Laptops vs. Desktops

[spyder]

Experts predict laptops will be the dominant form of computer, compared to desktops, in 2011.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6474581.stm

I've got one of each, with my laptop doing everything my desktop is capable of (only slightly slower and with a slightly smaller hard drive). For me, this is no big deal.

What do you people use for home use? Work use?

[iridemymuni]

i use a desktop.

i dont really like laptops that much. if i wanted portability i'd buy a generator and walk around with my desktop and generator everywhere i go.

[UniTyler]

My desktop outpowers my laptop by a huge amount, in every area (PSU, GPU, HDD, etc.), but the laptop is still mighty sufficient for cafe internet-ing and lounging in bed, sipping a capp, using my home's WiFi. The desktop I use for just about everything at home. The laptop is for travel, cafes, and laziness. It'll be more useful in high school, though.

Gotta love the techie life.

[john_childs]

I hate laptops. Mainly for the flat keyboard and the useless trackpad pointing device. But you also get spoiled using a dual screen setup on a desktop system.

The only way to make a laptop useful is to put it in a docking station, add a Microsoft Natural (or similar) keyboard, add a real pointing device, add a second screen, add some external storage, and add a good USB sound module. At that point you've got a desktop system that's more expensive and not as upgradeable.

Laptops are better for the neat freaks though. The people who don't want a big mess of wires on a computer desk.

[harper]

Laptops can be moved. Desktops can be used.

[Borgschulze]

Laptops can be moved. Desktops can be used.
Exactly my thoughts.

With a mouse, the most demanding game my Laptop can play is Diablo II.

[toddw9]

I have a desktop PC, and my laptop is a MacBook. The MacBook is brand new, and is what I am using at the moment, but I still primarily use my desktop at home with dual monitors. The laptop is more for work use and the convenience of portability. If I'm home the portability isn't as necessary so I use the desktop. I'm trying to get used to the Mac so I have been spending more time on it lately.

[Brian MacKenzie]

i use two desktops and a laptop

edit: by 2011...who knows!!

[chester1234]

It costs alot more to get the same specs in a laptop then it does in a desktop. Desktops can be upgraded much more easily.

I choose desktops.

[thefish]

Experts predict laptops will be the dominant form of computer, compared to desktops, in 2011.


"Experts" predict a lot of things.. whether they are true or not... well...

[Chrashing]

Laptops rule.

At home, My desktop has it's own room, and is 2x faster than my laptop. But I only turn it on the desktop once every other month. And that is briefly.

At work my laptop goes everywhere, If I need a larger computer I log into it from the laptop.

Laptops are better. They are quiet, boot quickly, and can be used in front of the TV. Information is sharable, I don't to yell come look at this, just turn the screen since I am where the other folks are.

[monkeyman]

"Experts" predict a lot of things.. whether they are true or not... well...

Yup. (http://moronland.net/moronia/moron/972/)

[dudewithasock]

My desktop outpowers my laptop by a huge amount, in every area (PSU, GPU, HDD, etc.), but the laptop is still mighty sufficient for cafe internet-ing and lounging in bed, sipping a capp, using my home's WiFi. The desktop I use for just about everything at home. The laptop is for travel, cafes, and laziness. It'll be more useful in high school, though.

Gotta love the techie life.

I hate rich kids.

I don't have a laptop, but I do really want one. My desktop also...sucks...but hey, what're you gonna do?

[cathwood]

Laptops rule.

At home, My desktop has it's own room, and is 2x faster than my laptop. But I only turn it on the desktop once every other month. And that is briefly.

At work my laptop goes everywhere, If I need a larger computer I log into it from the laptop.

Laptops are better. They are quiet, boot quickly, and can be used in front of the TV. Information is sharable, I don't to yell come look at this, just turn the screen since I am where the other folks are.

Laptops for me too and for the same reasons.

We have one each in our house. If we had to go into another room to use the desktop (if we had one) we would never see each other.

