The PC is Dead

[glenpinn]

I only use my laptop on...my lap. I have several desktops PCs. No Macs anymore.

My latest cheap laptop is a Asus X551M with W10, no touchscreen. It has no optical drive, no removable panels to access RAM or HDD for upgrades.
You have to split the case apart to get to them.

It's barely a laptop or a PC.

Hope you sit the laptop on a knee board or something similar, stopping the air intake vents under the laptop from being blocked, causing dust/fluff to be sucked into the fan, and causing the laptop to over heat, as this is the biggest killer for a laptop, and teenagers and kids are the biggest culprits.

I make a knee board for those who have laptops, just cut a piece of 4mm board a bit bigger than the laptop, i glue a thin rubber mat onto the top side so the laptop doesn't slide off it, and i glue a 1" thick piece of low density rubber sponge (foam) under the bottom to rest on the legs.

Regarding your laptop not having panels, its not that bad, usually you just remove all the screws on the under side, and prise the base panel off, and the Hdd and ram should be there, sometimes they will be under the keyboard.

In some laptops the ram is soldered to the motherboard so it can't be removed, but there may be another slot free to add more, however all laptops must be made so the Hdd can be accessible, just in case it needs replacing.

This is your laptop being ripped down, typical of most budget laptops these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA5Mgtqi8oU

you can see the HDD is easy to replace, even a child can do this, however, your ram slot is under the Motherboard, so that must be removed to upgrade the single stick to something bigger, but with care, and videos like this, it can be done pretty easily if you are careful, and have the right tools, and patients.

They used to make the ram slots accessible on laptops like yours by pulling out the keyboard (very simple to do) but this has been stopped now because most laptops now have a water tight tray under the keyboard so if you spill liquid on the keyboard area, it won't get into the motherboard and fry it, least that is the principal behind it.

[redwudz]

Thanks for the laptop info. I did buy RAM upgrade modules before I checked into their installation problems. My fault.
The last laptop I pulled apart, the internal connectors were damaged, so I decided I'm no good at that operation. I prefer desktop PCs.

I don't mind the absence of a optical drive, I have a portable USB optical drive if needed. But I have rarely used it.

This particular laptop runs cool enough and has mostly side air vents instead of bottom ones and runs fairly cool.
It's just for web surfing and email. I don't do any video processing on it.

I've got a small tablet, about 8" or so. But I don't like the lack of a keyboard. I guess I'm 'old generation'.

[PuzZLeR]

Yeah, photo editing on your phone. Ridiculous.

Yes, I have laptops and tablets. I enjoy them for portability and convenience regarding "light stuff" like reading, playing some music, email, documents and spreadsheets. I don't do any video processing or capturing on them. That too was rather ridiculous "back then" and still is so today.

You know what? Ever since I stopped listening to Apple my life is better. So will everybody else'es life too.

Long live the desktop PC - the REAL deal computer.

[glenpinn]

Thanks for the laptop info. I did buy RAM upgrade modules before I checked into their installation problems. My fault.
The last laptop I pulled apart, the internal connectors were damaged, so I decided I'm no good at that operation. I prefer desktop PCs.

I don't mind the absence of a optical drive, I have a portable USB optical drive if needed. But I have rarely used it.

This particular laptop runs cool enough and has mostly side air vents instead of bottom ones and runs fairly cool.
It's just for web surfing and email. I don't do any video processing on it.

I've got a small tablet, about 8" or so. But I don't like the lack of a keyboard. I guess I'm 'old generation'.

Well i am a qualified Laptop service tech, and i have certification for Asus, Dell, HP and Toshiba, and i have already upgraded the ram and Hdd in 2 of those laptops to SSD and 4gb of ram, i think the ones i fixed only had 2gb, and no optical drive, as nobody really needs them now days, and it keeps the cost of the laptop down as well.

All laptops can now install windows via a USB drive.

[glenpinn]

Yes, I have laptops ................. I don't do any video processing on them. That too was rather ridiculous "back then" and still is so today

Many people, including me, have been using a laptop to edit and encode with for years, many laptops that were not designed to do this will do it quite easily, others are built specifically for editing, and others are designed for Gaming, but either can do both.

My 17" i7 Clevo laptop has the integrated Intel HD4600 graphics on the CPU, and i use this laptop exclusively as my mobile editing machine away from home.

