How To Make A Live Background Pc

Steve Jobs piqued consumer curiosity when he unveiled the iPad and declared "the post-PC era has begun." And at present with the imminent release of Windows 8 RT tablets—low-powered slates running a touch-friendly version of Office—it might seem that perhaps the world really can live without desktop computers.

It's an intriguing proposition, but don't count on mobile devices killing off your desktop PC whatsoever time soon. While mobile gear is certainly convenient when you're trying to conduct business on the go, information technology'south nowhere well-nigh equally convenient every bit a desktop when you lot're trying to complete serious work in an office environment.

Sure, your telephone, tablet or fifty-fifty laptop might conveniently fit in your pocket or backpack, but all these devices are fraught with compromises, whether it's computing ability, screen size, or, well, a really expensive price tag.

No, friends, the so-called post-PC world is not yet upon us. Only if y'all're even so not convinced, hither are x reasons you shouldn't give up your desktop whatever fourth dimension soon.

Desktop PCs are cheap

Desktops are cheaper than laptops—both when y'all buy them new, and when yous have to make repairs. There are a few reasons for this, simply the primary reason is that mobile components are more expensive, because they're, well, smaller, and expensive engineering is required to brand them fit inside your laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Desktop components don't have to be nearly as small or fit together like jigsaw pieces, because a roomy desktop tower is a heck of a lot larger than fifty-fifty the most generously sized laptop.

Of class, to be fair, you pay for more components when y'all purchase a laptop—yous're as well purchasing a screen, keyboard, and trackpad. Simply, of form, you tin option up a keyboard and a mouse for around $v each, and a decent 24-inch monitor can price as little as $50.

But laptops usually toll at least (if non well over) $60 more than corresponding desktops. For example, a Dell XPS 8500—which has a third-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and an AMD Radeon 7570 discrete graphics bill of fare—costs $799 on Dell'south website. Meanwhile, a similarly-equipped Dell Inspiron 14z laptop—with a third-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and an AMD Radeon HD 7570M graphics menu—costs $999.

Desktops are more powerful

Desktop processors are more powerful than corresponding laptop processors. And I'one thousand non even going to get into mobile ARM processors (that is, the processors running in near phones and tablets), since the comparison is laughable. Let's but say this is a example in which size definitely matters.

Laptop processors are not just smaller than desktop processors, they're designed to use less energy and produce less oestrus. There are a several reasons for this: Kickoff, laptops usually run on battery life. Because of this, mobile processors are designed to conserve battery life. Second, laptop processors are fitted into a tight, airtight chassis, and surrounded by a couple of small fans—and they're nonetheless prone to overheating.

Desktop processors, meawnhile, are lucky plenty to sip an endless supply of juice from a wall outlet, and they can exist surrounded with fans or fifty-fifty a liquid cooling organization to keep their temperatures down. Thus, they're not only more than powerful, they tin can also be easily overclocked to run at fifty-fifty college speeds.

Y'all tin plug a ton of peripherals into desktops

Let's say you want to plug in an external mouse and an external keyboard. Tin you also plug in a USB-connected headset? If you've got a laptop, probably not.

As laptops become thinner, port offerings reject. Virtually laptops these days have a couple of USB two.0 ports, though higher-end systems might throw in a USB 3.0 port here and there. Most tablets have one USB 2.0 port (except for the iPad, of course, which boasts a whopping total of zippo USB ports).

Desktops, on the other hand, usually have a minimum of four USB 2.0 ports, and almost take many more than. Plus, desktops have tons of other connectivity options that only the highest-end, almost gamer-oriented laptops might include—these options include eSATA, VGA, DVI, HDMI, and multiple audio lines.

Studies have shown that more than screen existent estate tin can make y'all more productive (or more productive at being unproductive). Demand more screen real manor? This tin be accomplished in ii means: with a larger screen, or with multiple monitors.

The largest laptop screen yous tin can find on the market place is 17.iii inches, and information technology's huge—for a laptop, that is. Merely a 17.iii-inch laptop screen is nothing compared to a twenty- or 24-inch stand-lonely monitor. Plus, a 17.3-inch laptop is ordinarily too beefy for you to tote around comfortably, which means your laptop may essentially get a desktop.

Nigh laptops don't support multiple monitor fix-ups, though you can try USB-powered displays or using your tablet. Desktops, on the other manus, are built for multiple monitor setups and, depending on your graphics card, you can support 2 or three or four (or more than) monitors for maximum productivity or maximum gaming.