[Brian MacKenzie]

here's my thoughts...

if you make money by working on your computer, you want the effeciency/upgradbility of a desktop.

if you are just some guy who looks at pictures and surfs the web (IE..the computer is a hobby) laptops are fine.

granted there are exceptions, certainly people work with their laptops...but in my case (working from home doing computer/video stuff, i need a whole office dedicated to that anyways, i'm never going to bother getting a laptop again.

and what am i doing with the laptop i paid $2500 for 4 years ago? I think I'm going to install it into my living room as a revolving picture frame...speaking of a laptop's upgradability :)

[annaats]

since getting my laptop i dont think i will ever get a desktop again. the main reason i got a laptop was because i was going to university and want to be able to take my laptop with me easily.

but there are loads more advantages than just portability; desktops take up way too much space, the monitor is never quite in the right place, the keyboard is harder to use and gets in the way when you have to use a pen and paper at the desk aswell. the mouse also is harder to use than a touchpad - especially when trying to draw things.

at home we all have a laptop and so can be sociable while on the computer, when we had a desktop the only place it could fit in the house was in the garage! and the house isnt thaaat small.

my laptop runs just as fast as alot of desktops and i have an external hard drive because i filled up most of my memory after a year (mainly due to finding a nice free and fast download network and gathering a large film collection...).

i definately agree that by 2011, or at least at some point in the future, laptops will be dominant over desktops - its happened with phones, cameras, music players and other things already; technologies are improving, shrinking in size and converging, so its inevitable.

Anna.

[gkmac]

I hate laptops. Mainly for the flat keyboard and the useless trackpad pointing device.Me too.

My next PC will be a desktop, but it'll sit under the TV. It'll have a quality motherboard of my choice, a very fast Athlon 64 CPU with a speed of my choosing, a CPU cooler which I will decide on because it's quiet and a meaty PSU that has just a mains cable outside, rather than one going into a dangly box.

Plus a rather good Hauppauge digital tuner card that can sit inside the case without a USB port needed or another box sticking out, and a DVD-ROM with a tray that opens fully and motors itself closed.

And lastly, put it all in case I can choose from hundreds so I can make sure it fits in the cabinet below and that I like the look of. And since I'm connecting it to a big HDTV, there's no built in screen to have redundant.

I doubt I'd see the day when I'd be able to build a laptop from scratch like that...

[uni57]

Laptops can be moved. Desktops can be used.Awesome brevity. I can say the same thing in at least three or four paragraphs.

Or how about this: Laptops become junk. Desktops become salvage for new computers.

(I haven't purchased a whole computer since I first switched from Amigas to PCs.)



My desktop has a 24" widescreen LCD monitor (which can swivel to portrait mode), a real keyboard, a real mouse, tons of memory and disk space, etc. -- it will forever blow away any laptop I can afford to buy. And when I have to use my laptop at home, I VNC to it from my desktop.

Given the Internet, high-speed connections, and (I think) today's technology... desktops don't have to be moved (security issues aside).

[toddw9]

Having a laptop is absolutely necessary for me... I need the portability. It will never be able to do what my desktop can do though.

[toddw9]

I hate laptops. Mainly for the flat keyboard and the useless trackpad pointing device...add a Microsoft Natural (or similar) keyboard, add a real pointing device

I have to disagree on one point. I can't stand those 'natural' keyboards. I type properly so having the keys separated they way they are isn't a problem, I just don't like them. I'll take a flat keyboard any day of the week over one of those.

You're right that a real pointing device helps. I don't mind the trackpad at all, but I tend not to use it if I can help it. Instead, I use a wireless mouse which connects to my laptop via bluetooth. Much easier to use, mostly due to the versatility of the mouse as compared to the trackpad.

There is one problem with having a white macbook... it sure shows the dirt. Looking back, I should've spent the extra $20 for a black one.

[uni57]

I don't think I would like a "natural" (broken) keyboard. But I can't stand the flat, recessed keys of a laptop. I like the now-hard-to-find-at-computer-shows old IBM clicky keyboards with the buckling-spring technology. And a real mouse, thank you. Oh, and I refuse to type with an antiquated keyboard layout that was designed in the 1800's!

[john_childs]

I have to disagree on one point. I can't stand those 'natural' keyboards. I type properly so having the keys separated they way they are isn't a problem, I just don't like them. I'll take a flat keyboard any day of the week over one of those.
You're implying that I don't type properly. ;)

Ergonomics become very important when you use a computer all day at work and then use it more at home. The flat keyboards caused problems for me. I don't want to end up with carpel tunnel or a similar RSI. I'm very careful about ergonomics. Laptops are not ergonomic.