I use my Dell Inspiron 2330 All in One desktop pc (3770 cpu) as my main editing rig (looks like an iMac) so everything is inside the case behind the screen.

[PuzZLeR]

Yes, I have laptops ................. I don't do any video processing on them. That too was rather ridiculous "back then" and still is so today

Many people, including me, have been using a laptop to edit and encode with for years, many laptops that were not designed to do this will do it quite easily, others are built specifically for editing, and others are designed for Gaming, but either can do both.

My 17" i7 Clevo laptop has the integrated Intel HD4600 graphics on the CPU, and i use this laptop exclusively as my mobile editing machine away from home.

I use my Dell Inspiron 2330 All in One desktop pc (3770 cpu) as my main editing rig (looks like an iMac) so everything is inside the case behind the screen.

I'm not saying you can't do such stuff with a laptop, and maybe in recent times they've gotten better at it, but the point is that, all things being equal, a desktop does it better and faster and safer.

Laptops can be flaky with such wares, and don't have the cooling that a desktop would have given the CPU intensive demands. Maybe you can do editing, but I personally wouldn't want to run alot of overnights of encoding, running the cores to 100% on a laptop. And a laptop, certainly wouldn't be the recommended choice here for capturing either.

As well, you can tailor a desktop to your demands when a laptop is what it is out of the box pretty much.

[glenpinn]

Laptops can be flaky with such wares, and don't have the cooling that a desktop would have given the CPU intensive demands. Maybe you can do editing, but I personally wouldn't want to run alot of overnights of encoding, running the cores to 100% on a laptop. And a laptop, certainly wouldn't be the recommended choice here for capturing either.

As well, you can tailor a desktop to your demands when a laptop is what it is out of the box pretty much.

You know what, i am wasting my time posting all this stuff when all you do is refute everything that anyone else has to say like you know it all.

Your comments in here are completely rediculous and out of touch with reality and the facts, and in the other computer based threads you are no different, posting stuff that you know nothing about, and you seriously need to step back and read some of the garble you have written.

Firstly, there are laptops built and designed for editing/encoding, Gaming, and all sorts of other stuff, and i can assure you right now that many of the high end i7 quad core laptops are just as good as any desktop pc for editing and encoding, and that my friend is a fact, and you can say whatever you like about that.

You clearly have no knowledge of this topic, and nor have you ever owned any such laptop to base your comments on, because if you had owned a "proper" laptop, you would not have this silly opinion that you have right now, far from it i would think.

Just for the record, i could have bought a high end massively powerful Dell Latitude work station (laptop) for editig, and killed many a desktop editing pc, but i chose to save the money and have a new Metabox custom laptop built instead, for less than half the cost, fully spec'd by me from the motherboard up, using a list of hardware to pick from.

I chose the CPU, the Ram, the Disc Drives (SSD and 2x 1tb hard drives) the graphics, the optical drive, the network card, and they use the best thermal paste on all heatsinks.

Many Laptops can do exactly what a desktop can do, and are very capable of doing very long encodes without any issues (done hundreds of them so i know) and they dont all suffer with any more problems than a desktop pc does.

And what do you mean a laptop would not be recommended for capturing, capturing of what may i ask ??????

[PuzZLeR]

Laptops can be flaky with such wares, and don't have the cooling that a desktop would have given the CPU intensive demands. Maybe you can do editing, but I personally wouldn't want to run alot of overnights of encoding, running the cores to 100% on a laptop. And a laptop, certainly wouldn't be the recommended choice here for capturing either.

As well, you can tailor a desktop to your demands when a laptop is what it is out of the box pretty much.

You know what, i am wasting my time posting all this stuff when all you do is refute everything that anyone else has to say like you know it all.

Your comments in here are completely rediculous and out of touch with reality and the facts, and in the other computer based threads you are no different, posting stuff that you know nothing about, and you seriously need to step back and read some of the garble you have written.

Firstly, there are laptops built and designed for editing/encoding, Gaming, and all sorts of other stuff, and i can assure you right now that many of the high end i7 quad core laptops are just as good as any desktop pc for editing and encoding, and that my friend is a fact, and you can say whatever you like about that.

You clearly have no knowledge of this topic, and nor have you ever owned any such laptop to base your comments on, because if you had owned a "proper" laptop, you would not have this silly opinion that you have right now, far from it i would think.

