DOOM! If you have an eye or ear close to any device that drops tech news into your world, you’ve probably been hearing of the “death of the PC” or its imminent demise from a few business analysts and other cracked crystal ball gazers. As someone who’s not a tablet/phablet user or huge fan and who knows plenty of people who prefer a larger screen experience for assorted work and entertainment, I have to poke a finger in the eyeballs of these analysts paid to say that crap and wag those fingers back and forth until they see the point. We’re NOT all headed into tiny screen world just yet and there are plenty of options for folks who like living larger and want to enhance their setups in a few ways.

Not counting the rabid PC “master race” clowns who deny any other choice for entertainment purposes while also denying their own childhoods (yeah, yeah, yeah, suuuuure you “never played a console game” in your life… maybe if you’re under 20 and was kept in a cage), there are plenty of normal Joes and Janes that like a PC or laptop as everything from a game machine to a prose and art producing monster. If you’re a dedicated device user sitting there squinting at that small to medium sized screen reading this (and about to have your expensive toy knicked by some sneering traveling highwayman), here’s a peek as some of the cool stuff you’re ignoring in favor of that “handy” device. You may want to read quickly on that device, as I hear one is stolen every fourteen seconds… or less in some areas. Eeek. Eeek. Halp, Police.

As soon as I saw the Maingear Rush at CE Week, I had to roll my tongue back into my head before I drooled all over the custom Glasurit paint job. Since 2002, The Kenilworth, NJ company has been crafting custom PC’s and laptops primarily for gamers that are built to last and look like it. Starting at $3105.50, you can customize your own Rush by choosing from a ridiculous array of options and even toss in a free game or bundle of games, a T-shirt or poster (the latter two for you, not your new gaming/media rig).

If you happen to like your gaming a lot more portable, Maingear also has a killer laptop in its Nomad line. Shown is the Nomad 17, which starts at 1579.00 and like the Rush, can be configured in a myriad of ways. yeah, you can get a T-shirt and poster too, if you’re one of those folks who likes to brag about your purchases. Of course, if you only get the poster, you’ll need to invite people over to see it, which is a bit weird if you ask me… but hey, proud parents and tech owners tend to be a bit goofy when they take home something they really adore and want to share it with as many people as possible.

Monitors are getting better and better as well as less expensive these days, but I say buy something that’s made to take a beating. Well, as much of a beating as playing games, watching movies or writing that great novel (American or otherwise) until you’ve fallen asleep in front of that screen a few too many times (although if you had a Focal Upright Locus Workstation, you’d probably not fall asleep until you stepped away from it to take a break from being up too long). I happen to love what BenQ is doing with their monitors, specifically in their gaming lineup. Right now, you can score a RL2455HM Gaming Monitor (which works with consoles as well as PC) for a mere $199, $30 off the normal MSRP. This is a pretty awesome deal for a 24″ monitor built for gaming (but of course, it’ll do just fine for other uses) and hell, if it’s good enough for MLG (Major League Gaming), it’s more than good enough for you with your aspirations of being that next James Joyce or Heinrich Kley (go look him up sometime)…

Let’s say you’re already savvy enough to know how to roll with your tech and yeah, you’re already ogling 4K solutions and/or you’re rocking the dual screen HD thing. Then you’ll already own or want to own some of Accell’s very handy UltraAV DisplayPort 1.1 to HDMI Active Adapter ($32.99). This little gadget connects your DisplayPort PC to an HDMI enabled HDTV, monitor or projector, requires no external power and supports resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 and 60Hz PLUS it plays nicely with stereoscopic 3D video and audio, AMD’s Eyfinity multi-display tech Ultra HD 2k and 4k. And guess what? You Mac OS users aren’t left out of the loop! What the heck does that all mean, you ask? Well, if your TV or projector or a larger monitor currently not connected to your PC has an HDMI connection, you can play games, watch movies or work in HD just by plugging this in. If you want to pull of the multi-display thing that’s all the rage among some gamers and media crazed folks who love to show off, yes indeed, that can be done and yes, it works beautifully. Accell offers a 2-year warranty on this little guy and as I’ve used a few of their cables previously, I’m betting you won’t need to take advantage of that warranty at all.

I was going to include a few other suggestions, but as they didn’t arrive before I needed to get this posted and my deadline is chasing me around the room with an axe, we’ll continue this one-sided conversation down the road a piece. Anyway, if you’re reading this on a device and didn’t get hand-burgled, congratulations. Just stop doing that while you’re walking down the street, please. I’m a bit weary of dodging walking kamikaze texters and e-Magoos as I’m merely trying to get some fresh air… oh, the humanity!

– Greg Wilcox