It's just the whole laptop form factor that turns me off. Pretty soon you will be able to get the same specs on a laptop much lighter and more portable. With a desktop none of this matters.
Keep in mind, I hate laptops and prefer to build my own desktops (even at work, at least for me). I just know that my old arguments against laptops are pretty much dead today. Here's why:
Primarily, the biggest argument against a desktop's "upgradeability" is the fact that as each generation of hardware comes out, every component is renewed as well. Want more processor power? You need a new CPU AND a new motherboard. But the new motherboard now needs new memory (or you need denser sticks to get more memory, so throw out the old). You just replaced 80% of the computer (60% if you have a gaming graphics card), and for very little more than you just spent you could build an entire computer and have a second one to sell or recycle (as a mame box). Have a high end graphics card? Chances are, upgrading it will mean a new PSU too, and frankly your old monitor is going to limit your experience more than your graphics card these days, so better upgrade that too. Hell, even keyboards and mice are "obsolete" from year to year. Your old ones aren't worth a penny and the new stuff has cherry switches and lights and isn't cheap. Nobody uses floppies or even optical drives, so you have no retained value there. That SSD you bought 3 years ago is half as fast as the new ones that only cost $150 for 5 times the space, so ditch that too. In fact, the ONLY thing you don't end up replacing when upgrading is your case. The only reason to have a desktop today is if you want to spread out your upgrades every 6-12 months. "This month I am getting a cpu/mobo/memory, and next month a hdd, keyboard, and mouse. Next Spring I will get a graphics card and then I will be set for another year or two."
In short, the VALUE of the upgradeability of a desktop is rapidly reaching zero.
Second, desktops are going away, at least in terms of components and architecture. Already a typical
pre-manufactured gen 6 core i5 desktop without any frills is more expensive than the equivalent in a laptop from the same company (even without a monitor, keyboard, and mouse), and the desire to shrink desktops have led to using mobile architecture, so you get the same thing for more money without the portability. ATX formats are almost exclusive to enthusiast products now, and that is a severely dwindling market as next gen software no longer needs complete hardware refreshes to fully realize (ie you can go 3 years without an upgrade and still play every game made at max quality). There is little question that mobile architecture will continue to grow even for desktop applications, and components will continue their path to integration until soon you won't be able to buy a CPU that isn't soldered to a board already and designed for both performance and power conservation.
When the big hitters like Dell, Lenovo, and HP are no longer interested in the old "desktop" components, the companies that make those components will either roll with the market or collapse. The enthusiast market will get expensive and choices will become sparse. Frankly I would not be surprised to see external gaming peripherals where the core computer only acts as a controller and the peripheral handles all the processing, further reducing the need for an actual desktop computer and nullifying the last reasons for even enthusiasts to use bulky desktops.
Today, "desktops" are leaning more toward what is effectively a laptop in a small box with a desktop cpu (no power constraints like laptops so no need for mobile versions of the cpu) but no room for more than 1 or 2 laptop drives and certainly no room for a graphics card. If you want a full size case in something you don't have to build yourself, you pay a premium. Just three years ago you could still buy a full ATX desktop from any major manufacturer and pay less than an equivalent laptop. Today the only way to even come close is to build your own. When the form factor disappears entirely, where will components go?
Bottom line, if you can't upgrade
just a CPU or
just a graphics card without upgrading everything else in the computer, you effectively have a disposable computer. And when a laptop, which is also a disposable computer, costs less up front, then what is the point in buying a desktop?
Still don't believe me? Build the equivalent of the laptop in question in this thread for less than $1200. Use a GTX970 since the 980m is just a 970 desktop chip, and don't cheap out with gen 4 or 5 cpus or $5 keyboards (remember this one is backlit and probably changes colors too). You might be able to do it, but you won't be able to do it for significantly less. By the time you put a monitor on it (16x9 1080 ips regardless of size) you will likely be over the price tag.
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