Just for the record, i could have bought a high end massively powerful Dell Latitude work station (laptop) for editig, and killed many a desktop editing pc, but i chose to save the money and have a new Metabox custom laptop built instead, for less than half the cost, fully spec'd by me from the motherboard up, using a list of hardware to pick from.

I chose the CPU, the Ram, the Disc Drives (SSD and 2x 1tb hard drives) the graphics, the optical drive, the network card, and they use the best thermal paste on all heatsinks.

Many Laptops can do exactly what a desktop can do, and are very capable of doing very long encodes without any issues (done hundreds of them so i know) and they dont all suffer with any more problems than a desktop pc does.

And what do you mean a laptop would not be recommended for capturing, capturing of what may i ask ??????

First of all Dude, you are overly sensitive. And I’m not talking about this and that other thread. Simmer down.

Second of all, on each occasion, it is you that has attacked me. And each time I was just responding with valid explanation.

Third of all, speaking of valid explanation, you have been proven wrong in that other thread, that you attacked me on first, and you have not responded since as of this posting, starting with post #15.

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/375101-Do-you-need-top-side-Case-fans

I had to learn this too. We all learn. That's how life works.

Fourth of all, like I said, a desktop does it better ceteris paribus. Nobody can disprove me wrong on this one.

Fifth of all, maybe your laptop didn’t burn out – yet – but I wonder how much life is left in it.

Sixth of all, and this is my opinion, anybody that uses a laptop as a secondary machine is alright. Anybody using a laptop as their primary machine, doing “real work” on it, especially if it's heavy plumbing like encoding and capturing, makes me think of that person as a consumerist Joe, housewife Betty, condo scammed two-word self proclamed linguist, and January-gym-joiner-who-fades-out-by-February. Lame.

Seventh of all, I will leave it up to the Forum to inform you of why a laptop isn’t ideal for capturing. Or, you can do a search yourself. I’m sick of typing now.

[glenpinn]

Seventh of all, I will leave it up to the Forum to inform you of why a laptop isn’t ideal for capturing. Or, you can do a search yourself. I’m sick of typing now.

Great, and you reckon i over reacted, least i know a hell of a lot more about computers and laptops than you do, i have a lot more experience than you do, so everything i say is based on real world experiences, unlike anything you have to say.

As for insulting people for using a laptop as a primary editing machine, well DUDE, you best not go into some of the video production companies and see what many of those professionals are using, because i can tell you right now Dude, many are not using desktop computers any more, many are using high end Macbooks, or windows based work stations, some attached to docks using large full HD and 4k external screens, and what about 3D modelling, many are now using the very same Macs and laptops for this type of work as well.

And just for your information, my next primary editing machine will be another top spec'd Metabox laptop, no more desktops for me, i can do it all with a laptop, and have complete portability as well, so you can call me whatever names you like for doing so, personally i dont care.

Now ends my rant, and any further conversations with you.

Cheers

[PuzZLeR]

Seventh of all, I will leave it up to the Forum to inform you of why a laptop isn’t ideal for capturing. Or, you can do a search yourself. I’m sick of typing now.

Great, and you reckon i over reacted, least i know a hell of a lot more about computers and laptops than you do, i have a lot more experience than you do, so everything i say is based on real world experiences, unlike anything you have to say.

One of my degrees is in Computer Science and Engineering. And yes, you overreacted like you do in other threads.

As for insulting people for using a laptop as a primary editing machine, well DUDE, you best not go into some of the video production companies and see what many of those professionals are using, because i can tell you right now Dude, many are not using desktop computers any more, and my next primary editing machine will be another top spec'd Metabox laptop, no more desktops for me, i can do it all and have complete portability as well.

I did clearly state this as an opinion. And speaking of such companies, it's more culture than anything. Such companies encourage people working there to code comfortably, such as in your shorts, barefoot, and on a bean bag couch. You can't do this with a desktop.

Of course, you know they also have desktops there at these companies too.

Now ends my rant, and any further conversations with you.

Cheers

Cheers. Be well.

[glenpinn]

One of my degrees is in Computer Science and Engineering. And yes, you overreacted like you do in other threads

one would never actually believe you to be honest, and i too have several degrees, all of them from the best place of all, the school of hard knocks, and everything i know was by teaching myself, and learning from masters of their craft, even learned a lot from some members of this forum.

