How manypeople do you know, using an old, semi-broken, beat-up laptop, instead of a proper desktop?

[VirtualLarry]

People that bought a laptop, because it was the "chic" thing to get, and instead, they use it like a desktop, and it's beat to heck and back, failing HDD, keyboard, screen, no battery, etc.? When a "proper" desktop would have been the more appropriate and durable / repairable choice?

I just had to work on one of those earlier tonight.

Lady said she had fallen for the "Indian tech-support scam" ("This is 'Veendows' calling, you have a virus").

Anyways, she said she was "hacked", cause she lost all her files. Maybe so. I said I could re-format, and asked what OS she had on her laptop. She said, "Windows 10, I upgraded". I said, "that should be easy".

So I get the laptop, and the charger. Battery's not installed, missing some keycaps, and the down-arrow key is ripped completely off the keyboard.

Tried booting it, doesn't do much. Tried getting into BIOS, keeps beeping at me. Finally got into some sort of BIOS diag menu: "No HDD found"!.

Powered off, powered on, still no HDD found. Figured HDD was on it's way out, that's why she lost her files. So I pulled a 60GB SSD out of my pile and installed it.

Plugged in my trusty Win10 1607 all-versions USB Flash drive, and a USB keyboard, and plugged them in.

Had issues booting the USB drive, until I found out that a self-made Win7 recovery DVD was in the optical drive. Pulled that out and finally made some progress booting the USB.

Long story short, got Win10 Home installed. Wouldn't activate. I was like, "WTF"?

Thankfully, there was a Win7 OEM Home Premium sticker with keycode on the back. Punched that in to Win10 - whee, we're activated.

Got a code 43, on the dGPU. It was an HP, with an AMD tri-core mobile (did that laptop get warm or what), with a chipset IGP, as well as the dGPU. I disabled the dGPU for now, in Device Manager.

Graphics config of this laptop seems not well-supported by Win10.

Got it working. Perhaps not optimally, WRT to the IGP / dGPU, but it's usable.

Whew.

 

[UsandThem]

It sounds like the one new user on here who had what he said was an overheating laptop, and wanted to hook a peltier cooler to it. It was over 9 years old, but he wanted to get it working properly. He's still at it because even after I checked out of the thread, I noticed he has been updating the post experiencing the exact same problems. Sometimes hardware gets so outdated and has so many issues where it's not worth the time or money to try and save it.

From my experience laptops bite the dust much sooner than desktops. They are hot, cramped, slower, and generally take more of a beating than a desktop does.

 

[VirtualLarry]

From my experience laptops bite the dust much sooner than desktops. They are hot, cramped, slower, and generally take more of a beating than a desktop does.

True. And yet, people that don't really need portability, buy them. I guess, because they don't want to set up a "computer shrine" for a desktop PC?

 

[nerp]

I think some of it is that. People think back to the days of big hulking particleboard computer desks with the big hot CRTS. They don't really have a place to put it. They like to work at their kitchen table or the couch.

There might be a bit of a shift back to desktops, but in limited cases. I think a lot of people are sick of their old laptops and would consider a desktop if they were exposed to the options out there. Many AIOs are quite nice. Other systems are sleek and with a wireless keyboard and mouse and a nice screen mounted on the wall, you can have a mini-ITX system sitting on a bookshelf blending in with your Tivoli FM radio, etc. Only people who actually need a computer in the family room or home office will consider this seriously.

 

[PricklyPete]

I will never go back to a desktop. I see no need.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Urban poor people, actually.

You rent, you live in a tiny apartment or in a house with several other people. You move every year or two, keeping only what fits in your car (or your friend's car, if you don't have a car.) You get internet access by leeching wifi from a neighbor or hanging out at McDonald's or the library. Your computing experience is entirely mobile, and a laptop is only natural. (Of course, because they're being moved around a lot, they get beat up.)

Extra-reliable, pre-leased corporate bricks like the Dell D630 (or whatever replaced it in the lineup) are actually really popular for the people "in the know."

People who don't know better have netbooks. Not because they're good, but because the up front cost is low. Those are not known for being reliable, though. And there's a lot of hand-me-down and secondhand action going on, which is where you get laptops that are in the shape that they're in for OP. (VL's friend probably got the laptop third-or-fourth-hand from somebody else who was more of a road-warrior.)

And even that is relatively luxuriant. It may be hard for us "enthusiast" people to wrap our heads around, but for a lot of poor people, their ONLY internet access or computing capability is their smartphone.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I will never go back to a desktop. I see no need.

I like GPUs. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I build another full size ATX rig.

 

[UsandThem]

I like GPUs. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I build another full size ATX rig.

Why? Space reasons? Just curious.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Why? Space reasons? Just curious.

Space and aesthetics, yeah.

It's not that I wouldn't have the space, it's just that I'd rather spend that space on other things.

 

[UsandThem]

Space and aesthetics, yeah.

It's not that I wouldn't have the space, it's just that I'd rather spend that space on other things.

Gotcha. I just have seen several long-term members on here going that route, so just was curious.

