How do you see your future computer use?

I've been looking at my future computer purchase decisions again and began to wonder - What do you mainly use your personal computer for and how much do you use that is off-line?

To simplify, full power applications would be things like Photoshop / CAD / Gaming / Word Processing - it might even include functions in Office that are not available in the online version of Word (if you use Outlook to access online Word).

Recently finished my home built Windows desktop - main use video / animation production and digital imaging however my partner's use of a computer is 100% online.

All of the above (except the Apple stuff).

I especially like to link my Win10 activities with my Android activities. Notepad is a good example of this.

For example, I do most of my browsing on my desktop. I move stuff I'm interested in to Notepad. Then I can access that stuff whether I'm using my phone, my tablet or, even, someone else's Windows or Android device.

Mycroft said:

~ For example, I do most of my browsing on my desktop ~

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This is what interests me, I came across a "which OS is best suited for you" article and a lot of people would probably be better off using some form of OS built around online applications. ChromeOS isn't really ready yet but someday - it might be the replacement for Windows and specialist local applications on a Windows computer.

Chrome computers are a lot cheaper than full Windows machines (not any better yet) but one day - they might be better.

Interesting question and one I am grappling with at the moment as well. I use Windows PCs and Android phones with both online and offline stuff.

My PC (the one I am on at the moment) is 6 years old (i5 2500k). That is the oldest machine I have ever had. Normally I would get a new machine every 2 to 3 years, but back in the day I decided to buy a high end intel chip and it frankly can still do most of what I need it to do.. to this day. I also have a 4-5 year old Sony Vaio ultrabook, which has 7 hours of battery life still (thanks Windows 10 apps), and that covers my mobil computing. Hot tip.. when watching movies in Windows 10 on a laptop.. use the built in Films viewer instead of 3rd party.. the battery drain difference is massive... and that comes from a VLC fanboy.

My phone is a Note 3 (with a Samsung S5 as back up), and I have had no reason to replace it until recently when it started to randomly reboot.. and then stopped. That made me start looking at replacing it. I suspect it is just the battery that needs replacing in the Note 3 and that can be done for 10 Euros, but the phone has seen better days so maybe it is time.

Now comes the problem.. what do I exactly use my devices for? And what could I maybe want to use them for.

1) Games.. PC gamer for life.. screw pansy ant consoles and mobile games. Now I dont play Fornite and all those graphic intensive games. It is Football Manager, Stellaris, EU4, Diablo 3 and such things, which frankly dont need more than a 1050. Thanks to ****ty Steam, most games now days need online ability to even run, even if they are offline games. Of course Diablo 3 needs online ability. This is a huge majority of my "PC time" these days for personal use.

2) Write/productivity. I was an MS office guy in the past, but since I really dont use that type of programs much more, then I have moved more and more over to Google Docs.. which are free and work well for my needs. This requires online ability and when there aint no online ability.. hello Wordpad! There is programming stuff, but that does not require much either and is off line for the most part.

3) Video watching.. I actually view most of my video stuff including TV.. on my PC or phone. Only really requires online to get the content, as most places now have legal downloading abilities.. like Netflix and such.

Else it is Google Mail, Google Photos and basically Google stuff I use across all platforms.. so moving from platform to platform is easy for me but of course requires online ability.

So that basically brings me to a conclusion (for now at least), that I am looking at a laptop that can handle the games I play at medium settings, but has great battery life (6+ hours in non gaming) as I want to be able to more mobile in life. It also has to be around 1000 euros.. less the better. Now their is not a lot out there, that meet these conditions but there are a few. Dell has a gaming laptop that is cheap (under 1000 euros) and has good battery life. Surface Pro 6 might be an option or something similar. Right now it is not a big priority since the 2 machines I have.. basically work. But the temptation is there.. believe me!

On the phone side, which I have been using more and more the last 2 years.. it is a different matter. Conditions here are big clear screen and long battery life. That means Note size phones, which most phones are today. Because I am in Europe the amount of choices are mind boggling and often confusing. It is still a work in progress but the front runner at the moment is the Honor 8X. I refuse to pay 1000 euros for a freaking phone, even though I do admit that there are some sweeeeet Android phones in that price range. I have been tempted by the Mi Max 3, a 7 inch monster phone but I have not been able to physically find it in a store to see if the 6.99 inch phone is "too big".