[PuzZLeR]

One of my degrees is in Computer Science and Engineering. And yes, you overreacted like you do in other threads

one would never actually believe you to be honest, and i too have several degrees, all of them from the best place of all, the school of hard knocks, and everything i know was by teaching myself, and learning from masters of their craft, even learned a lot from some members of this forum.

Please don't insinuate I'm lying about my education, and the many years and six figures I've spent to get it.

Having said that, yes, experience is still the best teacher, and would override any of my "formal" degrees. And I too have learned lots from the members here.

[hello_hello]

I tend to have a fairly limited time frame for continued laptop use before I want to throw it at a wall. Admittedly I don't own one these days so when I use one it's not set up the way I'd set it up, but there's only so many Win7 security prompts I can click through using a touchpad. It's the touchpad mostly. I hate them. A mouse can generally allow me to use a laptop for 15 minutes or more before I want to punch the screen, unless of course it's sitting on a desk and I'm sitting in a chair, in which case it starts to feel desktop-like and my maximum continual use before wanting to punch the screen is extended considerably. How people use laptops sitting on their laps productively is beyond me, as my other half generally does. Well maybe not productively.... but I find it too uncomfortable. Give me a mouse, a monitor, a desk and a chair any day.

[sophisticles]

@Everyone other than Glenn:

We need to remember to speak to Glenn with the respect and reverence that a man(<-?) of his stature deserves, after all he holds "certifications" in Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, as well as "certifications" in "Asus, Dell, HP and Toshiba" (<--whatever the hell that means, perhaps he means as a laptop repair tech) AND on top of all that he also has not 1, not 2 but "several" degrees.

Amazingly enough, with all his degrees and certifications and all the many jobs he has making all that money, he still finds the time to post dozens of paragraphs in thread after thread, in his undying mission to "educate" us heathens.

I for one welcome this forum's self declared expert on all things computing.

ROTFLMAO.

[glenpinn]

@Everyone other than Glenn:

We need to remember to speak to Glenn with the respect and reverence that a man(<-?) of his stature deserves, after all he holds "certifications" in Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, as well as "certifications" in "Asus, Dell, HP and Toshiba" (<--whatever the hell that means, perhaps he means as a laptop repair tech) AND on top of all that he also has not 1, not 2 but "several" degrees.

Amazingly enough, with all his degrees and certifications and all the many jobs he has making all that money, he still finds the time to post dozens of paragraphs in thread after thread, in his undying mission to "educate" us heathens.

Here we go again, more BS from the very person who started all this shit fighting.

Just for the record, i was joking about the degrees, hence the comment about the school of hard knocks, and i dont have to go around sprouting to the world that i have degrees or certifications to support anything i have to say, in the real world people learn stuff by themselves, and listening to those who do know what they are talking about, and not many of them hang out in forums like this video forum.

Also, i don't make any money from anything relating to computers, never have, never will, because i have a real profession that keeps me employed, so stop implying all that crap about me and what i do, and its none of your bloody business anyway what i do for a living.

You failed in your attempt to prove that windows 10 upgrade self installs itself, you never returned to refute what i was saying, because you couldn't, so now you turn to mocking me and my qualifications.

Oh, and BTW, regarding the laptop repairer certifications with Dell, Asus, HP and Toshiba, well seeings that you seem to think you know everything, AND you reckon you have lots of TECH knowledge, i will just let you try and work that one out all by yourself, doesn't require many brains to do so.

[sophisticles]

Here we go again, more BS from the very person who started all this shit fighting.

Pot calling the kettle black? It is you who has skunked up thread after thread with name calling, throwing temper tantrums reporting posts to mods to get them deleted and personal attacks via in thread posts and PM.

i was joking about the degrees

NO! Here I was believing every word you said, I was certain you were working on your 6th degree of Kevin Bacon.

i dont have to go around sprouting to the world that i have degrees or certifications to support anything i have to say

Nope, you certainly don't have to but you certainly seem to enjoy working it "casually" into every post you make.

Also, i don't make any money from anything relating to computers, never have, never will

Now you stop that right now; I find it very hard to believe that with "ALL" of your computer, let's call it "knowledge", that some big company isn't paying you top dollar to manage their systems. I don't believe it, you hear me

so now you turn to mocking me and my qualifications.

You called the tune, now you don't want to pay the piper. I'm disappointed.

[glenpinn]

Pot calling the kettle black? It is you who has skunked up thread after thread with name calling, throwing temper tantrums reporting posts to mods to get them deleted and personal attacks via in thread posts and PM.

