My Very Last Computer
Unless I get another phone....
Geek or nerd?
Tech is fun , so....
When we first started snowbirding from France to Arizona , some fifteen years ago; I often found myself wearing cargo shorts because I needed all those big pockets. I was lugging a phone. A wallet. A camera. An MP3 player.
When I got my first flagship phone, a Samsung Galaxy S8+ - they didn't do "Pro" and "Ultra" back then - it included a good MP3 player application, and an almost acceptable point-and-shoot camera. Amazon had a wallet-like "case" that also held my cash (remember that?) and cards. Perhaps most importantly, that phone included a particularity: it could kinda sorta behave like a desktop computer: that was "DeX mode". Simply plugging it into a monitor provoked something like this:
Of course, you only have one connector on the phone. You can use Bluetooth, for both mouse and keyboard... but there's still the problem of keeping the phone charged.
Samsung marketed a "DeX-dock" that took care of the problem, supplying additional USB ports. Those docks were expense, bulky, and not very practical.
So... many years ago... I experimented with DeX, but decided that it wasn't mature enough yet. Neither the clunky hardware nor the software, which had problems resizing many apps' windows.
Over the years, more and more hubs became available, at first with only HDMI and USB-A, of course, but now there's lots of choice, with USB-C, and multiple HDMI ports for more than one monitor. Compared to the early Samsung docks, these are less expensive, lighter, and have lots more ports. The one I got years ago fits in a small zip-lock bag.
Big news came a year ago, when Google (who develop Android), decided to integrate a Desktop Mode directly into the Operating System. (DeX had until then been an add-on made by Samsung.)
Samsung quickly rewrote their code as an improvement on top of Google's integrated Desktop Mode. This new, more refined DeX debuted with the Galaxy S25 series.
So.... I just bought a Galaxy S25 FE. the "FE" is a variant that appears about six moths into a generation, offering most of the generation's features at a lower price. This phone only has 256 Gigs of memory, where top of the line phones go up to four times as much. BUT! The hub has two sd-card readers, and five USB connectors. After connecting a wired mouse and keyboard, that leaves space for up to five auxiliary "disks", potentially five tera! And then I can always attach an external hard disk - I have a Western Digital five tera 
.
I've been using the S25 FE and DeX for a couple weeks now. There's a learning curve, but no worse than when I swore off Windows a while back, in favor of Linux Mint. Linux Mint is more competent than Windows, and much prettier... but it isn't the same . There are a few applications that exist for Windows that have never been rewritten for Linux, so workarounds must be found.
Android has the same problem, but more so! So I've been looking at various alternatives to the apps I'm used to. So far, there's been a solution for everything. BIG shout-out to ChatGPT for its help both in finding these new (to me) apps and in guiding me through their quirks. It's become a reflex, whenever I hit a snag: ask ChatGPT!
Why am I doing all this?
Because "simpler is better". All of us are constantly carrying around far more computing power than Apollo needed to go to the moon!
I use my computer in just three places: here in Yuma, in Calais, and in Houston when we visit our son. All three have desks with a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. I just need to plug in, and SHAZAAAAM!!
I also have a tablet that I use when traveling. Some people really do their computer work/play anywhere/everywhere, so they really do need a laptop. But laptops have cramped keyboards and screens, and touchpads are not fun. And some people are POWER USERS - gamers or video editors or whatever. They need a tower computer, with a powerful graphics card. But... I'm not a power user. Especially since I retired and stopped needing spreadsheets and data bases. So there's no single "best solution" for everyone. But I'll bet that "phone as computer" will seduce many, many users in the coming years.
For the last few years, I've been using "mini-PCs" - little boxes about four inches square. They have more power than the average user will ever need, and are highly transportable. But "no computer at all" is even better than the smallest computer!
I assume that DeX will get better and better. One of its biggest failings right now is that it forgets where you put an app window, and how you resized it. You have to start over with each new session. Samsung has already announced that this will be resolved with the next iteration of DeX, now rolling out to the manufacturer's flagships. My FE, being a "little brother", will have to wait a bit.
Oh, and... this is FUN!
Whatever
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This is all I need to take with me when I travel. The phone, of course. The bag - it originally had freebie toiletries from Air France - has the hub, the external disk, a few cables and connectors (just in case) and some spare microSD cards.
Theres a fine line between genius and crazy bob. But then I don't travel much at all. Nice speakers, old school, mine are only 3 inches, lol.
