Do You Prefer Laptop Or Desktop Computers? Which Is Better Overall?

[manuleka 0]

I would still miss my huge monitor though. For traveling, of course laptops are great though.

huge and multi monitors of course is the shizz with desktop... (unless you plug in your laptop to another monitor)

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

I will definitely go for a laptop, no matter how expensive it is or how many side effects it can have. The main reason for this is that I am from Pakistan and there is a huge problem of Load Shedding, especially in summer. At most, you can have only 12 hours of electricity. The remaining time is complete darkness and silence. Now if you have a desktop, what are you supposed to do in the 12 hours of no electricity. You will sit like a dump wasting your time. But if you have a laptop, with a good battery time, you can do all your work irrespective of the availability of external power.I have read a lot of posts in this topic saying that laptops are expensive. They might very well be but not in Pakistan. All the used models from europe and other developed countries are shipped to under-developed countries like pakistan like garbage. You can get good configuration and a good clean model very cheaply. I bought a laptop a few days back. It was hp6910p. The configurations were: Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz, 1gb DDR2 Ram, 80GB Hard disk, ATI Radeon X2300. The condition was awesome. I got it for 23000 Pakistani Rupees. That is about $250. It cheap, isn't it. I inquired about desktops of the same configuration, at believe me, they were at the same price range. The reason I was told was that the parts they use to assemble desktops are brand new. That is why the prices are high. So if you are in Pakistan, you should definitely go for a laptop.By the way, I am currently writing this post on my home desktop. It is 5 years old Dell optiplex GX240. It is the most reliable system I have ever seen. I have enabled the "auto power on" and "AC power recovery" features. This makes the computer start automatically whenever the electricity is available, Lot of people say that you might damage your motherboard or power supply because the pc gets on and off is a blink with electricity appearing and disappearing. I don't remember last time when I properly shut my computer down. But here is my PC working fine. In fact doing a great job.

[manuleka 0]

I will definitely go for a laptop, no matter how expensive it is or how many side effects it can have. The main reason for this is that I am from Pakistan and there is a huge problem of Load Shedding, especially in summer. At most, you can have only 12 hours of electricity. The remaining time is complete darkness and silence. Now if you have a desktop, what are you supposed to do in the 12 hours of no electricity. You will sit like a dump wasting your time. But if you have a laptop, with a good battery time, you can do all your work irrespective of the availability of external power.I have read a lot of posts in this topic saying that laptops are expensive. They might very well be but not in Pakistan. All the used models from europe and other developed countries are shipped to under-developed countries like pakistan like garbage. You can get good configuration and a good clean model very cheaply. I bought a laptop a few days back. It was hp6910p. The configurations were: Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz, 1gb DDR2 Ram, 80GB Hard disk, ATI Radeon X2300. The condition was awesome. I got it for 23000 Pakistani Rupees. That is about $250. It cheap, isn't it. I inquired about desktops of the same configuration, at believe me, they were at the same price range. The reason I was told was that the parts they use to assemble desktops are brand new. That is why the prices are high. So if you are in Pakistan, you should definitely go for a laptop.
By the way, I am currently writing this post on my home desktop. It is 5 years old Dell optiplex GX240. It is the most reliable system I have ever seen. I have enabled the "auto power on" and "AC power recovery" features. This makes the computer start automatically whenever the electricity is available, Lot of people say that you might damage your motherboard or power supply because the pc gets on and off is a blink with electricity appearing and disappearing. I don't remember last time when I properly shut my computer down. But here is my PC working fine. In fact doing a great job.

wow... rolling blackouts... that's like where i'm from (or was living before i moved here to New Zealand), power cuts happens unexpectedly... although it doesn't happen often, most of the time customers or residence aren't notified before hand.

seems like you need a UPS for your PC but it's amazing it's been lasting you this long - 5 years

[MargaretJackson 0]

I am having laptop of my own.Buying laptop is more beneficial as it is portable,lightweighted,requires less space and many more such advantages.

[yordan 10]

I am having laptop of my own.Buying laptop is more beneficial as it is portable,lightweighted,requires less space and many more such advantages.

Just had the "F" key stuck on my laptop. This is weird. Had I a desktop computer, I could simply go ta a store and buy a new keyboard or pick one from my old PC. On the other one, the Ethernet adapter does not work any more.
Repairing laptops is close to impossibile, whereas repairing desktop computers is so simple!