LOL jesus man, you are so childish, you just got the shits because when you bitched anout that stuff, your posts were deleted.

Nope, you certainly don't have to but you certainly seem to enjoy working it "casually" into every post you make.

I have never mentioned any qualifications that i have in this forum until 2 days ago when you triggered me of to mention it, like i said before, i don't have to use any of that stuff to support anything i say, because its not relevant, it was some other poster who was throwing up all his degrees to justify what they were saying, no me.

Now you stop that right now; I find it very hard to believe that with "ALL" of your computer, let's call it "knowledge", that some big company isn't paying you top dollar to manage their systems. I don't believe it, you hear me

So childish, and as i said before, you can presume whatever you like, personally i don't care, i know i have never worked in a paying capacity for any computer ot IT company in my life, and i certainly never did it in any business for myself either, so you can stop all this hoopla shit and find another toy to play with.

You called the tune, now you don't want to pay the piper. I'm disappointed.

LOL I will pay the piper when i have someone who knows what they are talking about to compete with, i proved you wrong in the windows thread with all your windows 10 upgrade crap, now you totally ignore it and try to find some other childish way to get back at me.

you are a manipulator when the real truth doesn't suit you.

[Nelson37]

Can you use a laptop for gaming or video editing or capture, sure. You can also drive across the country in a model T ford but I wouldn't recommend it. \

Very few laptops can mount a second internal HD, beneficial for both editing and capturing. None that I know of can run two video cards in SLA. Few possess the capability to change the video card at all. Few have four memory slots.

None are built for durability, or are designed for easy maintenance, parts upgrades, or good cooling.

[TreeTops]

But there are some laptops out there that will do it. I have been editing videos for years on my laptop. Yes, it has two hard drives and an up-gradable video card. It cost $1000 five years ago.

[PuzZLeR]

But there are some laptops out there that will do it. I have been editing videos for years on my laptop. Yes, it has two hard drives and an up-gradable video card. It cost $1000 five years ago.

Well if laptops then have multiple hard drives, upgradable video cards, better cooling, more ventilated casing, etc, well, then they're not so much "laptop" anymore. They become part-desktop, which inherits them such advantages.

Surely though, all things being equal, even though your laptop can "do it", you know a desktop can "do it" just as good or better.

[pippas]

I tend to have a fairly limited time frame for continued laptop use before I want to throw it at a wall. Admittedly I don't own one these days so when I use one it's not set up the way I'd set it up, but there's only so many Win7 security prompts I can click through using a touchpad. It's the touchpad mostly. I hate them. A mouse can generally allow me to use a laptop for 15 minutes or more before I want to punch the screen, unless of course it's sitting on a desk and I'm sitting in a chair, in which case it starts to feel desktop-like and my maximum continual use before wanting to punch the screen is extended considerably. How people use laptops sitting on their laps productively is beyond me, as my other half generally does. Well maybe not productively.... but I find it too uncomfortable. Give me a mouse, a monitor, a desk and a chair any day.

Great post!...

I was going to post a comment on this thread.... but it would only be pretty much a copy of what you've said there, so no need to now...

[Clockwork]

That's just the paradigm these days. We live in the era of dirt cheap Walmart laptops that people don't update...don't maintain...then run them into the ground. About every 2-3 years I imagine.

Most people I know won't even do a OS upgrade. They'll just go and buy another $250 "Black Friday Special" and put their old machine on the shelf.

[SameSelf]

Well if laptops then have multiple hard drives, upgradable video cards, better cooling, more ventilated casing, etc, well, then they're not so much "laptop" anymore. They become part-desktop, which inherits them such advantages.

Surely though, all things being equal, even though your laptop can "do it", you know a desktop can "do it" just as good or better.

Without quoting everyone above, you do realize that Intel markets low power versions of their cpu's for mobile use? As a more poignant point, they didn't even release a desktop sku of Broadwell until just recently, the oddly numbered 5775C and 5675C. The thought of only mobile variants from which to choose when building/choosing a PC is a fairly abhorrent one, or worse, the slot architecture gives way to soldered. We are beginning to see the implications of laptops supplanting desktops, and lazy language won't dress the emperor.

