Home Computers: Desktops vs. Laptops

[Brian]

One purchase that we'll have to be making in the somewhat near future is probably a new computer.  I work on our computer all day, so it gets plenty of use, and our current one is about 5 years old now (Dell Dimension XPS, Pentium III, 20 GB Hard Drive, 256 RAM).  It has served us very well, and we really haven't had any problems with it, but it is just getting to the point where it is time to upgrade.  I'm not sure how soon we'll be doing it, but we've started looking at them a little bit.  We'll probably be going through Dell again, because we (and our family/friends) have all had very good luck with the, and I do like their machines.  Anyways, to my question, one thing we have been considering is a desktop vs. a laptop.  I've always thought laptops were pretty spiffy, but they are obviously a fair amount pricier as well.  We'd like to get something that takes up less space, so if we go the desktop route we'll likely be opting for the flat panel monitor.  Plus, you do seem to be able to get a little more "bang for your buck" with a desktop.  Anyways, I was curious what some of you have/use for a computer, and whether you prefer laptops or desktops.  Is one way the better way to go?  I've heard some people say that laptops have more problems, but then there are others who swear by them.  Anyways, just curious if any of you have opinions on your 'puters.

[Morgbug]

If you REALLY don't need the mobility, I'd stick with a desktop unit. 

Laptops are great.  The mobility is spectacular, they run quite well and they are super convenient when you end up on the road.  But....


They do require more service, simply, I suspect, because they are so mobile and get banged and bounced around.  My wife has a Dell laptop and it has been returned three times so far, mostly because something has jiggled loose inside the machine.  You can't fix it yourself, even if you know how, because it will violate the service agreement.  Keyboards tend to be more cramped, but that can be adapted too.  Monitors can be smaller, depending on what you get. 

Performance wise and related to price, you get less bang for your buck, as you indicate, sacrificing performance for mobility.  I thought about this choice too, but getting a better/faster machine for less money with a bigger monitor is very appealing.  I went for a short service agreement, simply because I am comfortable servicing my own machine, or upgrading components.  Something I find cheaper on my own with no shipping back to Dell.  The short service agreement gets me through the "poor manufacturing" problems that may arise quickly, then frees me up to muck about with the innards without violating and nullifying an agreement.  I also like not having to hook things up perpetually, though a docking station could go a ways to preventing that headache.

The sexy choice is a laptop, the pragmatic choice is a desktop. 

If you do get a laptop though, go for the four year service deal.  It's pretty cheap over the long haul and from the experience with my wife's laptop ( ), entirely necessary.

[Brian]

That's pretty much exactly what we have been thinking Brent.  Although a laptop would be really cool to have, we don't exactly "need" it, or the mobility.  My wife personally wants the desktop, because it is cheaper and she knows we don't need a laptop, but I was still on the fence.  When it comes down to it, the desktop is probably the more logical choice...and a fair amount cheaper.  I appreciate the advice though, its always good to see others' experiences and opinions.

[CorranHorn]

Morgbug did a pretty good job on giving you the reasons not to buy a laptop as a home pc, especially the whole damaged part/not being able to fix it yourself issue. Another problem in tune with that is, if you ever want to upgrade any part of the pc, you pretty much can't unless it has an external equivalent. That means no new memory or a better video/sound card, as well as higher priced hard disks and media storage devices. Laptops are all great for being on the go, but as your main pc they aren't worth it.

Also a bit of advice as your shopping for your new pc, the best buying point nowadays is not the speed of the processor, but more about how much RAM and hard drive space you have. Pretty much nowadays for the average user, a faster processor isn't going to be noticed as most programs do not utilize all the resources made available to it by a top of the line processor. However, many programs nowadays are memory and storage space hogs, so when looking around I would suggest not worrying about if a Pentium 4 is either 2.6ghz or 3.0ghz, go with which ever one will net you more RAM (512mb is a good standard nowadays) and Hard Drive space (120gb is a good standard as well).

Best of luck!

[Morgbug]

Pretty much describing my Dell there.  512 MB RAM, 3.06 GHz and 120 GB of memory.  If the need arises for more memory, I'll either add a second internal hard drive or an external one.  When cash allows (and it may, if Hasbro puts out not much between now and April) then I'll probably drop in another 512 MB.  Only three slots so it would be nice to put in a 1024, but $$$ become an issue. 

It's amazing what you can get for not so much cash these days. 

[CorranHorn]

yeah its quite surprising to see the low prices nowadays, ive seen 250gb harddrives for as low as $100. I need to pull some money together to take advantage of that.  a good processor will last you 4 to 5 years, so its good to know that if you want to do other upgrades, its not too costly to do so. well except for flat panel monitors, blah!