Do young people still use desktop PC's?

Lets say for people around ages 10 - 20, do they still use desktop PC's, or do they only use mobile phones and laptops now? What do you think? Just wondering.

 

I'm of the opinion that age has little to do with it. If you need the use of a desktop then you'll buy a desktop. I know a couple older women (both at least 50+) that have given up their desktop computers in favor of more portable systems with one of them using a mobile phone because it handles all her needs and the other using a laptop.

College students generally have a laptop because many universities require them, but they may have a desktop in addition to that laptop if they have needs beyond the laptop (eg heavy gaming, heavy or long processing tasks). Or they may forego the desktop altogether and use a console for gaming.

 

I suspect most of them in that age range use whatever their parents provide them.

 

I think doesn't matter of Gen-X/Y/Z but just depend on their behavior and interesting.
Most people have a computer, mobile, laptop and maybe console at home.
If he/she like outgoing he/she may stick to portable devices more often.
Oppositely he/she may stick to computer/console more often.
In general. Globally. The device that most people sticking to I think is mobile.

 

I think it's mostly a combination of passions and life style. Let me explain: with passions I refer to what people like to play, and life style with the kind of life they conduct. Take me as example, I usually spend 300+ days per year in my place, and i like to play all kind of games, for this reason I've built my own desktop computer and used just some spare money to buy a laptop I use to give presentations. If I had to travel more, I'd probably only have a powerful laptop, and in the same way, if i was in casual games only I'd probably have a MacBook air and a tablet to play with.

 

Desktop PCs still serve as an awesome tool for creation regardless of age. While a mobile device (such as a smart phone) is an excellent tool for consuming content, people of all ages realize that a smart phone is not the best tool for creating content.

Some users with creation needs will choose a laptop for portability, but power users will generally choose a desktop PC. Compare the workflow for many creation tasks between a laptop and a multiple monitor desktop PC.

 

Being able to easily move a computer around is better than not being able to.

Desktops only really make sense if you either need top of the line power, or you want more power per dollar.

 

Or if you're going to use so many peripherals that your laptop would stop being so mobile

 

There are far more users using mobile these days then desktop. Desktop sales hasnt really shrunk for some sectors. The difference is that more people are using mobile that would not have been using traditional desktop. However the desktop gaming has shrunk some in favor of consoles and mobile for some genres. Back in 2008 I saw my gaming sites a dominateday by 99% desktop based, today those same sites get 98% mobile traffic.but they get more traffic overall and the number of desktop users dropped about 20%. Hope that helps.

 

There are many more options..plus, there are laptops that are as good as laptops! I use a desktop as does one of my daughters. Husband and son use high end laptops with nvidia cards that are almost as good as my desktop (they are older laptops so not quite). We just bought a new laptop with a fancy nvidia card that rivals my laptop...mostly for Photoshop and Blender work but it is actually a gaming computer.

The line between laptops and desktops has blurred, with some laptops at a cost of around $1k are now as good as many desktops. The big difference for me is the easy upgradability of my desktop compared to their laptops.

So maybe the split should be more along the lines of GPU and overall performance and memory rather than desktop vs laptop these days.

As for phones and tablets, not everything can be done on these. Kids love their phones but that doesn't mean they don't have a gaming laptop or desktop or console that they use as well. Phones are just with you most of the time. Of course, from a developer perspective, it is difficult to make a complex game that makes money on the phone.

 

I lump laptops with desktop and consider smartphones and tablets as mobile. For some laptops you can't even tell the difference between desktop and them these days. Netbooks I still consider desktop, with really weak specs.

 

My thoughts are most of the people who buy games on Steam are desktop users. And that's a big percentage of the PC game market. What's important is: are most of the people who buy PC games desktop users. Probably. Or they are rich and have a gaming laptop.

Those young people you see in Starbucks with their MacBooks probably are not your target market for games. They're probably too busy writing their latest novel or posting on their fashion blogs.

 

There is a massive different workflow wise between a laptop and a multiple monitor desktop. A desktop with two or three monitors is more time efficient for many creation related tasks than a laptop. Power users (including young ones) realize that. Anybody that claims their laptop is "as good as a desktop" is not comparing their laptop to a typical power user desktop.

And of course there is also the significant performance difference between a high end desktop and a high end laptop. I realize that some laptops have a decent CPU and decent GPU, but even the best laptops are not as powerful as the best desktops.

 

Nothing stopping you from plugging a second monitor into your laptop.

NVIDIA definitely narrowed the gap between good desktop and good laptop with their GeForce 10 series.

 

Laptops get a lot less mobile once you plug an additional monitor (and/or mouse, keyboard, printer, etc) into them.