[hello_hello]

Without quoting everyone above, you do realize that Intel markets low power versions of their cpu's for mobile use? As a more poignant point, they didn't even release a desktop sku of Broadwell until just recently, the oddly numbered 5775C and 5675C. The thought of only mobile variants from which to choose when building/choosing a PC is a fairly abhorrent one, or worse, the slot architecture gives way to soldered. We are beginning to see the implications of laptops supplanting desktops, and lazy language won't dress the emperor.

Lazy language doesn't prove a conspiracy theory either.

Intel regrets skipping Broadwell desktop CPUs
At a recent industry conference, Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group, admitted that skipping desktops with Broadwell was a poor decision. Between the end of life for Windows XP in 2014 and the lack of new desktop chips, Intel hasn’t given tower PC users any good reasons to upgrade in 2015.
“We made an experiment and we said maybe we are putting technology in to the market too fast, but let’s not build a chip for the mainstream Tower business, more than a $10 billion business,” Skaugen said, as first reported by WCCFTech. “Turns out that was a mistake.”

Some more links for you to inevitably ignore:
Intel Admits Marginalizing Desktop PC Market Was A Mistake

Intel Corporation's (INTC) Management Presents At Citi 2015 Global Technology Conference (Transcript)
Turns out that was a mistake. It saved us some R&D, but XP end of life and then there was no reason to buy a PC this year. So it’s just pent up demand now. I think for 6th Generation Core as well.

Intel's CEO doesn't think Windows 10 will boost PC sales
More than 95% of Intel’s operating income last year came from selling PC chips.

Intel's Mobile Group Lost More Than $4 Billion Last Year
One effect of Intel’s plan to combine its PC and mobile division this year: it won’t be as easy for outsiders to see how poorly its mobile business is doing.

Never mind the fact that Microsoft hadn't released another version of Windows anybody wanted to use until recently, and even then much of that was due to it being free and almost forced on people, and never mind Intel didn't release a new desktop CPU in the usual time frame, that's not why desktop sales have dropped, instead those things were caused by a drop in desktop sales..... oh hang on.... wait a minute..... Still, that won't stop people claiming the desktop PC is dead. Apparently a 5% drop in sales for the year means only 110 million desktop PCs will be sold. How can it survive?

I wonder why Tim Cook says the PC is dead… but Apple’s still making desktops and laptops.

Whether you agree with them or not, there's possible reasons why PC sales may have declined recently, but so has the sale of tablets. I'm still waiting on an explanation for that one if the world's going completely mobile.
Worldwide Tablet Market Continues to Decline; Vendor Landscape is Evolving, According to IDC
The worldwide tablet market declined -7.0% year over year in the second quarter of 2015 (2Q15) with shipments totaling 44.7 million units according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker. Marked by little hardware innovation and limited vendor portfolio updates, the market also declined -3.9% compared to the first quarter of 2015.

[budwzr]

Firstly, there are laptops built and designed for editing/encoding, Gaming, and all sorts of other stuff, and i can assure you right now that many of the high end i7 quad core laptops are just as good as any desktop pc for editing and encoding, and that my friend is a fact, and you can say whatever you like about that.

I've been editing on a laptop for five years. Yeah, real editing, compositing, 3D / 2.5D, and using still sequences most of the time. I render to SSD, and my laptop is SSD too.

So you are indeed correct that today's laptop is not a Buick.

[glenpinn]

Was going to let this run, but so dam hard to ignore when we read some of the "remarkable" comments and claims being made on this page from some members who, based on what tyhey have been saying, quite simply have never owned any kind of laptop, let alone a high end model for Gaming or Editing/encoding/rendering etc, and therefor have no bloody idea what they are talking about, and where some of this stuff is coming from i really cannot fathom.

1. Comparing the use of a laptop for gaming or video editing to driving a T-Model ford across country is pretty lame in my opinion, these are 2 completely different things, and nothing could be further from the truth, and i know people with 50 year old cars that are definately capable of, and have already done the same trips that are made in much more modern vehicles, and this comment is akin to suggesting or implying that an old car will break down but a new one will not.

