Question Recommended Device(s) for Purposes?

[darkfa8]

Hello folks,

I'm seeking advice on how best to replace and/or supplement my existing, aging computing devices for newer devices for my current and forecasted usage.

I currently have:

• iPhone 6 - will likely be upgrading to a 12 or whatever comes after the 12 within the next year or so or when the 6 starts failing to run apps I need. I use this for the mainstay of email, web browsing, banking, Facebook, camera and myriad of other small apps.
• Win7 PC desktop, AMD Phenom x4 unlocked and oc'd - had been a primary platform for Photoshop CS4, file storage, online class participation and an interface between our point-and-shoot and dSLR cameras to store their files. I'm intending to decommission this machine since most of it's guts are 12+ years old.
• Lenovo ThinkPad Win10 14" laptop - used for web browsing when phone is too small to navigate sites (insurance, home network admin, NAS admin, etc.), Steam, Automotive diagnostic software (Kia GDS, OBDII scanner, REW, car audio DSP software), but it has a tiny 128GB SSD - so I'm regularly uninstalling stuff to put on new stuff (like swapping Steam games' storage space). A 15" screen would be helpful for my aging eyes.
• Synology NAS - 2TB of file storage that is backed up to Synology cloud - this has taken the file storage burden off of the old Win7 PC. This syncs with our phones to provide complete media back-up coverage for our household.
• iPad 2nd-gen (i think), iOS topped out at 9, use for occassional YouTube watching and boardgame apps. Obviously very limited in functionality since most new apps won't work with OS9 even with family sharing. Will likely be decommissioned in the not too distant future or maybe it can be used as an e-book reader.

So, the phone is my primary device, but obviously with some limitations for my usage.

I'm not sure what to do about a device(s) that fulfill the other needs.

Maybe just use the old Lenovo for the automotive software and get a newer laptop that has a bit more power for Steam games? Maybe a step or two below a gaming-spec laptop?

Is it possible to have a desktop PC that can be remotely accessed in the house via a tablet so I get the cost benefit of building a reasonably powerful desktop box, but that I don't have to sit in front of a stationary monitor to use?

I'm just not sure what to do...

 

[CountMike]

Hello folks,

I'm seeking advice on how best to replace and/or supplement my existing, aging computing devices for newer devices for my current and forecasted usage.

I currently have:

• iPhone 6 - will likely be upgrading to a 12 or whatever comes after the 12 within the next year or so or when the 6 starts failing to run apps I need. I use this for the mainstay of email, web browsing, banking, Facebook, camera and myriad of other small apps.
• Win7 PC desktop, AMD Pehnom x4 unlocked and oc'd - had been a primary platform for Photoshop CS4, file storage, online class participation and an interface between our point-and-shoot and dSLR cameras to store their files. I'm intending to decommission this machine since most of it's guts are 12+ years old.
• Lenovo ThinkPad Win10 14" laptop - used for web browsing when phone is too small to navigate sites (insurance, home network admin, NAS admin, etc.), Steam, Automotive diagnostic software (Kia GDS, OBDII scanner, REW, car audio DSP software), but it has a tiny 128GB SSD - so I'm regularly uninstalling stuff to put on new stuff (like swapping Steam games' storage space). A 15" screen would be helpful for my aging eyes.
• Synology NAS - 2TB of file storage that is backed up to Synology cloud - this has taken the file storage burden off of the old Win7 PC. This syncs with our phones to provide complete media back-up coverage for our household.
• iPad 2nd-gen (i think), iOS topped out at 9, use for occassional YouTube watching and boardgame apps. Obviously very limited in functionality since most new apps won't work with OS9 even with family sharing. Will likely be decommissioned in the not too distant future or maybe it can be used as an e-book reader.

So, the phone is my primary device, but obviously with some limitations for my usage.

I'm not sure what to do about a device(s) that fulfill the other needs.

Maybe just use the old Lenovo for the automotive software and get a newer laptop that has a bit more power for Steam games? Maybe a step or two below a gaming-spec laptop?