Basically more and more of my computing needs other than gaming.. needs online.

Infinite Chaos said:

I've been looking at my future computer purchase decisions again and began to wonder - What do you mainly use your personal computer for and how much do you use that is off-line?

To simplify, full power applications would be things like Photoshop / CAD / Gaming / Word Processing - it might even include functions in Office that are not available in the online version of Word (if you use Outlook to access online Word).

Recently finished my home built Windows desktop - main use video / animation production and digital imaging however my partner's use of a computer is 100% online.

Click to expand...

After the computer itself meets the competence level, the bottleneck for computers really becomes internet bandwith now. Sending "fat" animated content can be a problem sometimes.

I can have a lightening fast connection but if you don't you I won't be able to stream your content. I run into the is problem with gaming. Lag, packet loss, too far out of sync, etc.

Infinite Chaos said:

This is what interests me, I came across a "which OS is best suited for you" article and a lot of people would probably be better off using some form of OS built around online applications. ChromeOS isn't really ready yet but someday - it might be the replacement for Windows and specialist local applications on a Windows computer.

Chrome computers are a lot cheaper than full Windows machines (not any better yet) but one day - they might be better.

Click to expand...

Even Chrome computers have or are getting "off-line" ability. Problem with Chrome, as with MacOS and Linux... GAMES.

Now if Google really wants Chrome OS to succeed, they need to fully get the Google Play store and the games there to work flawlessly in Chrome OS.

Have you heard of the new Diablo game? Announced 2 days ago, it will be a mobile game on Android and iOS... Now let me tell you... the fans were a bit "okay guess we can live with that", when Blizzard ported Diablo to those lousy consol machines, but oh boy the PC master race Diablo people went absolutely nuts when Blizzard announced this new game.. they literally booed at the announcement.

Point is, for any OS to really be successful you need games. iOS and Android have games.. poor crappy ones, but people seem to like them. Microsoft and Windows 10 have all the important games... and that matters. This means MacOS and Linux and now Chrome OS will never really be successful because as anyone knows about the computer world.. 2 things drive innovation and sales in tech... games and porn. You really think that we would have such powerful machines today if it was not for games pushing the boundaries constantly? And as for porn, ask Sony about Betamax and why a superior product like it.. failed against an inferior product

Now where Chrome OS is important is in the education space.. cheap machines that can do exactly what a student needs. That is a big worry for Apple and Microsoft. Apple seems though to have given up on it, where as Microsoft has not.

Another thing Google needs to allow, is that Chrome OS can be installed on any machine. That could really cause problems for Apple and especially Microsoft.

I only use it to do fantasy baseball ( just one game per year ), read SEC reports and company news, and read sedar.......... and post on here........... yes, I need to get a better life.

PeteEU said:

~ 1) Games.. PC gamer for life.. screw pansy ant consoles and mobile games ~

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So, if you were getting a new PC, would you / could you justify €1000+ just to play games? Rigt now, there isn't a chrome machine powerful enough for gaming (I suspect) but is it reason enough for all that money?

PeteEU said:

~ a conclusion (for now at least), that I am looking at a laptop that can handle the games I play at medium settings ~

Click to expand...

Oh and on laptops - very few laptops could compare to even a mid range desktop for power. I'd be really surprised if you said you were going to spend a lot of money on a laptop just for gaming.

Which is more important to you - mobility or power when gaming?

i like using OSX for home, Windows for work, and Android for mobile. would i prefer to use OSX for everything? possibly. however, it's cool to be proficient at all three. i would prefer to have everything flash drive based. i don't completely trust cloud computing, though i accept that everything is probably going that way.

PeteEU said:

~ 2 things drive innovation and sales in tech... games and porn

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Using the Bteamax analogy, you can watch porn on any device easily but yeah I know. Personally, I don't play games much 0 a bit of chess here and there but that's it.

PeteEU said:

~ the education space. ~ Apple seems though to have given up on it.

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Don't know - the 2018 iPad with Pencil support was a huge surrender by Apple so that they could stay competitive. I nearly bought one myself at education price except the screen isn't bonded and you get this horrible hollow tap-tap when drawing.

chuckiechan said:

After the computer itself meets the competence level, the bottleneck for computers really becomes internet bandwith now. Sending "fat" animated content can be a problem sometimes.

