Board 8 > What are the benefits to having a Desktop vs a Laptop?

(+) Yeah! (+)

For the past like 2 years I've just been using my laptop basically as a desktop, with it hooked up to an HD monitor and mouse/keyboard. I've noticed no drawbacks.

But it's that time again, where I've started shopping for a new computer, as so far as I can see the only thing with Desktops is that you can get slightly more power for the same amount of money due to space restrictions.

I'm only shopping Acer, btw. The quality and durability of this Acer laptop has made me a lifelong customer. Any Acer desktop owners around here help me out.
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@digiiiiiiiii because he seems like the go to tech guy around here
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More power for the same price.
Gaming.
Build your own and save even more.
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I'm not building my own I don't have the time or energy for it. I'd rather give up an extra hundo and have it work right out the box for me.
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Basically just for more power for gaming and doing more things

Otherwise I dont see as too differnet tbh now that there are ways you can make laptops have ways to attach to screens.
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You'll give up way more than a hundred unless you're going really cheap on specs but yeah having done it recently myself for the first time, even having a lot of experience working with computer hardware, it is a lot of work let me tell you.

Cheaper and a higher upper limit on specs if you want a good one is the main draw though in any case. That and it'll probably run cooler and is easier to do minor upgrades on.

Surprised to hear Acer makes good laptops now though-- I had one like 10 years ago and that thing was super fragile and I intentionally avoided buying from them since then.
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This Acer I've taken all over the place, London, NYC, DC, everywhere. Still runs incredibly fine.

Yeah I'm willing to spend probably like $200 extra to not have to fuck with putting it together myself. There's a lot that can go wrong with that process anyway.
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Yeah it's pretty much only worth it if you're gaming to build. If you're going modest you're not saving much.

Which honestly is where you get the big differences between laptop and desktop too so I mean, you may just want a new laptop all things considered, just in case you wanna take it around you have the option.
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Things to consider

Cheap laptops (sub 400) usually have sub 1080p screens. Some that cost more even don't have full HD but that's rarer. You do have to jump to a significant price range to get anything higher than that. Even a basic decent 1080 monitor is only 100 bucks.

If you build say like a fast ryzen 3 system without really checking prices and going off the top of my head I'll come to like 700 dollars and that's if you assemble the system yourself. I'll be honest, it's possible to find a laptop that is almost as good or even better within a hundred dollars of that now.

There are other benefits though like

Increased expansion ports
More USB slots
Potential to get a better keyboard (by adding like around 100 bucks to the cost)
Upgrade potential

In your case too you should be free from like heat crashes. Prebuilt machines from like companies at least are speced to work like 99.999% of the time outside of overclocking or extreme pressure. Something someone who is not building their own machine is not going to do. I know from having several laptops that they all overheat at some point. I've had three different fx processors in my desktop builds and none of them overheated outside of heavy stress testing. So technically overall stability (in your case) should be a thing.

However, all of these are nominal things. In your case there would be little real benefit without doing tinkering yourself. There are chances too that your laptop is touch screen also, something I actually consider to be a pretty big benefit now. I've more recently started to move away from laptops and into the tablets as their screens are better and have greater portability.
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I was thinking about doing a touchscreen, just because of the added versatility, but I'm assuming that adds a bunch onto the cost and I'm not about that life, especially when I'm just going to hook it up to an HDMI port and use it like a desktop anyway.

Also I do very little gaming.
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If you don't use it for gaming and your current laptop is working fine for the moment then long story short is bug @Wanglicious, ideally during Black Friday season if you can wait that long, and let him pick out a good deal for you, being indiscriminate between laptop and desktop, just wanting the most bang for your buck.

Really see no huge reason to go you need a desktop these days for your style of PC use unless you plan on watching 4k HD videos or running some sorta visual design software or something.
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Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

I can definitely wait until Black Friday now that you mention it. I suppose I could focus on replacing my iPod first with a new DAP.
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desktops also last longer. i've never had a laptop last more than 4 years.
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The lack of sufficient cooling prevents laptops from performing as well spec for spec.

Cheaper in the beginnng, cheaper and easier to fix and upgrade.

ExThaNemesis posted...

I'm not building my own I don't have the time or energy for it. I'd rather give up an extra hundo and have it work right out the box for me.

Why? It's elementary.
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I'm just here to say I built my PC two years ago with absolutely no hardware knowledge (I'd installed RAM and a graphics card in the past) and all I had to do was watch a 40 minute YouTube video. It took me a couple hours but it's way easier than you think it is.

