"John Smith" wrote in message
...
On 10/15/2011 12:44 PM, Scout wrote:


"Howard Brazee" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:12:02 -0400, "Scout"
wrote:

No, their desktop market is growing, just not as fast as their laptop
market.

Sorry, they are selling more desktops because of an expanding market,
but
their share in that expanding market is decreasing.

Other arguments in this thread have been claiming a shrinking desktop
market. Which arguments are correct?

Both.

Desktop computers last longer nowadays before becoming obsolete for
most functions. And there are more and better alternatives to
desktop computers than there used to be.

Yep, but the alternatives are most expensive, less durable, limited in
upgrade options, and generally poorer performance than a comparable
desktop.



Yes, what the world needs is a generic platform for the laptop, where as
much choice of components is available as in the desktop/tower platform
... proprietary chit is always crap ...

Except the conditions of a laptop are utterly different than a desktop.

Thus the different processors, etc.

In a desktop, power usage isn't a big deal, but in a laptop every watt used
matters since it impacts battery life.
In a desktop, weight isn't an issue since it's not going anywhere, but in a
laptop lighter is better as heavy laptops don't sell as well
In a desktop, you don't have to worry so much about size. A 3.5" drive is
fine, but in a laptop you have to go with the smallest form factor you can
to cut down on size and weight.
In a desktop you can make it more durable because size, weight and power
usage aren't a big concern, a laptop on the other hand needs to shave
everything to the absolute minimum and thus durability suffers.
In a desktop you can hold your CPU at a moderate temperature, by using a big
heavy heat sink and having a rather large fan blowing air over it, in a
laptop, you've only got so much room for the heat sink, and you can't make
it any heavier than absolutely necessary, and you don't want to run the fan
unless you absolutely have to (battery life), so generally your laptop CPU
runs hot, damn hot, burning hot, which isn't so great for CPU life.

They are just different horses with utterly different requirements. The
Desktop is the Clydesdale, while a laptop is a pony. Sure the pony can do
most the stuff the Clydesdale can do....by working like hell doing it....but
it's going to wear that pony out that much quicker. Size, weight, power use,
heat, and so on DEFINE the limits of what a laptop is and can do. Thus
laptops will always be more limited in nature than a desktop.