 

Yes, but you don't always need additional monitors and there are monitors designed to be highly portable.

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-MB169B-1920x1080-Portable-Monitor/dp/B013XFJKGI/

 

Not everyone needs their laptop to be mobile in the first place. Most people use them because they take up significantly less space and require less setup than desktop PCs.

 

Oh thanks for the info and opinions. I was trying to get a sense to see if desktop PC's might go the way of the dinosaur in about 10 years or so, or not? Because if young people don't use them, they will eventually get "phased out" I think.

But, it sounds like most people think they are still relevant. Which, to me, is a good thing. Unless laptops or mobile phones can some day equal a desktop PC in terms of power and performance. I don't think we are there yet though.

 

Yes. There are people obsessing over "PC Master Race" nonsense. They'll be using desktops, and a lot of them will be young.

Not sure about 3rd and 4th monitor, though.

If you check steamcommunity, you'll find plenty of people who are very interested in ensuring that their games run at maximum settings, maximum fidelity and maximum framerate, where maximum framerate is something around 144hz with vsync enabled, sometimes with surround monitor setup. Those guys won't go anywhere in near (and not so near) future, IMO.

 

It's entirely dependent on the laptop. There are solutions involving USB 3.0 and higher too like that portable I linked earlier.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Triple-Video-Docking-Station-Laptops/dp/B012VKW900

I have no idea about the graphical performance but they would work for code and documentation monitors.

 

There's also displayport which is becoming more and more common allowing for multiple monitors to be driven off a single port.

 

Awesome. That is significantly better and cheaper than the USB route.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-DisplayPort-Multi-Monitor-Splitter/dp/B00JLRBC7S

 

I haven't used a desktop in over a decade. My laptop has been beefy enough for every game I've thrown at it, and every development task I've attempted.

In the corporate world we've pretty much switched exclusively to laptops. The portability is far more useful then the extra power. And with a docking station it feels like a desktop. The fixed workstations we do install tend to be simple thin clients, and not really true desktops at all.

 

The topic was regarding end uses (market customers.) I would imagine developers try and get top shelf stations if they can afford them. But most amazon sells I see from my resellers account is desktops at around the $500 range, that includes mainly machines specified as gaming rigs. I've built a few mega machines of over $10k and those were to day traders, not gamers. My own machines I buget at around $3k every 3 years, but I now own several mid range machines with different specs (mainly donations and referbs) for quality testing only.

 

Right but the op I think is enquiring about market share for game sales. Which is a totally legit question when considering what platforms one wants to invest develop time and resources into.

To the op, I would say you should also do some Web searches on this topic by developers who have spent time developing for different platforms, there is really good info out there that will help you in the decision making.

 

True, but again, laptops and desktops are probably the same market.

 

Honestly, concerning the average consumer, I'd be surprised if most young people don't have a mobile device regardless of whether they have a desktop, laptop, console, or whatever. A quick search for marketshare turns up results like the following.

https://www.extremetech.com/computi...age-falls-as-20-of-millennials-go-mobile-only

 

The primary device for younger people is definitely the mobile phone, and a younger person is more likely to use a laptop as their primary computer, but there are three reasons for this.

1. They're more comfortable with cloud services, so they don't need as much local processing power.
2. The mobile device is rising dramatically in processing power anyway, so it's often enough.
3. Wireless peripherals are ubiquitous and easy to attach with Bluetooth.

My roommates in Portland didn't own computers and didn't have internet. They just used their phones. I had to order and install my own broadband service.

There are these things called "docking stations." Mine hooks my 17-inch laptop into a full-size keyboard, mouse, and 57" HDTV monitor. I can still just pick it up and walk away.

 

It is pretty obvious that most people probably have mobile phones if they live in countries where they can afford them. The question is how much they actually spend on mobile phone games?

 

If they're PC gamers then they do.

 

For the 10 to 20 range I would assume laptops and mobile. Not because of the age though but because of what people are doing in that point in there life.

Otherwise I don't think it has much to do with age, but more to do with what you use your computer for.

I own 2 Desktops and 1 Laptop, I primarily use the desktops due to needing the raw power. But it also comes down to a case of ergonomics and needing the extra peripherals.

At home I got 2 27 inch displays and a Wacom intuos and at work I got 2 27 inch displays and a 24 inch cintiq.

When I spend 10 to 12 hours a day at a computer I want something that is fast, and I want good display and a proper mouse and keyboard.

If I had different jobs and hobbies I'm sure I would be fine using a laptop, or if I only used computers for persnal non gaming or programming uses I would be fine with a laptop.

