When I played Half Life 1 for the first time, I almost immediately lost interest after getting to Xen. When I played Black Mesa, I almost cried when I got there. Best fan-made remake I've ever played!
I think that it's also got to do something with the fact that you don't have to have your laptop in your hands to still be able to use it. The phone needs your constant attention to function, while the laptop only needs it when you want to change something.
What do operating systems have to do with monitor compatibility? I thought that you just needed a working video output and HDMI/DisplayPort/etc did the rest.