Desktop computers have a higher ratio of power to price. Desktop computers tend to be more powerful than laptop computers at a lower price. Laptops become very expensive the more powerful it is. Desktop are preferable over laptops for gaming because they are less expensive and have more power to run games. However, laptops are more mobile and easier to carry around if you travel a lot.

I guess it has been a while since my last posting on this topic. I am looking into getting a new monitor for the PC and I plan to keep up with using it more... well, at least project wise... I like to use the laptop to move here and there around the house, but really I want to be able to have everything I need by me on my own desk and not a dresser or end table that is just holding my laptop.

Yordan is right when saying that if the monitor is bad then it could affect the whole laptop. I would think any piece of hardware on a laptop that needs repaired affects the whole machine. Where as desktops just need a device here and there. And laptop repair can be tricky.

I had many people hand me their laptop after spilling stuff on it... not the smartest, but on a desktop you ruin your keyboard, not the whole machine... The laptop is ruined... You would go get a new keyboard for your desktop....

I cannot badmouth the laptop, because well, I am using one right now... But on the desktop, I feel a little more free and independent rather have everything bundled into one machine... I will still be using the laptop, but for basic operation, and will go back comfortably to my designwork on the desktop.... oh, how I just want that new monitor!

This post has been edited by skedad: May 4 2008, 05:06 PM

I myself prefer laptops as you can take them to almost any coffee shop and you can use their wireless internet for no cost to you !

I also like the portability part of a laptop ( i like to take my laptop with me on vacations!)

Now I have both a desktop and a laptop, so to me, I have the best of both worlds =D! Obviously I use my desktop more since it has more horsepower than the laptop.

xboxrulz

You can't compare a laptop to a desktop. They serve two very different functions.

To me a desktop functions as mainly a gaming device, I built my desktop just for that and have customized it.

Asus p5N32-ESLI Mobo
500GB WD hard drive
8800GTX 328MB
4GB Ram
600 W power supply.

This to me is just mainly for playing new games that come out on the market like crysis for example. I am a huge gamers so i needed something like this in my life. I don't do any of my work on my desktop. I just think it doesn't get done if i sat here and started doing it. I would get distracted by games and stuff lol. To do my work, at home and on the go i use my laptop. Its mobile. But also, you have to think about how much more you are paying for it. Compared to a desktop you could end up paying 3 times more for the same specs on a laptop. That being said, laptops aren't made for gaming or anything, they are just for getting work done in my opinion. So pick what u prefer, and if your in the middle you could always get a very expensive laptop or a normal desktop and loose the mobility aspect of it.

I like Desktops better. I'm not sure why, I think it just may because I have bad experiences with laptops. I do own a laptop, however it is old, and not quite as quick as I would like. Also, the other laptops I have experiences (the ones at school and of my friends) have also performed, in my opinion under par. However, if I had expereince with a newer, quicker (Core 2 Duo, or Quad Core) more capable laptop, I would probably prefer it over my deesktop. Its just that as of now I rather sit in my comfortable, leather, cushioned computer chair and do work quick on the desktop than sit with a bulky old laptop running quite slow on my lap.

I have never had a laptop of my own, but I do know of people that have used laptops. One problem is they don't stay charged for very long when your using it (you only get a few hours of use in before you run out of battery). I also know people that have had trouble with the battery. I like desktops especially because you can get a decent one cheep (or free) these days. If you put Windows XP rather then Vista on it, it will work just fine and if you use Linux it is just like a high end computer running Windows Vista. Laptops are defiantly more expensive, but I could see good advantages to it, both the mobility and size may make paying more worth it.

A little off topic but what do you think about this $30,000 laptop? 5-pen computer and Images. Seems like a bit much for a few projectors but may be a look at future computers, that is if they ever make them work outside of a dark room...

Thanks,
Sparkx

I prefer a Desktop computer, especially for working with it at home or office, but in my opinion, o more advanced computer user could have a Desktop and a laptop, because laptop is also very good, because you can bring it to your office/work, to university, to somebody to show something in the restaurant or any place, even in the yard or in a car.. I never liked laptops keyboard and etc. and the disadvantage that better laptops are bigger and heaver, but anyway, I am thinking of doing it like this:

Have a quite good big laptop and use it as a desktop, by connecting a monitor, keyboard and mouse to it at home and when needed you just can take it out and bring it somewhere this is really comfortable, because now having to computers sometimes is annoying, you think that you did something there and it was on another computer and etc.

My only problem with laptops (that I'll probably overcome when I get one) is how close you type to the moniter. Atm, on this desktop, the keyboard is about five inches from me, five inches from a raised moniter.

Reply to Toby
I don't have the room to keep my computer that far away from me. At the moment my large (not thin) monitor is pressed against the back wall, my keyboard is up against that and that takes up pretty much my entire desk. I would have to agree however that laptops have a strange keyboard setup and is hard to get used to especially if you use the number pad a lot (which is not on most laptops). If I ever got a laptop I would look for one with the mouse pad, scrolling ball on the keyboard and a wireless mouse. The mouse pad is hard for most people to use which is another reason most people like desktops more (even if you can get a tiny mouse to plug into your laptop).

Thanks,
Sparkx