Virtual Pc instead of buying a new one

Fanatec

I have been doing a bit of research on virtual computers and wasn’t able to find anything that could provide what I was looking for. What I was looking for is instead of buying a new pc I could just use a virtual one where I could install a program of my choice or insert disc etc. from the computer that I have at the moment. So I would still use my current pc but use all the hardware of a top spec pc through an online service.

Is there any out there or is this even possible.

Replies appreciated

Lundar.

Hi Fanatec,

At the present time , broadband speeds in ireland ain't up to what you want to do , the virtual gaming pc's are still in development, there are a few companies that developing a set top box which allows you to connect to high end server/pc.(there are other methods)

personally in the next 1-3 years you will see virtual gaming pc, but the graphics and so on ain't up to it on a virtual machines at this time.

at this time it ain't possible, maybe some boardies have more info.

Fanatec

thanks for the info

Do you know the names of those "set top box companies"? They sound interesting.

Thanks

Adyx

I remember seeing a review of a product in a PC magazine for such a device. It was a small Linux based client machine that connected to a server for a Windows XP desktop. I think it was £100-150 and also had a monthly subscription plus add-ons like MS Office were extra.

It was very limited - you couldn't change any settings or install your own software so you were more or less forced to pay extra. In fact you couldn't even right-click.

As well as this, performance even over a decent broadband connection was absolutely abysmal. It was hard to even do any text editing, let alone watch video or listen to music.

Tea_Bag

there is a console that does the gaming side of what your looking for, its called OnLive but I've no idea how good it is..

desaparecidos

I don't see anywhere in the original post where he/she asks about gaming.

http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

Cloud Computing, or virtual machines in the cloud are mainly business orientated and will in the long run cost you more than just buying a "top spec" PC. (with computing power these days, it doesn't cost that much to buy / build a very powerful PC)

Cloud computing, currently, is only really suitable for running web servers or machines that process massive amounts of data.

For normal end users who want to run a program (something that requires user interaction and a view of the program), i.e Photoshop, Video Editing software, games, etc, the main limitation now is broadband speed. It's just not fast enough to deliver the "screen" of the program you are running.

Even over 100mb LAN, something like Remote Desktop (which is a similar concept to what you want) will run slow.