I do think since I don't play many games anymore, I will be going with a smaller mATX setup for my next build in 4-5 years. Heck, I might even just order a pre-built like a Dell XPS.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

People that bought a laptop, because it was the "chic" thing to get, and instead, they use it like a desktop, and it's beat to heck and back, failing HDD, keyboard, screen, no battery, etc.? When a "proper" desktop would have been the more appropriate and durable / repairable choice?

No, they get it because of the up-front cost. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Pretend you're them. Normal. Busy. No deal hunting, no slickdeals, no pcpartpicker.

Now go to Best Buy's website right now, and price out the cheapest complete Windows/x86 desktop they have (I just did. $200 + monitor) vs. the cheapest Windows/x86 laptop (A bunch under $200 - this one looks reasonable.)

That laptop probably outsells any ten desktop PC models.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I like GPUs. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I build another full size ATX rig.

I do think since I don't play many games anymore, I will be going with a smaller mATX setup for my next build in 4-5 years. Heck, I might even just order a pre-built like a Dell XPS.

Relatively small size and ATX aren't mutually exclusive. I actually prefer ATX boards, wrapped in a CoolerMaster 360 or 361, because you get more features for less compared to mATX boards.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Urban poor people, actually.

You rent, you live in a tiny apartment or in a house with several other people. You move every year or two, keeping only what fits in your car (or your friend's car, if you don't have a car.) You get internet access by leeching wifi from a neighbor or hanging out at McDonald's or the library. Your computing experience is entirely mobile, and a laptop is only natural. (Of course, because they're being moved around a lot, they get beat up.)

People who don't know better have netbooks. Not because they're good, but because the up front cost is low. Those are not known for being reliable, though. And there's a lot of hand-me-down and secondhand action going on, which is where you get laptops that are in the shape that they're in for OP. (VL's friend probably got the laptop third-or-fourth-hand from somebody else who was more of a road-warrior.)

And even that is relatively luxuriant. It may be hard for us "enthusiast" people to wrap our heads around, but for a lot of poor people, their ONLY internet access or computing capability is their smartphone.

No, they get it because of the up-front cost. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Pretend you're them. Normal. Busy. No deal hunting, no slickdeals, no pcpartpicker.

Now go to Best Buy's website right now, and price out the cheapest complete Windows/x86 desktop they have (I just did. $200 + monitor) vs. the cheapest Windows/x86 laptop (A bunch under $200 - this one looks reasonable.)

That laptop probably outsells any ten desktop PC models.

Insightful. Thanks for your responses, Dave. (and everyone else).

I guess it's not so clear-cut as I thought, that they they just thought a laptop was the "in" thing to get at the time. A lot of other factors, including financial.

 

[PricklyPete]

I like GPUs. But it'll be a cold day in hell before I build another full size ATX rig.

I used to love GPU's...but I love too many other things in life and they just don't make the cut anymore. What little gaming I do is on consoles now. Computer use is for programming or editing photos...and that is about it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I showed one of my favorite pizza-delivery guys, who is into computers, my ASRock DeskMini STX rig I had put together recently. He was really impressed with it, both size- and price-wise.

Something like that would be a perfect "desktop" for 95% of those currently using a big older tower PC, and a beat-up laptop-cum-desktop-replacement.

I should really start to push something like that with my clients, most are probably not even aware that such a thing is an option - a mini-PC with a full-strength desktop CPU. I really hope that this concept catches on. AMD could really use something like that too.

Edit: Here's ASRock's page on the deskmini:
http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/Deskmini 110 Series/index.asp

I must say, though, that the installation of the wifi pigtails was quite challenging for someone with bigger hands.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I showed one of my favorite pizza-delivery guys, who is into computers, my ASRock DeskMini STX rig I had put together recently. He was really impressed with it, both size- and price-wise.

Something like that would be a perfect "desktop" for 95% of those currently using a big older tower PC, and a beat-up laptop-cum-desktop-replacement.

I should really start to push something like that with my clients, most are probably not even aware that such a thing is an option - a mini-PC with a full-strength desktop CPU. I really hope that this concept catches on. AMD could really use something like that too.

Edit: Here's ASRock's page on the deskmini:
http://www.asrock.com/nettop/Intel/Deskmini 110 Series/index.asp

I must say, though, that the installation of the wifi pigtails was quite challenging for someone with bigger hands.

The trick is to get it mounted on the back of the monitor.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The trick is to get it mounted on the back of the monitor.

True, true. That's how I have two out of the three of my Gigabyte Brix J1900 units configured, behind my 24" HDTV / monitors, using the included VESA bracket.

ASRock, as normally awesome as they are, DID NOT include a VESA bracket with the DeskMini 110W package. Suxors. Had high hopes for that unit. (It's still awesome, just... not quite as convenient.)

 

[corkyg]

I have had both for many years. One for use in house and the other for travel. The travel laptop also has a serendipitous benefit - it provides a backup that is always available.

 

[KentState]

Don't know of a single person, besides myself, that uses a desktop these days.

 

[whm1974]

Hell I don't even own a laptop.