Hi all, Am my way to purchase a new laptop, bu tin between i had a doubt either to go for a new laptop or update the exesitng desktop machiene, then i decided to post it on the astahost where i can get the proper answer. please all asta users judge which one to go for and why, their's pro and corns. Please let me know. If Desktop what should be the ideal configuration and same for the laptop also. Regards Arunkumar.H.G

Reply

Well I like a laptop because my current bedroom is really really small and using a Desktop PC would take up so much room, whereas with a laptop, I can slide it out of view when not in use. I've also got a wireless network with my family computer so I can sit out in the garden whilst on the internet. In otherwords I've got no cables to cart around or worry about.

On the downside, you miss mouses when you are trying to use the touch sensitive pad on a laptop to edit a picture in PhotoShop and although you can obviously install a mouse on a laptop, most times I would forget to bring it with me. It just depends on how much power you need and how flexible you want the transport of the computer to be. A PC with the same specifications as a laptop can be half the price for obvious reasons, and there is more room in a Desktop PC for expansion. But you can't carry a PC into your garden easily and you cant set it on your knee whilst in bed!

Reply

It really boils down to what you want it for. For example someone who is always on the move would definitely be more suited for a laptop if he or she can not afford to get both. Or if that person is a techie like me and need one for trouble-shooting in the field. Laptops are nice to have and prove themselves worthy 99% of the time.

But like rkage say there are downsides to them also. They cost more than desktop with same specs, and can really warm up your pants with long use in you lap. You tend to crouch over a lot which is not good for you posture, and the list goes on. But wouldn’t you be happy if you could fold up your car and take it with you when you travel?

Laptops to me are for convenience so if it’s convent to you to have one then get it. But still fix up you desktop. Or if you can’t get both, the laptop may have the edge in my opinion. You can take it anywhere and still use it at home.

Reply

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 !

Reply

I think i agree with everyone else. i have had a couple of Desk top computers in my time going back a few years and they were perfectly fine then and still are now. I have a laptop now as i always wanted one, and the price between my laptop and a desktop really does not differ much here, obviously depending on what specs you want it would be higher or lower.

qwijibow:


Yes! when i got my laptop christmas before last the battery life was what it said - around 2 hours - but now the longest it has lasted is around 40 minutes. i have no idea why this is as i do not overcharge the battery i always try to boot it up without it plugged in then if it does i plug it in and let it charge while i am using it. This pi**es me off a little/lot as it was one of the reasons why i bought it.

Honestly if you do not need to carry it about or have a large enough room then go for a Desktop, i am perfectly happy with my laptop except the battery life issue.

overture.

 

 

 

Reply

my pick will be the desktop, you can upgrade it easily by buying parts for it. also it will be cheaper than laptops. laptops are more expensive to upgrade, at that price you better off with buying a new laptop.

it also really depends if you going to be out and about alot and need to use a computer, the laptop is the solution. and yes i agree they can get easily be stolen. or you could get mugged because of it. so if you do get a laptop you must be careful taking it outside. or you can use it around the house and use a wireless connection to your network. but if you staying at home and use the computer most of the time your better off with a desktop computer. there are loads of accessories to add to the desktop.

its your choice what you are going to use it for. two things, two purposes. one staying in and one out and about (getting mugged). LOL

well hope this will help!

Reply

But a laptop can function as a desktop computer which I have done many times. I had an old monitor in the house after my family upgraded to flatscreen so I took the old monitor plugged it in to my laptop ad used a keyboard and mouse whilst my laptop fitted perfectly into the small space for my PS2.

It wasn't as powerful but it still functioned perfectly for my needs and was a less compact desktop PC. Can you turn a desktop into a laptop?

And desktops don't have batteries so using that as a downside to not buying a laptop doesn't make sense. It is a downside to laptops in general because the technology employed for all rechargable batteries isn't good but they are getting better.

I think a laptop is good because you can take it on holiday for checking photos or movies as you take them. Watch DVD's in the car on the way there. A multi functional entertainment system. But buying one for hi graphic games would be pointless unless you are going to splash out quite alot of money.