You have been using "mini-pcs'. . . I am presently interested in purchasing a Windows 11 computer (and I am 'winding down' from the big 'honking' ones): Do you think mini-pcs (save space and old computers stacking up around here) are the way to go? (Your statement above: "no computer at all" is even better than the smallest computer!" -calls me to ask for elaboration about mini-pcs from your perspective.
If all you do is NewsTalkers and YouTube, an Intel N150 is sufficient, at about $130. Since I'm not a power user, I can't really talk about the high-end boxes that climb to $1000. Personally, I've been fully satisfied with a mid-range AMD, at around $300.
Be careful about storage. If you have significant media libraries, you'll want a machine with two NVME slots, giving you two tera for not too much money. Sixteen gigs of RAM is good for most people.
Feel free to ask questions.
Yeah, I do not care for gaming computers since I don't do it; I do not care for high-end, 'bells and whistles' computers either—especially nowadays. It is so strange. . .to have to down-grade my computer considerations after all these years. But, my time has come to do just that!
My 'routine' when buying a new or new-ish computer (this one I have been using to communicate for at least the last three years if not five is my first "refurbished" computer. I lose track of when I buy stuff these days) is to buy in the MID-RANGE pricing.
Since Windows 10 has closed out - I got my 'nose open' for a Windows 11 replacement computer and I am thinking HP - Intel 7th generation processor (step below Intel 8th generation) with 32 gigs of ram, blue-tooth, an 'impossible' to fill amount of gig storage, and the standard issue of ports front and back. Of course, nowadays it will be SSD.
I do not care for anything other than an HP. As it impressed on me from the 'beginning.'
No questions, per se. Just good to have someone to 'talk-think it over with' as it does help.
Take a look at this.
Two NVME slots, lots of USB, decent processor... and good price.
I just bought a Dell Pro max tower T2 Desktop in September, but I am still working, successfull and have dozens of windows open on multiple monitors all day..
It was a little more than $1200 but probably the last tower I will ever need.
Coupled with 5G internet, the speed and response is impressive if you are dealing with an equal client or network.
Like I said, there's no one size fits all.
I am looking at this one (its up now but can go down in price) and its refurbished .* That last part (refurbished) can be a problem with computers as some 'thing' can be removed or left off. For example, on my present computer the blue-tooth has never properly functioned right. It's in and out. And I simply stopped trying to get it to work.
I do not wish that to happen with my next computer. So, within the return window, I will pack it up and send it back.
About mini-pcs. . . as I stated I am a HP 'guy'. . . what do you think of these?
Looks good. Lots of ports. More power than any average user will ever need. Maybe a bit more than I'd like to pay... says the guy who just spent $550 on a phone...
HP minis are pretty expensive, comparatively. Not as powerful as the mid-range Chinese minis, but more costly.
Yeah, I am keeping my eye on that HP computer. I do need to upgrade my pc. . . eventually. (I think I properly applied a one year fix to keep this one 'going' for now that was offered. Hard to be sure, since I did not see any tangible change occur on my display.)
So in the mode of shopping for a computer these days. . . . Yeah, that!
Have a good time! (I enjoy shopping for tech.)
Thanks. I will keep what you have shared with me in advisement!
ordered an HP 15.6 inch laptop , 16GB, 512, and it has hardly any ports, instead it comes with a USB hub for additional ports, USB B usb C audio, HDMI, Simm Cards for photos, even a telephone port and a few I have never heard of.
the future...
For someone who has lots of different workspaces, a laptop is the solution. Not a good solution... the only solution.
The hub is a good idea. Tailor your devices to your needs.
Too much technology for me. I'm way behind. My phone cost the equivalent of about US$80 but still has a camera, alarm clock, a couple games and other perks I don't use anyway, but of course it is not a mini-computer, can't use it to pay for anything anywhere, nor does it have internet or videos and whatever other things it's got I don't know or use anyway. I bought it about 7 years ago and have no desire to buy a newer one. Although I spend a lot of time on my desktop computer, I don't travel around much so I don't need anthing portable but my phone.
A relatively sedentary person is fine with a tower computer. Like I said, there's no "one size fits all".
Yeah, these days I guess the word "sedentary" is applicable.
Now a word about that image of you and the little one. I just gleamed that is you and grandson on a desktop computer display, as I read your write up. . .but, was not clear on what I was looking at around the perimeter.
How nice. Quite handsome-y'all!
I won't ask you how old "grandson" is today. . . just Stunning!