Laptop shipments exceed desktops in US for the not-exactly-first time
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 28th 2008 9:24AM
posted Oct 28th 2008 9:24AM
[Image courtesy of DayLife]
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Don't do it guy! Get out of Best Buy!
Hah! (comment) HaHA! (avatar)
Up next...so-called "smart phones" ( iPhone, G1, Blackberry ) exceed laptop sales.
Well some people keep a desktop unit far longer than a laptop for various reasons
1- desktops start off better equipped for less, thus do not get outdated as fast as a laptop
2- Laptops get dropped and broken more often that a 35lbs + desktop
3- Laptops get stolen
4- Water damage
5- Cafe Late damage :p
I predict that Net books will take away from the Laptop market by 2010...
iEye... had... an... intelligent... post...
I'm scared.
Stunned.
First +1 for iEye ever.
I meant to give him a +1...but ranked him down accidentally by habit...
Oops.
Her you go, +1 from me, well deserved :)
iEye, i am, dare i say, proud. at this rate i think you will make a full recovery.
also, you forgot to say that with desktops you can easily upgrade individual components to help longevity. though i doubt many people realize this, or take advantage of it. most people would be too scared of breaking their computer to put in a new graphics card, let alone replace the processor.
Netbooks are the same as laptops just smaller and lighter but they keep the same basic form factor. I wouldn't say they are going to takeover laptops because when it comes down to it they are laptops. I think they have taken off in sales because we are naturally attracted to smaller, thinner, and lighter when it comes to gadgets.
also when it comes to women
Eh, sadly, my last laptop only lasted 4 years of heavy usage. It was built poorly by HP, a zt1260, and i've had to repair it numerous times
Only four years, huh? That's a pretty damn long time to keep something like that.
To be honest I'm surprised you got 4 years of usage before total death.
I Still can't find a decent laptop out there which looks good and kicks ass. Waiting for Dell......
MACBOOK!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, I thought I was iEye for a minute there!
I hate laptops, in 1 or 2 years they are cpmplitly outdateted, Desktops are much easyer to make an upgrade so they last longer (with much better performance). For me laptops is for one use only people that work traveling or on the "street" and need to cary the PC. I see many people that buy laptops to use at home.
Perhaps people using their laptops mostly at home aren't concerned about playing Crysis.
quantity !== revenue
!== is an error waiting to happen, just so you know
I believe you meant:
!=
Unless my basic programming knowledge is now officially outdated!
In an ever increasing mobile America im not surprised.
other than the small screen, the netbook would be perfect for my parents with a external hard drive so my dad can save his pictures.
I'm honestly surprised that this isn't true every quarter and by a bigger margin. I thought that everyone buys laptops these days unless you have specialist needs. So much for that thought...
I run a computer dept, we sell five times more laptops than we do desktops. It's been that way for years.
This article also does not include custom built PCs which account for hundreds of thousands of computers per year.
I think you mean thousands...
It could be hundreds of thousands. I've personally built 3 completely new PCs this year alone (2 for myself and 1 for someone else).
I meant what I said
If you don't believe it then just do the math--multiply the number of custom built PCs in each of your local computer stores by the number of towns in the US that have computer stores. Then add in individual, home-builders (enthusiasts) to the equation.
I used only a (relatively nice--Core 2 Duo thinkpad) laptop for two years. While it was nice, I decided to sell it on ebay and go the desktop + netbook route for three reasons:
1) I work better with a large monitor than a 15" screeen. And when I get the money I can add a second LCD, which is an amazing boost of productivity and convenience (seriously, try it)
2) In the long run its cheaper. All I need to do when I'm not at my desktop is a) browse the internet, b) maybe take notes. The netbook gets this done and for only $350. Upgrading a desktop is far cheaper than upgrading a laptop, and you can make incremental adjustments.
3) Home entertainment. My desktop can play blu-ray movies on the tv and record (non-cable) HD shows. Yes I could do the same with a laptop, but it requires an annoying (and not too cheap) extra purchase to get the proper AV ports. It's also never going to give as good a sound output as a desktop would without, again, a sound card to plug into the USB slot. Not to mention that when I actually want to take my laptop with me I would have to unplug all that shit.
While I'm still on the fence about the netbook form factor (I think a 10" would've been much better), it serves its purpose fairly well for me, and in a way I think the introduction of ultra-cheap, ultra-portable laptops in netbooks may actually boost desktop sales.
laptop schmaptop. someone get that man a Wii Fit.
Hey, as one of his fellow fat guys I'm offended....
but what the hell, it was funny. :D
I wonder if this isn't showing some sort of a cyclical purchase pattern.
I have a desktop and a laptop -- if I only had enough money to replace one every year then that would be a new desktop and a new laptop in alternating years. Tipping the scales back and forth every couple years.