How many of you ditched your Desktop in favor of a laptop - Page 2

I can honestly say I don't miss having a desktop.
One thing I miss is upgrading at will..O.K. I'm a hardware junkie! an addict!
Although, the upgrade bug is a hard one to kill, I've been taking it one day at atime It's hard
Hi I'm Don....I'm an addict

Can't forget about big price difference. There are a couple things I do on my desktop that I'd never think about doing on a laptop. Leaving it on 24/7 while downloading from FTPs, decoding and rebuilding dvds, storing music, movies, xxx, xbox games, etc.

Hi, Don. I'm here to feed your addiction.

Everybody needs at least four systems:

1) A semi-portable DTR
2) An ultraportable for travel
3) A desktop for high-speed high-capacity storage and high-temperature gaming
4) A spare for dangerous experimentation

Now, go shopping!

It's all laptop all the time for me. I still have my desktop but rarely fire it up. I got EV DO a few weeks ago and am seriously comtemplating cutting my land line loose. If the EV DO continues to work as well as it has so far, I'll do it next month.

I get a solid 4-500kb down and 107-110 up which is pretty cool at a stop light. Broadband wireless changes everything!

Yea I don't use my old desktop anymore. It is still being used, just not by me. I love my laptop

LMAO
I must resist.....

Sweet, the perfect answer. I don't have all these, but I have been entertaining the idea of getting an ultraportable (well at least more portable than my 17incher) for travel. It sure is nice watching movies on a plane on a 17 inch and everyone gauking, but it's a little crowded, too.

Whats the point of #1 if you still have #3. Also, everyone should have a number #4.

Desktops are useful for all the reasons I mentioned, but they still suffer from a serious flaw: you can't easily move them around.

The semi-portable DTR is probably all most people really need. It only needs to be portable enough to move around the house. Take it to bed with you, kick back in the recliner with it, connect it to some random box to diagnose network problems, etc.

I also ended up partitioning my desktop into an unmovable base, and a movable user-interface. I've got a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, and an LCD sitting on a rolling cart. The only thing tethered to the desktop is a long DVI cable, so I can move the cart around the room if I need to be closer to various work areas or just want to plop down in a more comfortable spot.

I see your point. I guess some people do need a powerful semi-portable lappy. I just needed an ultraportable one that i could just throw in my bag if I ever thought I might be bored in class. Didn't need much power or anything for websurfing, but my 700m is pretty powerful anyway.

In the near future, when I do get a laptop my main home desktop will become secondary and used mostly by my wife during the day.
I am a software engineer and will use it as work machine as well. In the last couple months I started to ride a train with internet access 58 min each way 4 days a week. I work at home the fifth day.
Lappy will become my life and I will no longer spend time wrestling with the VPN to get some file I forgot. Plus Ill be able to work on the train by just picking it up and walking out the door.
Wife is ok with whatever I want since I don’t spend much money on myself (refer to my screen name as to where my money goes). I am only a casual gamer but I my closest friends are hardcore gamers. So, since life dictates I can't yet get the Mustang GT I have always wanted, I am going to get a high end Video card for bragging rights. Was considering the 9100 with MR9800 back in late October when I first start looking. AW7700 still looks tempting. I knew back then I would be waiting on my tax return. I am a pretty patient person too. Last time I upgraded any PC was when my first daughter was born almost 3 years ago. Before that I was an Upgrading Addict also. Priorities of life have change, but the itch is still there.

I have two #4 machines which my wife wants me to get rid of when the Lappy arrives.

Sorry, I did not intend this to be a long post when I started.

Count me as 1 for ditching Desktop in favor of a laptop.

Daddy

The 9200 is really the perfect portable software development box. The WUXGA gives you plenty of work space, the battery life is perfect for long commutes, and the MR9700 is perfect for casual gaming between compiles. The only problem is that it is pretty friggin big, so hopefully they give you lots of legroom on that train.

I'd really be more worried about battery life than with FPS and 3dmark scores with that kind of commute, but hopefully the 9300 will have reasonable battery life.