I can have a lightening fast connection but if you don't you I won't be able to stream your content. I run into the is problem with gaming. Lag, packet loss, too far out of sync, etc.

Click to expand...

Actually bandwidth has not much to do with it. All you need to stream HD is 4mb to 6mb. The real issue is what type of connection you have.

Fiber is the best.. latency (lag) and packet loss should be sub 10ms.. hell sub 5ms with very very few packets going stray.
ADSL/DSL is okay.. latency (lag) and packet loss should be sub 100ms.. hell sub 50ms depending on distance to servers and such. Packet loss again should be minimal, but do happen more often than Fiber.
Wimax/Wireless/mobile is meh but works. Latency is usually 50-100ms or thereabouts and if you are lucky under. Packet loss is again minimal but happens more often than ADSL. So many factors are involved.. leaves on trees and a **** like that and distance to antennas.
Satellite is horrible.. and only last resort imo. Expensive crap frankly.. latency is through the roof, and packet loss can be high.

Infinite Chaos said:

Don't know - the 2018 iPad with Pencil support was a huge surrender by Apple so that they could stay competitive. I nearly bought one myself at education price except the screen isn't bonded and you get this horrible hollow tap-tap when drawing.

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Anyone using an iPad for their studies should be expelled immediately for being too stupid. Tablets are horrible machines for content creation... even with a keyboard. And to be frank, an iPad with keyboard is as expensive as a real Windows PC that can actually run programs you need for studying. But that is also where the Chrome OS machines come in.. cheap and with Google Docs it has all what you need for school.. an iPad does not!

It is a bit like all those 60+ year olds that use iPads to take pictures on holiday.. arghhhhhhhhh.

Infinite Chaos said:

So, if you were getting a new PC, would you / could you justify €1000+ just to play games? Rigt now, there isn't a chrome machine powerful enough for gaming (I suspect) but is it reason enough for all that money?

Oh and on laptops - very few laptops could compare to even a mid range desktop for power. I'd be really surprised if you said you were going to spend a lot of money on a laptop just for gaming.

Which is more important to you - mobility or power when gaming?

Click to expand...

Good question and that is what I have been asking myself for almost 2 years now heh. The games I play dont need power per say. I have my Sony Vaio Fit 13, which is an ultrabook. Battery life is stellar even though it is pretty old now, but power wise even back then it was not designed for games. It can run Football Manager but is slow and such, but graphics power wise the machine is a dead donkey.

So the question is I could need to replace both, so what to do.. and that is where certain laptops that are in the 800+ range come into the picture. They are powerful enough to run the games I like to play.. often at full settings, and also have enough battery life to make the machine a mobile office.

It is not an easy call.. by any means, which is why I have been grappling with it for 2 years now Almost though I was going to be forced to do something a year ago, when my graphics card "failed".. or so it seemed on my desktop. Sadly I fixed the problem, so sniff... no excuse provided there.

The tricky part is though.. I could just upgrade my graphics card... even the 1050 would be a major upgrade for the machine and games like Diablo. The processor can still easily run the games I play, but the graphics card is often the bottleneck.. so again we are back at the "justification" aspect. That is the insane part.. an Intel Chip from say 5 years ago is still good enough and not a bottleneck for graphics cards like the 1050 and 1060 even. It is only when you go higher that they become bottlenecks.. kinda ****ed up to say the least.

But the quest will go on for a while more I suspect

One thing I forgot to mention.. the "ultimate" future for me would be one device, that could give me my gaming, productivity and computing needs and I dont care what OS runs on the device or who makes.. if someone did, and even if it was 1000 euros, I would buy it.

PeteEU said:

One thing I forgot to mention.. the "ultimate" future for me would be one device, that could give me my gaming, productivity and computing needs and I dont care what OS runs on the device or who makes.. if someone did, and even if it was 1000 euros, I would buy it.

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Microsoft tried that. I have a windows phone 10 which I like, and a tablet PC running 7 and several windows PC running 10 right now. But they stopped supporting the phone and there are not many apps supported for it. They got into the game late and never caught up. I suppose they could try again.