As for the benefits... I was in the exact same position when I built this computer, had used laptops throughout my college years but decided to make an upgrade to something powerful enough for CPU hungry production software and some gaming. Desktops just run a hell of a lot better, especially after a few years. I always thought I'd be a console gamer, but after getting a half decent PC... it's no contest. My PS4 is basically a Netflix machine now.

If you're not planning on gaming because you rarely play games anymore, you could stick with a laptop. If you don't game on PC because you have consoles, just make the switch.
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- more powerful
- cheaper
- easier to replace/upgrade parts going forward (futureproof)
- gaming
- Virtual Reality
- you'll shed a tear when you see Rocket League at 120fps on full ultra settings
- can support full quality 4k streaming on certain sites we won't mention by name...
- you already own the monitors/keyboard/etc so it's an easy swap out for no extra money
- you already own a laptop that, while starting to show its age a little, would be perfectly serviceable for vacations and work trips. so you don't need a second portable device, you need a new top of the line PC for your desk area that's going to be awesome now, next year, and five years from now


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Xuxon posted...

desktops also last longer. i've never had a laptop last more than 4 years.

I'm currently on my third laptop right now (bought near the end of 2015). My first 2 laptops both lasted for about 4 years.
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The main difference is that desktops have vastly better cooling systems- there's more space to dissipate the heat with, put bigger fans in, and so on

Laptops get hot and deteriorate more quickly, and have to slow down their own operation automatically to prevent from overheating

So laptops will generally underperform for their specs

Laptops have the obvious advantage of being portable. Even when you're not traveling, it's trivial to plug it into a tv or something to watch movies

So which to get depends on what you want to use it for
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first thing i thought of was durability. laptops can last a few years but a desktop should be lasting you twice the length/run at peak performance for far longer periods of time. it's not as extreme as say, a smartphone, but constant usage will wear the laptop more simply because of the cooling available.

second thought was how easy they are to repair when damaged. in a desktop you can change or add on most things and there's a few clear standards we work with. in a laptop these days, you maybe can get the hard drive (which has like 4-5 different standards there) and RAM still.
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buy a desktop, keep your current laptop around for when you travel.

Desktop is all around better except for:
-traveling
-size
-all in one (Don't need to buy a monitor, keyboard etc separately)

The last two is relatively trivial, and you can just use your current laptop for the first one
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yeah i should add that i built a desktop in the summer of 2011 and i'm just now replacing it because it can't run the newest games anymore

everyone's laptops seem to turn into a turd at around the 4 year mark
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Ngamer64 posted...

- easier to replace/upgrade parts going forward (futureproof)

this cannot be overstated enough.

I had a desktop PC that I used for over 10 years and had no real problems keeping up with technology during that time period. the laptops I've owned in the meantime.... if something goes wrong they are usually VERY expensive to fix and it's usually a better idea to just replace it with something newer and better anyway. I owned three in the same period of time and they lasted around 2-4 years each.

so, over time, the desktop is the better option by far. like if your price point is 400. do you want to pay 400 now and then maybe 100 in maintanence every few years for like 700 total over a period of 10 years. or do you want to pay 400 now and then 400 again every few years to replace the entire damn laptop, for like 1200 total, 1600 if you're unlucky.
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What I do is have a desktop for my main gaming and laptop for travel. My desktop plays most things on top settings and laptop plays most on high. Thing is I can upgrade my desktop as I see fit and a laptop I'll have to replace. Your gonna spend your money as you like but the main issue I have is upgrading a laptop isn't much of a thing. This may not apply to you though.

For everyone saying laptops only last 4 years I don't know what they had. In the past mine crapped out after 4 years or so and just stopped working due to heat. My last laptop I just replaced after 5 years of use because I found the settings to be to low in games. I gave it to people that don't play games and it still runs just fine with nothing broken. I think thats gone up in the quality over time from what I've seen.
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MariaTaylor posted...

Ngamer64 posted...

- easier to replace/upgrade parts going forward (futureproof)

this cannot be overstated enough.

+1

If anything goes wrong that goes beyond sending it to the company under warranty, desktop is superior. If you want to upgrade a laptop, forget about it. Many laptops are also far more limited on how many peripherals you can plug into them -- mine has no disc drive, 1 USB port, and not much else.

Basically, the question is more like why do you want a laptop? If it's portability, then I'm going to ask what do you do on the road that your old laptop can't handle? If it's...actually, I can't think of another reason to want a laptop, unless the space where you would put the desktop is not always a convenient place to be.
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Ngamer64 posted...

- you'll shed a tear when you see Rocket League at 120fps on full ultra settings

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LusterSoldier posted...