Yous can play (real) estimator games on desktops

Okay, to be off-white in that location are gaming laptops out in that location, and they're neat. For example, the Alienware M17x R4 features an Intel Cadre i7-3720QM processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M discrete graphics bill of fare. But can it really compare to a gaming desktop, such as the Maingear Shift Super Stock, which houses an Intel Cadre i7-3960X processor and three AMD Radeon Hard disk 7970 graphics cards? I don't recall so.

Graphics-intensive Crysis is used in PCWorld testing.

Graphics-intense PC games put systems to the ultimate exam, as they crave every bit much processing- and GPU-ability as possible. And, permit's face it—you tin stuff three graphics cards into a desktop belfry (plus liquid cooling, an awesome sound menu, and, hey, even some actress gaming peripherals). On the flip side, a hardcore gaming laptop tin accomodate just one beggarly (albeit sometimes moderately powerful) graphics card—and that's inside a device that's barely even portable.

Next page: Don't forget about repairs…

Fixing a desktop is piece of cake

Three years ago, the graphics card in my husband's laptop died. We're notwithstanding not sure what happened, merely all of a sudden, the screen started artifacting and displaying colorful squiggly lines, making things generally unreadable. He took it to the Apple tree store (information technology was an onetime MacBook), and they opened information technology upward and told him the repair job would exist expensive.

Full cost of repairs: $800.

Ii years ago, my graphics carte du jour died. Nvidia posted a faulty driver; I was playing a game at the time, and before they could correct the driver (a mere 24 hours afterwards), my carte du jour overheated and fried. I went to Best Buy and picked upward a new (non-Nvidia) card and replaced it myself in almost 10 minutes.

Total price of repairs: $fourscore

The moral of the story: If a desktop component craps out on you, it's easy to purchase a new one, whether it'south a graphics card, the monitor, or even the processor. But if a laptop component craps out on you, well, good luck.

Yous can employ creative software efficiently on a desktop

Certain, today's laptops tin run creative software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Premiere—merely you won't enjoy your fourth dimension with these applications when fighting with your laptop's trackpad or puny screen real estate. To exist used efficiently, creative software requires a powerful processor, a high-end graphics menu, lots of screen existent manor, and peripherals—a keyboard, a mouse, and maybe fifty-fifty a drawing tablet.

A laptop with the required specs would either be insanely expensive or physically impossible (in the case of a much-larger screen). A desktop with decent specs, however, volition be able to run this software only fine.

You can recycle a desktop equally an NAS device…or a fish tank

When your laptop or tablet dies, it can be recycled as a laptop- or tablet-like device, such as a kids-only laptop, or a kitchen-only tablet. In other words, your recycling options are limited. Only desktops tin can be recycled into a diverseness of dissimilar uses, such as a home server or as a network-attached storage (NAS) device.

If you'd rather not repurpose your desktop as a machine, yous can always make clean it out, sell your parts on eBay, and turn the tower or sometime monitor into a fish tank. (If you truly demand the power, you can as well turn an old fish tank into a mineral oil-cooled desktop.)

Granted, you tin send your older laptop into the garage for handy weekend DIY instruction-checking or give it away, simply creative alternative uses for laptops are much more limited than for desktops.

Desktops are secure and they last a long time

Desktops are not portable. Not portable at all. And this is a practiced thing when it comes to security and durability. Because desktops don't move very much—if at all—they're fairly secure from theft. There's pretty much no chance that you'll lose your desktop on the train, or that someone will steal your desktop from the library. And fifty-fifty if someone happens to break into your business firm, they're unlikely to take your desktop, which has to exist unplugged from the wall and transported with all of its fastened peripherals to be of the most apply to your thief.

Too, because your desktop never moves, information technology never gets bumped or dropped or scratched in your bag. A desktop tin easily last several years—more if you're upgrading it piece-by-slice—while a laptop will often fall victim to an unfortunate spill.

Yous tin build your own desktop

Anyone can build a desktop PC. Seriously—anyone!

Not simply are there tons of websites and manufactures defended to helping people build their own systems, the components also are readily bachelor. Towers and cases can price every bit fiddling as $nineteen (bank check out this DIYPC DIY-5823 from Newegg.com), while a second-generation Intel Core i5-2500K processor—the same processor that nosotros currently use in our PC testing model—is but $220.

By comparison, building a laptop is…catchy, if not incommunicable. Components are more than expensive and less powerful, and you accept to become them to fit inside a laptop chassis. There'due south pretty much no chance you can build a laptop from the ground up, either—you'll have to pick out a blank-bones laptop and upgrade information technology as much as the chassis allows.

Long live the desktop!

Don't get me wrong—laptops, tablets, and smartphones are undeniably essential to most people's modern-solar day lives. But as long as desktops are cheaper, more powerful, and more versatile, they'll always have a place.