And about the laptop messing around with fertility - if you ever feel the heat that come off the bottom of some laptops, its hotter than radiators! Put that against your mojo jojo and your gonna boil something. I'd recommend always putting a pillow under it.

Laptops - good for watching DVDs in the car, viewing photographs, programming when you are bored, a radiator and a contraception all in one.

Reply

I'll add my two cents here, seeing as I've own several of each.

On a whole, I much prefer the portability that a laptop gives. When I had both, I often found myself using the laptop because I could choose where I could use it, whether it be sitting on the couch, at the dinner table, or my favorite, in bed. Most of the time, I don't need killer speed for my applications. I usually spend a good 80% of my computer time either doing business in Word, email, or on the web. I don't game that much, so having the top of the line graphics GPU doesn't matter to me, and my laptop did just about everything I needed it to do. The only thing I wished it did better was Photoshop (faster performance), but that I could live without.

Now, onto the badside of laptops. My laptop basically died twice while I owned it. Both time the logic board shorted out, causing it to cease living. Both time it was covered by the warrantee, but sadly, this last time it didn't come back from the shop. Why might you ask? Because some punks decided to rob the shop in broad daylight and stole my laptop. Good thing it wasn't fixed yet. Bad thing is that it probably found its way into a dumpster.

So, desktops have a slight advantage on theft protection, but not by much. If you're smart, you don't get things stolen. However, my case couldn't be helped, as I personally wasn't there to prevent it. Thank god for insurance.

Sure, desktops offern higher speeds and more expandibiliity. But really, all I care about is just using it whereever I go, so laptops fit my bill nicely. Thanks to insurance, I should be getting a brand new one any week now.

Reply

first, to answer a few other comments.

Battery life dropped because older battery technology slowly went bad. New batteries use Li-ion tech which is MUCH better, in that it holds more charge and does not get a memory (or not much) if you take care of it.

Case in point: my laptop (ibook 14" 1.33ghz G4) can get about 6 hours on a single charge.


Other than that, there are really only a few things to decide between in terms of getting a laptop and a desktop: power, portability and expandability.

Power and portability are inversely proportional. The more power in the laptop, usually the heavier it is and the shorter the battery life.

There are, of course, exceptions. Those usually come at a price premium though.

Expandability is better for desktops. you can replace the vid card and such for instance. However, this is becoming less and less relevant. With the exception of games and other graphically intense programs, modern video cards are ALL very very capable at handling whatever you feel like throwing at them. The one thing I would suggest here is to makes sure the laptop has an nVidia or ATI card in it, rather than some shared memory POS from intel or something. Those ACTUALLY suck.

These days, if your laptop has usb 2 and Firewire, then you can expand it as much as you need anyway, and it doesn't matter


So, what it really comes down to is what you need in terms of power/portability and how much money you have.

On a personal note, I have owned two laptops. The first I hardly used, because it was heavy and only had a so-so battery life. It also had mediocre performance. So it mainly acted as a Q3 server.

My second laptop(the mac) is quite peppy and has excellent battery life and is light enough. Now I hardly ever use my desktop.

The point of this is that when people tell you that they never use their laptop or there is no point, chances are they got something like my first laptop.

My suggestion: look through lots of reviews and pick up lots of notebooks. Figure out what weight limit you have. Then, go find the laptop with the best performance and a minimum ~4.5 hours of battery life you can afford.

Never look back.

Reply

I tend to prefer laptops, they really do provide a much more convenient set of features, most importantly mobility. If you're worried about the heat put of by your laptop, I have seen recently heat plates with built-in fans to keep it cool.

On the downside of laptops, they are even sometimes too big, I find that when riding the subways it nearly impossible to whip the old laptop out. Altough given that this is Tokyo and the ability to move a centimeter or two is sometimes impossible. I found that myself more often then not using my plam pilot must of time, as I can use it even when standing up.

Reply