Comment by joe_mamba

I'm seeing plenty of 8 GB DDR4 SODIMMs on ebay for ~$20-30. AFAIK laptop RAM was not hit in the same way since it's not really readily reusable in other types of computer, and laptops don't generally have unused slots to just plop in more RAM.

Who in their right mind would put Windows on such a device, though? This is THE hardware generation that Microsoft painted a target on with their planned obsolescence strategy. I don't know if there can be a clearer signalling that it is to be avoided at all costs.

I'm running bleeding edge Linux on computers I bought in 2006.

Meanwhile, the phone I bought a year ago is stuck on a 3 year old non-LTS kernel point release, and it will be forever.

This is a real issue and I don't know why you got downvoted

>Might as well save some money by not having to get a laptop for doing your taxes once a year. Most normal people don't really care about Google's walled garden. That's a tech person thing.

Most "normal people" don't use their phones hooked to their TVs as desktop computers. It's a very niche scenario.

They use their old laptop or tablet from school, university or hand-me-down from parent/relative for that task, since we're going with your assumption of living in a rich country where access to cheap hardware is abundant and 50 Euros is a very basic dinner for 2, so unlikely for people's livelihoods to be threatened by skimping 50 bucks once in their lifetime on some personal computing device besides their phone.

And in the specific case of living in a rich country, you might not even need to spend that 50, since I am yet to meet anyone who in case of need, can't just get a old computer for virtually free as hand-me-down from parent/friend/relative where it's collecting dust, if you just need a PC to do your taxes once a year. It's a lot more realistic scenario than people hooking up phones to TVs to do their taxes.

There's lineageOS for outdated pixel device, but I think you loose device attestation if you flash that, so your banking, payment and digital-ID apps won't work anymore which is kind of important features for a lot of people.

I still think separating a phone for phone apps and a PC for productivity, is the best choice even if that PC is a 20 year old rustbucket from the dumpster, it will still do more tasks than a phone. You can't learn photoshop on a phone.

> operating system only provides screen mirroring or app window mirroring on an external monitor

That's not true. It's probably written that way, because this is still an experimental feature so it is indeed not "supported", but it does work, you just have to toggle a few settings inside developer options.

And in this desktop mode it could make use of my 2k desktop screen, though it is quite buggy (it is a pixel 8 device, for reference)

Mirecast (when done properly) is basically a video stream over a peer-to-peer WiFi Direct connection. H.264+AAC/AC3/PCM audio sent over RTSP/RTP using a standard IPv4 stack. Better codecs are available on newer devices. Two modern WiFi 6 devices can stream gigabits per second that way if configured right, there's no need for the typical low FPS, lag, and desynchronised audio from a protocol standpoint.

For some reason, a lot of implementations (especially on the receiving end) suck at this. The latency seems to be terrible and TVs and displays seem to care more about reassembling old frames than about showing the latest good signal. However, it's not all that different from what Apple is doing.

Miracast over ethernet/via an access point is something different (something I've never really seen used myself).

Doesn't Apple do it by having the AirPlay receiver be its own access point? LAN in comparison indeed isn't ideal.

It’s understandable, but the reality is that many people like my 82 year old mother will use the wrong cable and have no clue why it’s not working.

> all simple charging cables should be universally labeled as such

labeling hurts profits.

USB-PD support has been made a requirement for GPlay Android. Manufacturers don't need to support USB-PD for their crazy 200W charging circuits, but it's been a while since you had the choice between 5-10W USB2.0 and 80W Warp Charge.

>- Which counties you're talking about?

Pick any you like, Income/GDP is more important metric rather than which specific country.

>- Why are those countries important to think about in this case?

Why are you asking me? Ask the people who brought up third world countries as the target user base for phones with display output. I'm the one not agreeing with this point since it's stupid.

>- Why doesn't this feature help people from regions that can afford a mid-to-top range smartphone?

I explained already below in detail why. But to reiterate in short, if your monthly income is in the ~200$ a month ballpark, you're not gonna be spending 300$ on a mid-to-top range smartphone just for the display output feature even if you managed to save up that money. Even in Europe some people skoff at paying 300 Euros for a phone but some here think people in nations with 10x less income are somehow the userbase for this feature because in their mind those people can't afford a 20$ dumpster PC, but somehow they can afford a 300$ pixel 8 and external monitor.

>This is mistaken in a few way.

Only when you ignore the numbers.

>1. [...] So any phone purchase is already part of their baseline expenses.

Yeah but that base line expense can be 50$ or $300. Big difference. Not everyone in 3rd world countries has 300 for a Pixel 8. That's the biggest flaw in your argument. That, and the fact that walking around with an exotic 300$ Pixel 8 flags you as a potential target for mugging in the wrong neighbourhoods, verus a beat up 50$ Samsung or Huawei.

>2. Any desktop/laptop purchase, even if it is $1, is an extra $1.

Hence why a 50$ laptop and a 50$ android phone leaves you better off than blowing 300$ on just the phone alone. And if even 1$ is THAT critical to your daily survival, then you're not buying 300$ phones anyway to begin with. You're buying the cheapest you can get so that in case it gets stolen you don't lose 6 months of savings.

>3. The screens/keyboards/mouse again will not likely be purchased by individuals themselves. They will have “Internet cafes”, libraries, schools, etc where those screens will be provided.

You think in 3rd world countries people just have displays with USB-C docks, keyboards and mice everywhere in public and at home? I know it's getting difficult to tell them apart these days, but we're talking about 3rd world countries, not the bay area.

you've missed:

4. used electronics in 3rd world countries are much more expensive compared to developed ones (because not as much units were sold when they were new to begin with), so 50 euros will get you a 3rd gen in a poor condition at best (or some shit tier Celeron N-thousand something with a soldered 4GB RAM)

You surely do realize that desktop mode on a smartphone needs a display, a keyboard and a pointer device too right? You can get a decent and complete laptop with 1070p screen for the price of a 720p only TV/Monitor.