Xuxon posted...

desktops also last longer. i've never had a laptop last more than 4 years.

I'm currently on my third laptop right now (bought near the end of 2015). My first 2 laptops both lasted for about 4 years.

I'm on my 3rd laptop since 2005 but that number is skewed slightly because I replaced my laptop within the last year.

Laptop 1 2005 > 2010 (~$550)
Laptop 2 2010 > 2016 (~$700 but a manufacturer refurb. New like $950)
Laptop 3 Nov 2016 ($900 but a manufacturer refurb. New like $1300)

And I should say that they didn't break, they are both still fully functional to the point where I can go boot them up and play games with them. Never had to replace a part on any of them either (I upgraded the RAM in Laptop 2 but that's it)

I actually felt bad buying my new laptop in 2016 because of how well the previous laptop still works (Plays FFXIV just fine), I just saw a good deal on a new one so bought it. I should probably use Laptop 2 for streaming stuff to my TV or a server or something because it's still a pretty decent laptop given it's age.

If you don't do a ton of gaming, and you're already happy with a laptop, I'd just go with what you enjoy! Desktops are expensive and they can be a PITA to put together, but they have a lot of longevity and they can be upgraded piece by piece, which is great for us (Digi and I).
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It's hard to downgrade your mobility once you become accustomed to it. I'd never buy a desktop again personally.
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See this durability point is weird to me, because every Desktop I've owned has actually run into problems long before this Acer laptop of mine. I'm talking like 2-3 years and then something is going severely wrong. The last one, a CyberPower PC was nearing 4 years and the motherboard started dying.

You guys are winning me over though. My main usage for this new computer is going to be music/movies/internet. I flat out will not game on a PC. Hooking up a controller to the system has always been a pain in the ass and I refuse to play on a keyboard.

Main reason I am looking into upgrading is because current laptop's ethernet port is damaged somehow, so I can only hook up to Wifi which is something I don't like. And as I said it's 5 years old now so starting so show SLIGHT signs of age. It still operates very smoothly.
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Also I like to be ahead of the game with replacing a machine. Nothing sucks worse than having one die and not having a replacement on deck. The waiting is awful. I'm back in school too so not having a way to do work would be bad.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

Also I like to be ahead of the game with replacing a machine. Nothing sucks worse than having one die and not having a replacement on deck. The waiting is awful. I'm back in school too so not having a way to do work would be bad.

you just plug the controller in a usb port
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ExThaNemesis posted...

See this durability point is weird to me, because every Desktop I've owned has actually run into problems long before this Acer laptop of mine. I'm talking like 2-3 years and then something is going severely wrong. The last one, a CyberPower PC was nearing 4 years and the motherboard started dying.

I'd just like to point out, another benefit of buying a desktop piece by piece and assembling it yourself (which is WAY easier than you think it would be, it takes like two hours if you're new to it) is that you'll generally get a warranty on each piece of the computer, and not just a warranty for everything combined.

These will generally last MUCH longer and be way more convenient than just having one for the whole PC, because generally if something goes wrong with a prebuilt you have to ship the whole thing in.

I had a power supply go bad a few months ago, but it was in warranty so I filed the warranty with the manufacturer, shipped the part out, and they gave me credit to go get a replacement model from a retail store (Best Buy in this case). I had it replaced in half a day.

KommunistKoala posted...

ExThaNemesis posted...

Also I like to be ahead of the game with replacing a machine. Nothing sucks worse than having one die and not having a replacement on deck. The waiting is awful. I'm back in school too so not having a way to do work would be bad.

you just plug the controller in a usb port

yeah, seriously. even the PS4 controller is an official option on Steam now.
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If you do go with a desktop and you are set on prebuilt, don't get an Acer. Pretty much every manufacturer makes quality laptops these days -- including Acer -- but the big company prebuilt desktops are still absolute trash. With a prebuilt from somewhere like iBuyPower or CyberPower or something like that, you're getting a lot more for your money and the potential for expandability/upgradability

I can't read the whole topic right now but one of the positives of a desktop would be an always-on media center like I mentioned to you previously with my Plex account.

Laptops, though, are better now than they ever have been. Even gaming laptops are smart buys now since the cards in them are comparable to desktop cards. If you get a performance laptop, you'll want to search for "heat" "overheat" "hot" etc in the text of reviews because that's your primary concern. If you're not getting something for performance, then you want lightweight and fast.
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On my desktops at work and home, I have two monitors. I don't remember how I ever survived with one.

I built my home rig myself, btw.
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Wanglicious posted...

KommunistKoala posted...

ExThaNemesis posted...