Laptops also put the screen too close to you and not at the right height for optimal ergonomics. I can't work that way all day, day in and day out.

It only takes a few days to get used to a MS Natural style keyboard. I type much better on the split keyboards now than I do on the flat keyboards.

[john_childs]

Making a case for laptops, I'm in the process of shopping for a laptop for the parents. They just bought a condo in Georgia and are going to be doing the snowbird thing living 6 months in Georgia and then 6 months in Oregon. A desktop computer isn't practical to be moving back and forth. So we're looking for a laptop that will be used mostly as a desktop replacement.

Chalk one up for laptop superiority. ;)

I don't see the parents taking the laptop to the coffee shop or taking the laptop out on the road. I doubt it will get much portable use. The whole advantage will be in being transportable and self contained.

[burjzyntski]

Does this mean anything to you?
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9255/dsc03476pc9.jpg

[Brian MacKenzie]

Does this mean anything to you?
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9255/dsc03476pc9.jpg


yeah...nice desktop :)

[burjzyntski]

I mean something more along the lines of:
I use my laptop as much as I use my desktop. My laptop is for music/backup web browsing, while my desktop is my designated gaming machine/CG/internet computer. I use my desktop for experimenting with new linux distros as I use my laptop to research information about the new distro. My laptop is good for simpler things like photoshop and Counter-Strike, whereas my desktop is better for higher-end applications like Maya and hi-res WoW. The laptop is great to bring around (duh) and I like being able to show off unicycling videos when I go places.

[Erin]

I'm with you burjzyntski; I like 'em both.

The desktop for hardcore stuff like John Child has discussed. But the laptop for light weight applications or for, like right now, sitting on the bed, in the evening, in front of the fireplace and just mellowing out with some forum hopping.

[Borgschulze]

Laptops are better. They are quiet, boot quickly.
I completely disagree with this.

My laptop is a low end Gateway, it is far louder than my desktop when the CPU fan kicks in. My desktop boots probably four times as fast.

[gkmac]

My laptop is a low end Gateway, it is far louder than my desktop when the CPU fan kicks in. My desktop boots probably four times as fast.Me too (again). The laptop has a Celeron 2.5GHz CPU and my desktop an Athlon XP2000+. The Celeron has a higher GHz, yet the Athlon is faster overall. That doesn't make sense...

But by far the most crippling thing in my laptop is the rather shitty Intel "Extreme Graphics II" chipset. Otherwise the laptop itself would be fine, and being a laptop I can't simply swap it out for a decent nVidia card...

[iridemymuni]

my desktop is running at 3.00 GHz

is this good :s

[Chrashing]

I completely disagree with this.

My laptop is a low end Gateway, it is far louder than my desktop when the CPU fan kicks in. My desktop boots probably four times as fast.

ok, I have to admit that I don't give my desktop a fair chance when it come to booting up speed, because I don't use standby/hibernate on my desktop. But the fan on my laptop is much quieter.

And I do hate the laptop touchpad mouse. I think I learned to idle faster than it took to get used to that. That little keyboard joystick that the IBM laptops had, worked much better for me.

But for me the laptop is still the way to go.

[john_childs]

ok, I have to admit that I don't give my desktop a fair chance when it come to booting up speed, because I don't use standby/hibernate on my desktop. But the fan on my laptop is much quieter.
You can make a desktop PC very quiet. Quieter than a laptop with the CPU cooling fans running.

Many of the new desktops are quieter than the previous generation. Power supplies have gotten more efficient so they don't need the power supply fans running as fast. 120mm fans are more common. They spin slower so are quieter. CPU coolers with heat pipes can keep the CPU cool while using quieter fans. Case fans have gotten quieter. PCs are enabling more power control options and fan control options. So the computer can run the fans slower and quieter when it doesn't need as much cooling.

It has gotten better, but stock desktop PCs aren't as quiet as they can be. A few after market modifications can make the PC more quiet.

I replaced the power supply in my HP desktop with a quieter one that has a single 120mm fan. I replaced the stock case fan with a quieter one and added rubber mounts to dampen vibrations from the fan and power supply. I replaced the CPU cooler with a quieter one. I added a fully passive graphics card (no fan). Then put it on the floor instead of on the desktop right next to me. Changes like that and you can have a very quiet PC.