2. Hard Drives/SSD, you don't need to have 2 internal Hard drives in any laptop, OR even in a desktop computer to do video editing, you can do it very easily using just one Hdd or SSD inside the laptop, and then use an external USB powered portable hard drive to export your output files onto from your internal windows Hdd, and all portable drives now have USB 3.0 connectivity, and this sort of thing is ideal for those like me who has a machine that only has 1 Hard drive bay, and Gamers and Video Editors who have been turning to Micro Desktop Systems rather than big ATX based desktop computers sometimes only have 1 Hdd bay, or simply choose to run 1 internal Hdd like i do (SSD)

Also, most laptops these days that have a removable optical drive can have it removed and replaced with a Hard drive caddy to add a 2nd Hdd, and if you need an optical drive to burn discs, you buy a portable burner plugged in via USB (like i used to do)

3. Dual graphics cards, many gaming laptops now days, and going back several years, have Dual graphics cards, and many of these graphics chips are removable for an upgrade, just as you can do in any desktop gaming pc as well, so to suggest or imply that dual graphics is not available on laptops is wrong, because they are.

4. Memory Slots, why all this talk about not having 4 memory slots in a laptop, you don't need 4 ram slots to get maximum ram capacity, most budget to mid range laptops have 2 slots, some capable of 4gb sticks in both slots, others can take 8gb sticks in both, and nobody needs any more than 4 to 8gb of ram in any budget to mid range laptop anyway, so you might end up with one slot empty anyway, but what about the high end gaming laptops and work stations, most of them have 4 slots in them, taking up to 8gb in each slot, total of 32gb, and i dare say that most laptop or desktop users ever have a need for that much ram anyway.

5. Laptop Durability, well the fact is, there are a heck of a lot of laptops that are indeed very durable and robust, and will last the user a life time if it is treated right, just in the same manner that you would treat your precious $3000 gaming computer, and even budget laptops do last for many years as well, and i know this because i have been doing repairs/maintenance on many different laptops over the years, and even now i still get to work on laptops that are 5 to 7 years old, and these are still working fine, some just need a good clean, or may need to have the Hdd replaced or upgraded, or have their windows updated or upgraded, or fixed because of malware etc.

6. Laptop Processors, interestingly, some laptops can be bought with, or built to order with a Desktop CPU inside it, yes, a Desktop CPU in a piddly little laptop, who would have thought that this would ever be the case, but they are out there, and becoming more and more widely used, but don't be fooled into thinking that i3/i5 and i7 mobile CPU's are lame, because they are not, especially the higher end i7 quads, which really are fantastic performers when it comes to encoding.

7. Maintenance and Upgrading, these 2 points are no different to having a desktop pc to maintain or upgrade, you can upgrade the Ram and Hard drives in almost all laptops, just as you can in any desktop pc, and these would probably be the 2 most commonly upgraded parts in a laptop or desktop pc, far different story tho for higher end laptops made for gaming and video applications (work stations etc)

8. Cooling and Ventilation, most laptops are in fact designed with very good cooling and ventilation systems in them, and just like a desktop computer, it can be prone to over heating if not treated properly, and the most common reason for laptops to over heat is because the user sits it on a pillow, a bed, or on their lap while using them, and this blocks the intake vents under the laptop, causing the CPU and/or graphics chips to over heat, exactly like it does in a desktop pc when those 2 parts are starved of cooling, and blocking these vents while using them on things such as fabric is another reason for the Cooling fans and/or exhaust vents to get blocked with dust, just as too much dust getting into a desktop computer case can also block up the CPU heatsink or graphics card cooler, so one is no different, or inferior to the other.

Why is it that many Gaming enthusiasts have been dropping the full size ATX desktop systems and rolling over to Micro ATX systems and 15" and 17" laptops, because it is now possible for them to do it now, with all this new technology, and portability is a main contributing factor as well, smaller box = portability, more desktop space, and lower power usage.

The following laptop will most likely be my new mobile Editing Laptop to replace my previous Clevo, and it will also be used as my main editing machine as well, to replace my current Dell 2330 All in One desktop, along with a new 27" external LED screen attached for use as a desktop replacement.

http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/p3038.html

If anyone wishes to claim that this is not as comparable to buying or building a comparable desktop editing computer, then you really don't have a clue what you are talking about.

CPU = i7-6700k Quad core Desktop Processor - more powerful than my current 3770 Desktop CPU, and it has the built in Intel HD530 graphics
Graphics = Quadro M1000 graphics, on top of the HD530 built in graphics.
Ram = 4 Slots for up to 32gb total (i will order 16gb, but will probably never use half of that)
Hard Drives = 2x M.2 slots + 2x Hard drive bays (i will add my own 500gb SSD + a 2tb laptop hard drive for output)
OS = i will install windows 7 until i am ready to move to 10 with the upgrade.