Also I like to be ahead of the game with replacing a machine. Nothing sucks worse than having one die and not having a replacement on deck. The waiting is awful. I'm back in school too so not having a way to do work would be bad.

you just plug the controller in a usb port

yeah, seriously. even the PS4 controller is an official option on Steam now.

It's so much better now than the old days. Anybody else have to buy shoddy-looking SNES wannabe controllers to play Jazz Jackrabbit and whatever you were emulating?
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ExThaNemesis posted...

I'm not building my own I don't have the time or energy for it. I'd rather give up an extra hundo and have it work right out the box for me.

Takes like an hour tops to build. It is kind of fun.
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Anyway, my thought's a desktop but it's changed from circumstance to circumstance. Basically, I had to have a laptop when I had roommates or lived in NYC, but when I'm living alone and feel more comfortable committing a dedicated space to the tech I gotta have a desktop. I have my five-year-old laptop and iPad if I need to travel, plus my phone. My mobile needs are comfortable now and they would still be comfortable if I lost the tablet...I'd say my laptop too, except I want to write on the road sometimes. Phone's helped a ton in those needs.

Alao, on longetivity of laptops: I had a laptop fry theee years into it after buying it new, and I had a laptop my dad who's not computer literate bought used from a stranger for $250 that lasted ten years. That has always struck me as a tech miracle.
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Feel like cell phones have replaced tablets and laptops. Surfaces look cool tho
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i use three monitors on my dekstop and i'm considering a fourth
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digiiiiiiiii posted...

i use three monitors on my dekstop and i'm considering a fourth

I use two, and the only reason I don't have a third (or a fourth) is because I literally just don't have the desk space (And haven't ever felt like getting a bigger desk)

As somebody who did Laptop+second monitor most of the way through college, if you want multi-monitor a desktop is 100% the way to go there. Having one screen be significantly smaller than the other is just so fucking weird that I don't know how I put up with it at the time
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Reg posted...

digiiiiiiiii posted...

i use three monitors on my dekstop and i'm considering a fourth

I use two, and the only reason I don't have a third (or a fourth) is because I literally just don't have the desk space (And haven't ever felt like getting a bigger desk)

As somebody who did Laptop+second monitor most of the way through college, if you want multi-monitor a desktop is 100% the way to go there. Having one screen be significantly smaller than the other is just so fucking weird that I don't know how I put up with it at the time

I have a 23'' on the left, 27'' in the middle, and 23'' on the right. i don't mind mismatch when it's balanced on the sides



old picture but that's my setup currently
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Oh yeah something like that's great, especially because it's balanced. But I had like a 15 inch laptop paired with a 27 inch second screen and it was awful but I put up with it because I was actually cheap enough to not want to spend on a desktop at the time
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I am being pushed toward a Desktop here but


what could you possibly need three monitors for like


Why
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ExThaNemesis posted...

I am being pushed toward a Desktop here but


what could you possibly need three monitors for like


Why

Well, for me...

At Work: 7 Twitter columns to follow, gets its own monitor on the left - middle monitor has current article snapped to one half and source article snapped to second half - right side monitor has work slack chat snapped to one half and spotify/streamingvideo/something else snapped to the other

At home: gaming, spotify, discord, social media, giant bomb/other video.
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i also have three monitors. But I only use two because my desk is not large enough.
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The new console controllers just plug right in through USB and start working within seconds, and almost all PC games support them these days, so don't let that point sway you.


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When my last desktop needed replacing, I don't know, four or five years ago, I got this laptop and hooked my desktop monitor up to it for a two-monitor setup that was pretty great. However I eventually ran into overheating issues with my laptop and had to ditch the two-monitor setup. Having the laptop has been great for portability, but I really want to get back to a desktop soon for the performance, stability, bigger screen, et cetera. Preferably while my current laptop is still running reasonably well so I still have that for portability.

I've never built before but that's the route I want to go. I've messed around inside computers a bit in the past on a smaller scale and feel confident I can handle it well enough. After being strictly a console gamer all my life, I have been mostly PC gaming the last couple years as I haven't felt like getting a PS4, and my laptop, especially with overheating concerns, is limited there. But maybe more importantly, I want some big storage space and processing power for my photography. The software I have for processing my photos runs really poorly on this laptop which discourages me from even using it often. I'm sure just getting a newer laptop with better specs could solve that, but I still want that dedicated desktop.
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I have 2 monitors and I would use both when gaming. 1 to game and 1 to chat or read stuff on. But since I havent gamed on my pc in a long time my 2nd monitor in general just remains ofd.
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