[rohitwebmaster 0]

Its very hard question. As our needs we should decides whats to buy.1st Laptop for whose who travel a lot for just buying a laptop for fun or listening music. we can't use laptop roughly like pc. other hand in computer we can do any types of jobs.2ndly Loptop need more money to repair and in other hand computer is too cheap to repair,even we also can solve any problem of PC.3rd is We can install many of PCI devices in computer and can change internal devices like LAN cards but in laptop we can't do anything.4th laptop need min power, other hand home computer need more power to use. so here laptop wins.At end we ca say both are best in their place and our use.

[manuleka 0]

now a days Laptop has become a norm to have... desktop computers are still the power house for more powerful and more customizable setups but quickly Laptops are getting closing up the gap between the two, with prices per performance value for much space saving and much more portable Laptop increasing its popularity and preference to many users...desktops will still be around for quite sometime, for me i can't really choose between the two unless other circumstances are implied, and I'm sure this applies to everyone...portability and space - Laptopperformance, price and customization - Desktopso really comes down to preference

[k_nitin_r 8]

If you want to use your computer for home automation and for setting up a CCTV network, or you want to have a touch screen, you ought to get a desktop because you can easily fit in a PCI Express card into a full-tower case or can get an all-in-one with a rather large touch screen.Barring these needs, a laptop offers pretty much whatever a desktop has to offer and at a lower price point if you do not mind the smaller screen size. Unless you are planning an assembled desktop computer, a laptop computer will cost almost the same even if you were to pick out a desktop with the smallest computer screen (which nowadays is about 21 inches, unless you were to pick out a really low specification which would have an 18 inch or a 19 inch monitor to go with it).From an environmental perspective, a laptop runs more efficiently and has parts that are built to run with lesser electricity. However, from a durability perspective, a desktop computer would last longer and is not something that you would toss into the dumpster after you are done with it so it would be re-used even after it has lived its useful life for you. Some people may argue that this is one of the negative impacts of old desktop computers on the environment because people would still be using old inefficient computers instead of getting newer more energy efficiency computers and electronics. While that may be true, unless the computer is running round the clock, which is unlikely to be the case for many computer users, the cost of building a new computer and processing the waste from an old computer would be much higher on the environment in terms of a carbon footprint when compared to re-using an old computer. If you were to get a computer powered by an Intel Atom processor, you would be using much less electricity than if you were still running on an old computer with an Intel Core 1 processor while still getting comparable computing power (that is debatable but the performance of the two processors would be rather close).When you get a laptop computer, a lot of the components are fixed or soldered onto the mainboard itself or are not user-upgradeable so you would be 'stuck' with whatever you buy with the exception of getting more memory for the computer or upgrading the hard disk drive. However, with a desktop computer, you can change the graphics adapter by swapping in an old dedicated graphics adapter with a newer one, or perhaps even stick with the integrated graphics initially and get a dicrete graphics adapter when you have the budget for it. However, I doubt I would be going down that route right away considering that computer components have got rather cheap and the convenience of using a laptop outweighs the benefits of getting a desktop considering that I frequently move - I mean I shift my location of residence so paying for international shipping and paying for import duties on a desktop computer does not really make much sense considering that laptops can be taken around without any import duties and a laptop is considered a personal item and is not counted as a hand bag.My laptop is in need of replacement and right now I am considering another laptop purchase sometime next year. I may consider holding out till Intel launches their Ivy Bridge processors, which are supposed to be more energy efficient when compared to the current generation of Sandy Bridge processors while offering a twenty percent increase in performance, which does not really seem much when compared to the performance difference between the first generation and second generation of Intel Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors. I am considering a larger screen too simply because I do not want to have to get an external display when I need to multi-task, which I tend to do a lot - I watch a movie while working or need to keep track of my downloads while I post to the forums. A 17 inch screen is pretty much the largest that most laptop manufacturers have to offer (though there are some rare laptops with 19 inch screens too and I image those must be heavy) but I may eventually decide to go with a 15 inch screen if I cannot find laptop cases and other accessories for it.