PeteEU said:

One thing I forgot to mention.. the "ultimate" future for me would be one device, that could give me my gaming, productivity and computing needs and I dont care what OS runs on the device or who makes.. if someone did, and even if it was 1000 euros, I would buy it.

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As long as Apple is in the game, I don't see this being available. Ever.

PirateMk1 said:

Microsoft tried that. I have a windows phone 10 which I like, and a tablet PC running 7 and several windows PC running 10 right now. But they stopped supporting the phone and there are not many apps supported for it. They got into the game late and never caught up. I suppose they could try again.

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Yes they did and it worked. Problem was the app gap as you said. Windows Phone OS was in many ways far superior to iOS and Android but had the Microsoft handicap and app gap.

Also the problem is battery... mobile chips are not powerful enough to run real games.... well maybe until now. Apple has some powerful chips on paper according to benchmarks (if you trust them) but the OS running on said chips aka iOS sucks soo much.

But we can only hope for the future... for example project Andromeda if true and it delivers... that could be a game changer.

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Mycroft said:

As long as Apple is in the game, I don't see this being available. Ever.

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Yea but the question is will Apple last. Remember Nokia [emoji4]..

Apple has been making mistakes for years now and the question is when will those mistakes become leathal. The fact they now are not going to publish sales anymore is.... odd. We shall see.

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PeteEU said:

Anyone using an iPad for their studies should be expelled immediately for being too stupid. Tablets are horrible machines for content creation... even with a keyboard ~

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Ah, you haven't seen iPads in use in a classroom then. They work pretty well actually - though the Surface Go also comes without stylus in the classroom. I'm not going to say Chrome books aren't dominating in US classrooms - they are.

PirateMk1 said:

Microsoft tried that. I have a windows phone 10 which I like ~

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Me too, it's been a brilliant phone for me. My students hated it because it didn't have an app that gave them furry ears and a bunny-rabbit nose in photographs.

Infinite Chaos said:

Ah, you haven't seen iPads in use in a classroom then. They work pretty well actually - though the Surface Go also comes without stylus in the classroom. I'm not going to say Chrome books aren't dominating in US classrooms - they are.

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Yea Chrome books are big in the US classrooms. In Europe it is non existent basically and Google does not exactly push Chrome OS devices world wide.

However I stand by my iPad critic. They are poor substitutes for real computers and real programs. The OS is horrible. And then there is the price... until recently. I remember when LA county school district voted to get iPads over Windows and Google devices years back.. an utter failure. Not only could the students easily hack the ipads to do non school things because iOS SUCKS.. but the cost of the program was so high because Apple charged 800 dollars per iPad!

Me too, it's been a brilliant phone for me. My students hated it because it didn't have an app that gave them furry ears and a bunny-rabbit nose in photographs.

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Yea and they had some of the best cameras as well.. ironic really. The App gap was too much. Also dont forget iMessage.. it is the drug that keeps people with Apple.

PeteEU said:

Yea Chrome books ~ are poor substitutes for real computers and real programs. The OS is horrible

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That bit is true for Chrome books and iPads. However the majority of the world is taking us towards these two platforms unfortunately.

Infinite Chaos said:

That bit is true for Chrome books and iPads. However the majority of the world is taking us towards these two platforms unfortunately.

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Yea.. have you read the reviews on the new ipads? 2 years ago no reviewer would post the stuff they are now.

The reviews basically state the new iPad is an insanely powerful machine that is held back by iOS...

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I think the question seems a bit off. If you want to know what my future computer use will look like, I kind of need a time frame.

I buy a new PC ever 4 to 5 years, so I expect that I will buy a new one in about 2 years. I think it will bet he last PC I buy, however, because I expect we are ready to move fully back to dumb terminals, and streaming services for all things that we'd normally use a PC for over the next 10 years.

PeteEU said:

~ The reviews basically state the new iPad is an insanely powerful machine that is held back by iOS...

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Actually a really good point. The iPad has really moved forward a long way but the basic flaws in iOS are preventing it being a serious productivity device.

Infinite Chaos said:

Actually a really good point. The iPad has really moved forward a long way but the basic flaws in iOS are preventing it being a serious productivity device.

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I agree... if the iPad could run Android or Windows or Linux or even OSX (cant stand the file system there), it would be a much much much better productivity device. The lack of a file system is a killer.