I could still do more to make it even quieter. I haven't isolated the hard drive or optical drives with rubber grommets or similar isolation methods. The drives are causing some case resonance that you can hear if you get right next to the case. Some sound absorbing foam in the case might also help.

All this is with a regular HP Pavilion. If I was really serious about making a quiet PC I would have started with a custom computer with a better (quieter) case.

[iridemymuni]

i like computer noise.

it lets me know its there and not afraid to rev up the hard drive every so often.

[burjzyntski]

Do it.
http://www.jab-tech.com/xcart/product_images/detailed/d_2293.jpg
Get rid of dust, people!

Your comp will run quieter, smoother, and quicker, depending on how much dust you can remove from the inner components (esp. the fans). Use an old toothbrush or Qtips to get those hard-to-reach places, too.

@gkmac:
My laptop runs a Mobile AMD Sempron 3000+ ('clocked' @ 1.79GHz), while my desktop has a Pentium4 'clocked' at 2.66GHz. They can both run the same software with about equal ease, but my desktop's video card is better, so that's what I use for the more demanding apps . AMD and Pentium cannot be accurately compared against one another based on clock speed alone.

this may clear a few things up http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-clock-speed.htm

[Joe2005]

I vote Desktops.

Speaking of quite my desktop power supply got fired (lighting hit it) so we went to best buy to get a new one...Didn't have the right one but they had the one for twice the power consumption and it still fit in our computer so we got that. My cooling fan almost never comes on, therefore very quite :p

Another thing I hate those little keyboards. Where out so freaking fast...Guess that's what you get for being able to type 70wmp.

[fuolornis]

I vote laptops. Just plug in a USB mouse and they're just as functional, and they use a fraction of the power.

[burjzyntski]

70wpm? Do you think that's fast?
My desktop keyboard has worn out quicker even though I type the same speed on it as I do on my laptop.


Desktops are, overall, more powerful; Laptops are, overall, more portable.

Pick.

[Joe2005]

70wpm? Do you think that's fast?

I'm the only one I know that can type that fast.

So by my standards yes. By the standars of people that can type 150+ wmp hell no!

[phil]

I like the now-hard-to-find-at-computer-shows old IBM clicky keyboards with the buckling-spring technology.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The chap over the partition from me at work uses one of these.

CLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLU
NKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKC
LUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUN
KCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCLUNKCL

Make it stop!

I much prefer desktops. You can move the screen and keyboard independently, including putting the screen much higher up than you can on a laptop, and laptop keyboards are awful. Fact.

Phil

[underdog]

At work:Desktop
At home: Laptop

I really like the portability of the laptop. And, I spent the money to get a fairly powerful one. I've got WiFi at home so it's cool to be able to use it anywhere. I remember when I first started looking at laptops. It was close to $2000 w/ a pitifully small hard drive and MONOCHROME monitor:( . I waited until you could get a 60 gb hard drive, plenty 'o ram and full color LCD for the same price. My only complaint is the crappy touchpad pointer thingy (yes, I'm very technical). Sucks. I plug in an external mouse.

[kington99]

Desktops. To get a laptop that suited me I would need to add a mouse, keyboard, stand, speaker system and printer. Suddenly it becomes far less portable, and infact as my screen is about the size of a laptop having a desktop only adds one item (the computer itself) when shipping it to and from uni.

But to play devil's advocate, who need power? If I had a laptop why would i care if it were lower powered than my desktop? I don't play the latest games, I don't do serious computation on it, the main programms I use are firefox, thunderbird, win media plyer, itunes, word and excel, all of which run seamlessly and open almost instantly, what more could I want?

[harper]

what more could I want?

Considering something breaks, to be able to replace a power supply, monitor, keyboard, motherboard, hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD drive, or memory stick for a fraction of the cost.

[kington99]

Considering something breaks, to be able to replace a power supply, monitor, keyboard, motherboard, hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD drive, or memory stick for a fraction of the cost.

I meant in terms of computing power.

[Joe2005]

Considering something breaks, to be able to replace a power supply, monitor, keyboard, motherboard, hard drive, floppy drive, CD/DVD drive, or memory stick for a fraction of the cost.
Exactly

It cost more for a new cd drive on our old windows 98 laptop then it is worth the guy quoted a new one at 500+ bucks so you have to add a usb cd drive <even less portability. Laptops are only good if you need them, but if you need them they are pricless.