Is it possible to have a desktop PC that can be remotely accessed in the house via a tablet so I get the cost benefit of building a reasonably powerful desktop box, but that I don't have to sit in front of a stationary monitor to use?

I'm just not sure what to do...

Your desktop PC is literately ancient. Newer one would take much load from Lenovo laptop including gaming, With W10 interaction with iPhone and IPad is great.
With a suitable WiFi router you should be able to have them all connected.

 

[darkfa8]

@CountMike yeah, I know my desktop is old - kinda hard to believe it still works after all these years, but I don't use it much since it's up in a office I seldom use. I use the laptop more frequently.

Is there a way to have the desktop machine in one part of the house and be able to access it's power elsewhere, maybe via a tablet?

 

[CountMike]

@CountMike yeah, I know my desktop is old - kinda hard to believe it still works after all these years, but I don't use it much since it's up in a office I seldom use. I use the laptop more frequently.

Is there a way to have the desktop machine in one part of the house and be able to access it's power elsewhere, maybe via a tablet?

Yes with WiFi and router connecting them all. nNot sure about that IPad though and it's capabilities to interface but it should still work thru cloud.

 

[darkfa8]

@CountMike - what tablet types would you suggest looking for? Would it need to connect via a remote desktop app? Or, by what router setup means would it connect into the remote desktop machine?

 

[Corwin65]

"Is there a way to have the desktop machine in one part of the house and be able to access it's power elsewhere, maybe via a tablet? "

What power are you actually trying to harness from the desktop on a tablet?

 

[darkfa8]

@Corwin65 - to be able to have enough power to run a myriad of Steam games.

 

[CountMike]

@Corwin65 - to be able to have enough power to run a myriad of Steam games.

That "power" you can harness only from PC itself but others you can connect to it to share files and let's say internet.

 

[darkfa8]

well, Google is helpful. I found that I could build a gaming level PC and then stream Steam to a lesser PC elsewhere in the house either via AC 5GHz WiFi or CAT5 or coax.

 

[g-unit1111]

Is it possible to have a desktop PC that can be remotely accessed in the house via a tablet so I get the cost benefit of building a reasonably powerful desktop box, but that I don't have to sit in front of a stationary monitor to use?

I'm just not sure what to do...

Here's what I would suggest to do is if you get a new tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 would be a better investment than the current generation iPad because Windows 10 has some features that will integrate it better with Android and Samsung's custom DEX interface. The current generation iPad can cost up to $2K before adding accessories like the keyboard and pen, whereas the Galaxy Tab S7 is literally 1/2 the cost of the iPad, includes the pen, and the keyboard is only a $100 extra.

I agree with everyone here that the desktop is ancient and would need to go. But right now Bitcoin miners are making it impossible to find graphics cards, so we may have to wait for a bit in order for the market to get sorted out there. But a Ryzen 3600 and even something mid range like a GTX 1660 or Radeon RX580 would be a huge improvement over an Athlon 4.

 

[darkfa8]

@g-unit1111 so, you're implying that I build a more modern gaming PC to handle Steam and could that stream to the Galaxy Tab?

 

[g-unit1111]

@g-unit1111 so, you're implying that I build a more modern gaming PC to handle Steam and could that stream to the Galaxy Tab?

You can't really stream something from a PC to a tablet because the emulation just isn't there. The only benefit of getting a Galaxy Tab over an iPad is for one the cost, and two, the fact that Samsung and their Dex interface have features that are more suited to integrate phone and tablet features into Windows 10 than other platforms.

The only other option that I can think of if you want to go that route is to get something that runs native Windows 10, such as a Microsoft Surface, and then use the Windows 10 remote access desktop emulator and then you could access the PC through the tablet, though even then you still wouldn't get the full functionality.

 

[darkfa8]

after reviewing all the suggestions, I'm not sure the expensive of a newer desktop plus a Galaxy Tab would be helpful.

I'm not 100% sure how the Galaxy Tab would fit into an otherwise Mac/PC/Windows household.