Comment by dfajgljsldkjag

Where is the $150 euros coming from? 8GB of brand new DDR3 or DDR4 is available for $20-$30 from Amazon / Fleabay, and once he sells it the laptop will no longer work.

Why buy a used phone that will stop receiving updates, can't be fixed or upgraded and can't run whatever you want on it when you can use a real computer instead?

Why though? You can do so much more with a laptop than be trapped in Google's walled garden.

Who has the time?

I just want to get a new phone and be on my way. The last thing I want to do is download a community OS and/or roms on Day 1

How did they abandon it? It release october last year according to google.

>but beyond that it's just about everything I ever wanted in a phone.

I get that, but none of this answers my question of why people should use that to a TV, instead of a PC, other than to flex? It really isn't more practical, nor saving you money and you're still limited to the apps of android ecosystem rather than the windows/linux one.

>A 2-3 generation old pixel on the second hand marker is not expensive at all though.

Sure but at around 300 bucks is still way over 50 bucks.

And even if you get a used Pixel 8, having separate phone and computer adds a priceless layer of redundancy and flexibility.

If someone steals my phone, I don't want to also loose my work PC with it.

Isn't Pixel 10 the first one with fully supported desktop mode?

I remember I was very confused when buying a Pixel 7 to replace my (then 3 year old) Huawei P30 Pro, and the inferior camera + lack of desktop mode made it feel like a net downgrade.

Only pixel 8 and up have DP. So 2 generations old. I guess soon it will be 3rd gen.

Old pixels don't have HDMI output, I learned it the hard way when the screen of my Pixel 3a died.

Note that such capabilities were added to the 8 after it launched. When they launched it they did not even mention that it contains displayport alt mode.

USB-C is only a connector/socket - a device having a USB-C socket does not guarantee much beyond being able to plug a USB-C connector into it.

Some USB-C devices only use the port for charging for example. Others might only support USB 2.0.

Getting a display out from something with USB-C socket needs the device to support something called DP Alt Mode.

Note that cables matter too - you can have a DP alt mode enabled monitor and phone, but if you have the wrong cable it won’t work. Welcome to the future.

I am pretty sure brands would rather sell you additionnal devices, like tablets or chromebook (will they be called androidbooks?) than make budget models able to do so.

Is it any good? Last time I tried miracast the framerate and video quality was total garbage due to shit compression. Barely worked for streaming youtube videos to the TV but no way I could do it for productivity.

Some "flagship" and higher-end-midtier phones cheap out on the USB connection. USB 2 over USB-C with USB-PD for fast charging. No video out, slow data transfers.

Maybe when desktop mode becomes more common there will be an incentive to fix the shitty USB situation.

Cheap phones probably won't really have the power to effectively multi-task so I imagine cheap models would rather disable the feature than leave the user with a bad UI.

Surprisingly, no. It's a "premium" feature these days.

>Do you understand how much are 50 bucks in a third world country?

Yes I do, no need to patronize us with that since even in 3rd world countries people have access to old computers from ewaste imports at a reasonable price, we don't all live in straw mudhuts wearing loincloths swinging from branch to branch.

Now tell me which 50 euro phone ships with display output and is readily available. AFAIK Oneplus 7T I had is the cheapest with that feature but still over 50 and official SW goes to Android 12. Not sure if flashing lineage will still keep display output feature.

Then there's the issue of availability in 3rd world countries, where it might be easier to find some scrapped Dell optiplex with a core 2 duo, or a beat up Acer from the windows 7 era for cheap at your local market versus a cheap android with display output capabilities being more of a unicorn. Sure you'll find your Pixel 8s and or Samsung S24s too, but those imports don't come cheap there, compared to the masses of lesser known cheap chinese phones but those don't have display output and their software is shit.

Plus, if you go that route of Pixel 8 as a pc, you still need the budget for an external display, mouse and keyboard and your battery will wear out much faster. So then why not get a cheap laptop which has all the peripherals?

Plus 2, old phones age very poorly performance wise, they slow down a lot due to thermal paste and battery degradation and nobody makes quality OP 7T batteries anymore to do a swap and get back to out of the box performance. What you find on Aliexpress now are fakes or poor quality clones. While a laptop is much easier to repair and maintain as parts wear out or break.

There's literally a screenshot of Chrome with extensions in the article you're comenting on.

Why are you confidently commenting if you didn't even attempt to read the article?

I've only used it when I'm in a pinch but it's handy. Blowing up mobile apps to a larger screen and multitasking isn't ideal certainly but I've been able to handle "email job" type activities while out of pocket. That said I've never heard of anyone else who's actually used it.