Alright, guess that it's time for me to go against the grain.I'd say: go with the desktop. The prices are so much more reasonable, so you can get a great (and fast, feature rich) system for the price of an average laptop. Even though your parents are buying and you aren't, still...it's a better deal.Plus, desktops are so much easier to relace/repair/upgrade. If you need a new hard drive with a desktop, you buy it and plug it in. If you need that for a laptop...yikes. You'll probably have to send it in to the manufacturer or something. And if your laptop gets damaged or something...good luck getting somebody to fix it. Whereas all computer guys can usually fix desktops.And...I just don't like laptops, either.