To those putting laptops down and making some of these remarkable claims about them, i suggest that you take a look at some of the Beasts available in this link, and then come back in here and tell me that none of these beasts are as good as any desktop pc, especially for Gaming, Editing, Rendering etc, or even just for normal every day use, especially when you hook it up to a desktop screen.

http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/d88_laptop-notebook-17-inch.html

Go look at some of the amazing Dell Gaming laptops and workstations, yes they are expensive, but in many cases people have no choice, and are prepared to pay for portability.

[usually_quiet]

Of course it is possible to edit video or do reasonably serious gaming on a high-end laptop designed specifically for it, but anyone who buys such laptops is paying a premium price for them compared to desktops with hardware capable of delivering the same kind of performance.

If someone needs/wants mobility maybe it is worth the trade-off, but not everyone values mobility that highly. Some value higher performance more.

Here is a new high-end gaming laptop with a very fast mobile CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152807 that costs about $3600 US.

I have no doubt that it is possible to assemble an Intel desktop system (including the display) that performs as well in every area but mobility, CPU graphics, heat production, and power consumption for less money.

[glenpinn]

Of coarse high end serious laptops may be more expensive, but like you said, many people will pay this premium for the portability, and i am going to be one of them, because i was going to build a Micro ATX editing pc with the 6700k CPU in it, and run it with the new 27" LED screens, but after looking at the new breed of laptops with the desktop CPU inside them, i have now decided on the Laptop instead, with a single 27" screen.

If i built a cheaper Micro ATX box for home use, i would still need to buy another decent high end laptop for my portable use, and having both would actually cost me more than just buying the slightly costlier laptop with the 6700k cpu in it, so for me, the more powerful laptop with a screen gives me desktop power at home, as well as unplugging the screen and having that desktop power in portable mode.

I certainly would never suggest to anyone who prefers to run a Desktop computer to swap over to something like a laptop if a desktop suits their needs, but many desktop users are indeed moving to the smaller Micro type systems, because CPU technology and case design has now made it possible to cramp everything into these smaller boxes, hence the suggestion about only running 1 Hdd or SSD inside the case (less power, less heat, smaller power supply etc etc) and using portable Hard drives externally for file storage.

Another reason why i refuse to have a files storage drive inside my computer is because if my house gets broken into, they can take the desktop with windows on it, but they won't get my files, because all my portable drives are locked away, and i have a Dropbox Pro cloud storage account with 800gb of my personal files and family videos already uploaded, syncing back to one of my 2tb Portable Hard drives that is attached to the computer when i am at home.

Well if laptops then have multiple hard drives, upgradable video cards, better cooling, more ventilated casing, etc, well, then they're not so much "laptop" anymore. They become part-desktop, which inherits them such advantages.

Surely though, all things being equal, even though your laptop can "do it", you know a desktop can "do it" just as good or better.

Regardless of how good a laptop might be, it is still a laptop and not actually a desktop pc, hence why i say that if you have the right laptop, it can be used as a desktop computer replacement, and that is primarily what this is all about, just as a Micro ATX desktop system in my opinion is a far better option than building a computer system in one of those stupid full size ATX Cases, and i never saw any logic in doing it like that, but it is personal preference.

And of coarse a Desktop can "do it" just as good as a an equivalent laptop, but certainly not necessarily better, it all depends on what laptop and desktop computer you are comparing, as both would have to be almost identical in Specs for any real comparison to be made.

[nicksson]

BTW, I agree with usually_quiet. And - like JohnS0 said - it's better to close this "flame-war-bait", time-wasting topic.

[hello_hello]

The figure I mentioned in my previous post (#84) probably included all PCs..... desktops and laptops etc..... so I've corrected it and here's a lower figure for desktop sales specifically. The forecast is for sales of around 110 million per year by 2019.

Now for some trivia......
I was reading some statistics on record sales which led me to realise if you combine the total world wide sales of the top ten selling albums of all time, from Michael Jackson's Thriller through to Led Zeppelin IV, you get a combined total somewhere in the vicinity of 440 million, which made me think about how over the next four years desktop sales will be roughly equivalent to the total combined sales of the 10 best selling albums from the day they were released. It's all unrelated of course, but I guess the comparison amused me a little, given the PC is apparently dead and all that.....