware, even then it'd be crap

[Tairetsu]

2 minutes ago, Fgtfv567 said:

I realized that after I submitted the post.....

But if it were x86 and used the right hardware, even then it'd be crap

I honestly wouldn't mind if it was crap as long as it was doable, you gotta start somewhere, prove the technology successful and then have companies develop their own technology in that direction so that newer versions of the product can be better. 

 

Besides as long as it was able to run low-end games I would be just fine with it. Similar to how the 7" tablets that were mentioned earlier in the thread were, but maybe even smaller, maybe 4-5" with built-in controllers. 

[Fgtfv567]

1 minute ago, Tairetsu said:

I honestly wouldn't mind if it was crap as long as it was doable, you gotta start somewhere, prove the technology successful and then have companies develop their own technology in that direction so that newer versions of the product can be better. 

 

Besides as long as it was able to run low-end games I would be just fine with it. Similar to how the 7" tablets that were mentioned earlier in the thread were, but maybe even smaller, maybe 4-5" with built-in controllers. 

If the handheld device was TOO crappy, I don't think I could use it, but fair enough, gotta start somewhere

 

Yeah, I don't think a 7-in tablet with controllers on the sides work too well, look at the razer edge. How about something with the design more similar to the PSVita? 5in screen, controls on the sides, maybe a clamshell like the 3ds?

[Tairetsu]

1 minute ago, Fgtfv567 said:

If the handheld device was TOO crappy, I don't think I could use it, but fair enough, gotta start somewhere

 

Yeah, I don't think a 7-in tablet with controllers on the sides work too well, look at the razer edge. How about something with the design more similar to the PSVita? 5in screen, controls on the sides, maybe a clamshell like the 3ds?

Never 4get. 

[Fgtfv567]

1 minute ago, Tairetsu said:

Never 4get. 

Looking at this picture just reminds me of all the times I COULD have been using this thing, the high prices of gaming laptops and the sheer amount of disappointment the kickstarter page brought me with the word "cancelled"

[obsidian1200]

The Pyra is still a thing, I've actually been thinking of picking one up for myself. https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

 

[Fgtfv567]

1 minute ago, Fgtfv567 said:

Looking at this picture just reminds me of all the times I COULD have been using this thing, the high prices of gaming laptops and the sheer amount of disappointment the kickstarter page brought me with the word "cancelled"

It also makes me wish for laptops that I could custom build myself like a desktop. That'd relieve the itch...

[Tairetsu]

Just now, Fgtfv567 said:

Looking at this picture just reminds me of all the times I COULD have been using this thing, the high prices of gaming laptops and the sheer amount of disappointment the kickstarter page brought me with the word "cancelled"

It looked legit as fuck too, it wasn't looking like a scam, but nobody gave a shit about it, the publicity was minimal, and the kickstarter was an absolute failure.

 

They promised they would try again but it's been like idk 6 months and they haven't even updated their facebook page. 

[Tairetsu]

2 minutes ago, obsidian1200 said:

The Pyra is still a thing, I've actually been thinking of picking one up for myself. https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

 

 

H O P E 

 

Never heard of that thing, fill me in please, it looks bloody fantastic. 

[Fgtfv567]

Just now, Tairetsu said:

It looked legit as fuck too, it wasn't looking like a scam, but nobody gave a shit about it, the publicity was minimal, and the kickstarter was an absolute failure.

 

They promised they would try again but it's been like idk 6 months and they haven't even updated their facebook page. 

160,000 euros out of the 900,000 they needed, what a shame. I don't think publicity was minimal, google the smach Z and you'll see a whole lot of articles around it (even when it was called the steamboy)

 

Yeah, I really don't think they're going to try again, especially with how little they had raised

[Fgtfv567]

2 minutes ago, Tairetsu said:

H O P E 

2006 called. It wants its netbook back.

[obsidian1200]

1 minute ago, Tairetsu said:

H O P E 

I'd say it has a great chance of coming to be, since it did have a product generation behind it called OpenPandora that also had units in the wild. Unfortunately, most places are out of stock of the older ones.