 

In the online marketing world I've inhabited for the last eight years, a large number of 40+ professionals have switched entirely to using a tablet. Usually an iPad mini. Some of my colleagues mothballed Powerbooks and said they just plain didn't need that much power anymore.

 

I've been thinking about getting one of these so I can connect two monitors and a VR HMD to my laptop. I have two monitors connected to my current laptop, one via the mini-display port and one through the HDMI. I think that I could have easily attached three external monitors to the alienware computer that I had but sent that back.

My laptop is currently my main computer because it is faster and more powerful than my desktop.

 

Like i said it depends on what people use the systems for. Marketing is much different than scientific computing and engineering.

I have done work in games and am currently working on medical software and belive me the extra power of a high spec desktop helps crunch numbers when it comes to dealing with these huge data sets.

It is all based on what you require from a computer, not how old you are.

Also a big distinction for some is experience, proper ergonomics, big displays non S*** audio and propper keys and mouse.

 

I was agreeing with you.

 

My bad

 

I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I spend a heck of a lot of time playing PC games on a laptop. I consider myself a moderate PC gamer.

My laptop specs typically meet the average from steams hardware survey. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say a desktop isn't needed to be a PC gamer.

 

My son (age 10) considers it a special occasion when he's allowed to play on my development desktop. He REALLY likes wasd controls with mouse clicking. He prefers to play on my desktop than on his laptop. I think the reason is my desktop pushes more visuals and fx.

 

If you buy the right monitors they'll support DisplayPort chaining and you don't even need a splitter. My dispatcher runs three screens (with that weird 21:9 wide-screen aspect ratio) off a Surface 3. He's often on call after hours, so the notebook lets him work from home.

 

Just out of curiosity, if you were working from home, remotely, would you still have a Laptop? Wouldn't be better to have a desktop?

 

wow, only 3% of steam users run macos. Do mac users just run steam in a windows emulator (or whatever you call it these days) or do mac users just not play games? I really expected mac users to be closer to like 10% these days

 

It's likely more that for the longest time MacOS had next to nothing as far as games were concerned, something that still kinda persists to this day. There's also the problem of games on Macs not running terribly well as the hardware is... not super beefy. I remember how when METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE got a Mac port it could only run on like... top of the line systems and the entry level Mac Pro.

 

Owning a desktop has nothing whatsoever to do with the "PC Master Race" mindset. What kind of logic is this?

Especially considering that most of the games being released exclusively on PC (indies) are not hardware intensive at all.

Being a PC gamer has little to do with raw power and more to do with flexibility.

And it's a completely different issue or topic than desktops vs. laptops.

 

One of the best things about working remote is doing it in your pajamas in bed. Or doing it on the beach or at the airport or on a family holiday or so on.

The point of working remote is not being chained to an office. So portability is even more important.

 

Or if you like speccing out and building your own systems and having total access to every component in them, which is something I very much enjoy, thank you very much.

 

This is why I'm gradually phasing out of game development (sequestered safely away in my office, largely due to the nature of the games I make, haha) and moving into fiction writing (I use my Alphasmart Neo for that, sitting by the pool).

 

Macs are expensive. People buy them to work. People who work earn money. People who earn money can afford a cheaper gaming rig to play.

I've tried to play on my Mac. It sucks. My game laptop is much, much better for that and cheaper.

 

macs have historically had less titles, and less support for games. Things are changing a bit know, but i still often find the windows versions of games that run on both systems still performs better windows.

Also on a mac you can very easily install use both Windows or MacOS via boot camp or parallels, so why fight the system and wait for the titles you want if it is all just a reboot away.

 

I stopped building desktops for myself around 2006 and went all-laptop. I have worked from home almost exclusively since about 2004, but when I do need to go into the office, or travel to a meeting, or any other work-related scenario, the laptop means I just grab-and-go. Prior to making the switch it was always a hassle keeping my laptop in sync, although back then we didn't really have things like Dropbox. (I had a custom sync solution I'd hacked together but it wasn't nearly as automated as today's cloud hosting options.)

My wife, being the artistic one, has always required a desktop at home, though she primarily uses laptops for her work (programming).

That being said, getting back into game development rather heavily and seriously (though still as a hobbyist), I'm giving thought to building myself a desktop again. I'm not willing to drop significant money on a laptop (as discussed in this thread) ... I did that once, back when I made the jump, when "desktop replacement" first became a popular term and nVidia had just started offering truly good mobile chipsets. But laptops just don't last long enough for me to justify high-dollar options.

Speaking to the original question, we don't have kids but we have a lot of teen-to-college-aged nieces and nephews and they universally use laptops.

 

I believe so, i myself have a mac mini. It's old but i like it