News - PC gaming hardware sales unaffected by overall PC decline

[Hardware_Elite]

See. Most of us know this, and I really believed it when I said it. Laptops still haven't reached the capabilities or power a desktop has for the same price as one. Tablets can only do so much, and that's even way less than any laptop!

[Odeas]

Tablet for apps
Laptop for typing
Desktop for gaming
Xbox for dust

You'll not get gamers away from a keyboard & mouse in a hurry.

[Meowdance]

"The people who are buying PCs are still buying PCs"

[Spreadie]

"The people who are buying PCs are still buying PCs"

I haven't bought a PC in 20 years...

[NecronomicoN]

(or Half-Life 3 comes out - that's my weak spot).

I don't understand this. How can Half-Life 3 come out before Half-Life 2 Episode 3? Half-Life 2 is still awaiting its conclusion. But all we hear about these days is speculation for Half-Life 3.

Laptop for typing

You'd rather use a laptop for typing than a fullsize keyboard? That would give me cramps, and the missing keys would annoy me to no end.

[abirawlinson]

i don't upgrade as much as i used to but i tend to go over the top when i do so i don't think im going to need to for a bit as a i7-3970X, Corsair Memory Dominator Platinum 64GB DDR3 2133 MHz and 3 Asus GeForce GTX Titans are going to keep me going for a couple of years my next big upgrade will be a 4k monitor or my lan pc upgrade

[crossy]

Tablet for apps

Yes, just as long as one of those apps isn't email (excluding gMail and Hotmail of course)

Laptop for typing

Laptop keyboards are yuk, only one I ever found was acceptable was the old ThinkPad ones. Also think that most touchpads are a wheeze by Lucifer himself. Give me a decent desktop set (kbd+mouse) any day. I use a laptop for work five days a week, and that laptop is equipped with a proper keyboard, a decent mouse and a monitor. The monitor's probably optional, but the larger screen is nice to have.

Desktop for gaming

Oh yes, definitely - just finished a session myself.

Xbox for dust

Don't agree. There's still a place for a console - I've never seen a decent gaming PC in the living room, whereas I've seen a lot of XBox or PS3's there. Also haven't heard of many gamers using a TV as an output device, always monitors.

You'll not get gamers away from a keyboard & mouse in a hurry.

This one you would - just been having a quiet shot at Just Cause 2 and most of the time was using the XBox controller on my PC, switching to the mouse for some fine-aim sniping. Big believer in using the best tool for the job. And I can also think of a few console gamers locally who'd laugh their behinds off at you the "abacus driver" with your box of keys. Mouse and keyboard is undoubtedly superb for precision of control, but for a relaxing driving game or FPS, the game controller still has the upper hand in my book.

[m9a8t7t6]

Yes, just as long as one of those apps isn't email (excluding gMail and Hotmail of course)
.

Unless you bought the Surface RT (which is admittedly statistically unlikely)....

[Chadders87]

I don't understand this. How can Half-Life 3 come out before Half-Life 2 Episode 3? Half-Life 2 is still awaiting its conclusion. But all we hear about these days is speculation for Half-Life 3.

You have missed the headlines a while back. Gabe Newell slipped up saying something along the lines of "The episodic release didn't work for us, and although we are not currently working to a release schedule for the next game, one will come to carry on the story", then mentioned something about the next game will feature more vortigaunts and a frozen tundra climate which will allow Hlaf Life 3 to explore new areas.

Or something like that.

[dannyboy75]

I don't understand this. How can Half-Life 3 come out before Half-Life 2 Episode 3? Half-Life 2 is still awaiting its conclusion. But all we hear about these days is speculation for Half-Life 3.

Don't you think it would be pretty lame if all Valve could offer us after all these years of waiting was another episodic-length game (i.e. HL2 ep3). Personally, I reckon there'd be a lynch mob outside Valve's offices if that happened

Also, Valve have admitted they're working on a new engine, which they surely wouldn't bother to do for an episodic update. As HL is their flagship product it's likely they'll want to showcase this new engine with a whole new HL game.

[Odeas]

Crossy, thats just for me personally.

I usually do any typing/emails in the lounge with a brew and the telly on. Agree a proper keyboard is much better but for the most part its just quick messages.

As for the xbox, again thats just me. Mines been virtually untouched for over 12 months now and like you I've put one of the pads to use on the PC. Its great for driving/flying etc but as you say when I need precision like FPS/strategy games then kb&m are much easier to use. For gta and battlefield I'll use both and switch between depending on what I'm doing.

[crossy]

Unless you bought the Surface RT (which is admittedly statistically unlikely)....

If it essentially a tablet version of Outlook - with the same layout - then I'd be interested. One thing that gets me is the number of mail clients I've tried (i.e. all of them) that insist on slapping a UI designed for a smartphone screen on a tablet. Typical tablet is 10" - so a mere 2" smaller screen than the small laptops you used to get, and a whole inch larger than all the early netbooks.

What I'd want is a Mozilla tablet, so Firefox and Thunderbird in desktop UI. Ah, wait, Mozilla dropped Thunderbird to work on FirefoxOS ... dammit!