Is the desktop going the way of the dinosaur?

PC as TV screen
As consumers use their computers more and more for watching video, from YouTube clips to programs offered via TV networks' Web sites, the PC-as-TV notion, long heralded, but mainly used by technofiles, is finally gaining momentum.

That makes desktop offerings with larger monitors more appealing. Nineteen-inch screens are now considered "entry level," and 20-, 22- and 24-inch monitors are even better for video watchers, as well as gamers and "those who like to have multiple documents open on the screen, while watching streaming video," said David Galvin, HP's director of product marketing for consumer desktops.

It also doesn't hurt that the industrial design of the TouchSmart IQ, for example, "allows you to take the PC out of the home office and put it in a high-traffic area of your house, whether it's the family room, living room, den, kitchen," he said.

"It's attractive enough to satisfy the 'style police' in the house, and yet really useful to have Internet access nearby without having to walk into another room to see the news or the weather."

And while it used to be that the ability to upgrade a desktop PC's hard drive, memory or graphics card was considered a plus, it's not that much of a factor anymore in driving a buyer to a desktop, Galvin said.

Many customers who are interested in swapping out parts are often switching an older, cathode-ray tube monitor for a newer flat-screen display, but not necessarily changing other aspects of their desktops, he said.

'Real concept of personal computing'
It's not always an either-or decision when it comes to buying a laptop or desktop PC. Many homes have both, especially if a desktop PC is considered the "family" computer, and laptops are the personal property of individual family members.

"It's a real concept of personal computing," Daoud said. "The laptop belongs to you, as opposed to the family or household. And the performance of many of today's laptop systems are as good as that of desktops."

The small- and medium-size business market "is also showing strength and growth in the laptop segment, but not quite as fast as consumers in general," he said.

"They continue to value desktops for several reasons. One is the cost. It's still very cheap to buy a desktop — there's a $200 to $300 difference between a laptop and a desktop. and many small, medium and even large businesses don't really need so much mobility in their computing experience."

Storage matters
One of the reasons desktops will continue to find a home in the home is that desktop hard drives generally can hold more data than their laptop counterparts.

Storage capacity is becoming more important as consumers file away many gigabytes' worth of music, family photos and videos on the computer. The family PC is becoming a repository for very important memories.

Those who use laptops as their main computers are getting better about backing up such files to a devices like external hard drives, to take the digital weight off their notebooks. Of course, those with desktop PCs need to do the same, even if they have 1 terabyte of storage on their hard drives.

John Rydning, IDC's research director for hard disk drives, said that the maximum desktop hard drive capacity "will continue to outpace notebook hard drives for two reasons. The desktop hard disk drive can hold more disks inside the drive, plus the disks inside a desktop drive have a larger surface area than notebook hard drives."

However, he said, this year, for buyers, "both notebook and desktop PC capacity 'sweet spots' will be 160 gigabytes."

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