[manuleka 0]

...When you get a laptop computer, a lot of the components are fixed or soldered onto the mainboard itself or are not user-upgradeable so you would be 'stuck' with whatever you buy with the exception of getting more memory for the computer or upgrading the hard disk drive....

unless you're up for the challenge and have the time to upgrade other parts... i have upgraded my laptop CPU... luckly is was possible and probably much easier on my laptop compared to others

[rianne 0]

Also i think i remember reading that laptop use was as bad for fertility as constricting underwear... (which may be a good thing depening on your social life, lol)
but seriously...
i had this same choise a few months ago, and i chose desktop for several reasons.

1) for my work i need a network connection to my university Unix servers, when i am at home, i dont need a laptop, when i am at university, a client computer is rpovided for me in the computer room.

2) a laptop would only be usefull for 1 hour a day while i am on the bus.

3) laptops get stolen.

4) AMD64 3400+ desktop, or intel 1.0Ghz laptop for th same price.

5) last time i looked, laptop battery life sucked !

Hey,

I agree with u as my friend left her laptop in her car and when she came back it wasn't there. Luckily she got it back. Thanx for ur reasons!!!!

[rianne 0]

I honestly prefer Desktops as:

Laptops aren’t as good for games as a desktop

Desktops are more powerful

Laptops are most likely to get nicked &

They are not movie-friendly (trust me)

[mahesh2k 0]

Laptops are causing me a lot of trouble lately. Many things are causing issues for example, battery, screen and the hardware upgrade. I can't do that just like I do with the desktop. The reason I like desktop over laptop is that I can donate the parts that I don't need and carry on with remaining. In case of desktop you can keep screen and give the rest to someone.In case of laptop, if the battery is issue, you can hardly use the laptop. If the screen has issues, you can hardly see anything even though system runs perfect. Upgrading and constant heat issue is neglected in case of laptop.Tablets are even worst. I don't know how come people like to watch the movies and the text in small screen. I would rather see things on big screen of my desktop or laptop, instead of tablets.

[manuleka 0]

I honestly prefer Desktops as:

Laptops aren’t as good for games as a desktop

Desktops are more powerful

Laptops are most likely to get nicked &

They are not movie-friendly (trust me)

i don't fully agree with your opinions... Laptops now a days are awesome for Gaming - i use to own an ASUS G1S few years back and i use to play Call of Duty Modern Warfare on it high settings with no problem/lagging at all

 

Laptops are just as movie-friendly as Desktops... depending on which laptop you are referring to i use an old laptop (Celeron CPU) as my Media Center machine, hooked into the lounge TV... runs HD movies on it with no lagging at all...

Edited March 4, 2012 by manuleka (see edit history)

[mahesh2k 0]

As for screen goes. I don't think laptops are movie friendly. Try viewing laptop by sleeping on bed and keep the laptop on table in front of you on some table. Increase the distance and see the quality of picture. This is where tv and desktop displays win over laptop. Ofcourse you can connect it to bigger display using HDMI port but then again you know what and how things happen in it where you get slow picture based on laptop gpu.So my preference in case of movie and gaming is always the desktop. I do think for some casual games, laptops are good. For example alienware and macs are good at screen so for sure there are some good laptops. Just that they are expensive. You have to spend a lot of money in order to get that picture quality. I don't think it is comparable with desktop in such case.One more thing which i agree here is stealing. I know we take laptop everywhere and for that reason it is good. Desktop get stolen too in some cases. But that seems to be rare in comparison of the laptops. Pricing is dropping everyday for both laptops and desktop, so it is interesting to see where things go as tablets increase.

[manuleka 0]

As for screen goes. I don't think laptops are movie friendly. Try viewing laptop by sleeping on bed and keep the laptop on table in front of you on some table. Increase the distance and see the quality of picture. This is where tv and desktop displays win over laptop. Ofcourse you can connect it to bigger display using HDMI port but then again you know what and how things happen in it where you get slow picture based on laptop gpu.

i would second PC for movies, especially if i'm in bed... in my case, my Desktop is noisier than my laptop... but it really depends on the laptop we're talking about... if we're talking about high end laptop and high end PC... the PC will definitely be too noisy for watching a movie... unless you crank up the sound system...

but as for me, a casual gamer (and never those latest resource hungry game titles)... a laptop will always be my preference, for mobility, quietness, and space saving

and also i don't do video/audio encoding/decoding or intense graphical stuff...