And my kid is just about to turn 2-years. Luckily, there was no compelling reason to upgrade in those two years, but now I'm making up for all those missed upgrade cycles

The main reason why not to have a laptop as a desktop replacement is that laptops are difficult to use comfortably for extended periods. So you need to use it with external mouse and keyboard, and that renders the otherwise portable system into a stationary one.

I nearly hear people saying "BS: I use it all the day and I don't feel anything". Belive me: you WILL in the future, altough it depends on how often you use it.

Besides, there is no laptop wich can be compared to a desktop, so none can really be called a true "desktop replacement".

That's because, to be a desktop replacement, it should have all the features of a desktop in a portable system, say MODULARITY, wich means UPGRADEABILITY AND EXPANDABILITY.

It will only be possible if someone comes out with a "laptop format" (like ATX format). That way you build your own customized system wich can be upgraded or expanded at wish, and that way you will save tons of money.

They still make desktops. I thought they where in musems now.LeeU

I went from a 2000 Dell 800MHz, Pentium 3, Windows 98, 128SDRAM, 6X DVD Drive, 20 GB Hard Drive to my umemployed sister and brother in law for Christmas of that year.

College student with only a notebook... and damn does she run well.

The i9200 is perfect practical choice for me, Yes.

Train has every other set of seats turned backwards so clusters of four people can face each other and have a conversation. This allows a lot of leg room. On 30% of the seats there is a an 18" wide table between the set. On sets with tables there are power outlets. So size and battery life are kind of a non issue. But sometimes I can't get a seat with a table for a stop or two.

Reasons I am waiting.
1. Tax return is not here yet (don’t really need it for purchase but its a good excuse to wait for reason 2) and the i9200 will probably be pulled before it gets here. Did my taxes last weekend. So i9200 may still be around.

2. Whatever I get, I will be a long time before I get anything else. So I want to milk it just a little. The battery life, screen (wuga) and weight of the i9200 are all better than the AW7700 (only swxga) so its much more "practical". i9200 would work great for years.
But I see that as like buying a Mustang with a V6. It has almost all the same handling and looks as the V8 GT. No I, don’t "need" a 300 hp V8(reference to Go6800) but 'come on. Its makes for more fun in the every day drive just knowing those ponies are sleeping under the hood there. But It does take its toll on the MPG. Worth noting that about 70% of Mustangs sold are the V6, so most people go for practical sports car because its really NOT giving up any everyday functionality. (In case you missed the analogy, V6=MR9700 V8=Go6800)

My wife was pregnant when my first daughter turned 2. So I missed the two year upgrade cycle then. Second daughter was born 17 days ago.

Daddy

Did I thoroughly confuse everyone with my obscure analogy?

Simply put.
I have a Mustang fetish. I have really really liked them all my life.

i9200 = Mustang with V6
i9300 = Mustang GT (V8)

Both great cars. Sporty and fun to drive.
At this juncture in my life I want the “impractical” sports car and not the “practical” sports car.
That goes for both Laptops and Cars.
Why? Because I am 30 years, old father of two girls, yet trying to keep something in common with my batchlor hard core gamer frirends who drive modified Japanese cars (honda civic and subrau impreza). But I would not change anything about my life with my girls.



Did not mean to hijack this thread. I am still interested in other peoples usages of their DTRs.

Did I mention I will be replacing my Desktop with a Laptop?

I would skip the mustang altogether. Or any other American muscle car, for that matter. I went to racing school several years ago in which the participants got to race their own cars on the track. I was in my little 4-banger MR2, and my classmates had a Corvette with monster V8, and an Acura NSX with a sleek V6. The vette kicked my butt on the straight parts of the course, but I would catch him in the turns. The NSX kicked both of our butts, and that sucker would pass me in a hairpin turn going something like 100mph. It was like I was parked, even though I had it floored and was doing around 90mph in the turn.

So, the moral of my story is to get a well-tuned NSX-like sleek machine, and save the monster V8 for the desktop, since it doesn't need to turn

I'll take an Enzo for daily driving please.