Desktop vs. Laptop

[Aaron73153]

I'm heading off to NC State next year and I still haven't decided between a desktop and a laptop. Desktops are more powerfeul and can be upgraded easier, but the laptop is portable.

Which do you prefer?

[Krell]

If you know the limitations of a laptop, and can afford a decent one, then go with the portibility and small foot print, youll be glad you did.

You may want to buy a large monitor just to make it easier to see in the dorm room tho.

[Kyle06]

I will stay with my destop computer cause of the speeds lol

[Potato]

Go for a nice laptop. Their portability is quite nice, especially when it comes time to move out.

Whatever you do, make sure you have a nice quiet keyboard.

How far is NC state from where you are living?

[Aaron73153]

State is about a 90-min drive so I can come home for laundry lol.

Krell, the thing that worries me is how easily that a laptop could get lifted.

As a compromise I was thinking of getting a high-end desktop, and I have a friend who would sell me a win-98 laptop for $100.

[Ken17625]

It is also important (and maybe somewhat obvious) to remember that Laptops, unlike desktops are very difficult to "service" or upgrade.

Many retailers (partially because they want your money) advise against taking your laptop apart.

But if you know what you are doing.......ah...well go fo it.

I guess it comes down to your preference, and the space you have/will have.

[Krell]

Originally posted by Aaron73153
State is about a 90-min drive so I can come home for laundry lol.

Krell, the thing that worries me is how easily that a laptop could get lifted.

As a compromise I was thinking of getting a high-end desktop, and I have a friend who would sell me a win-98 laptop for $100.

. . .use the Force . . . .


You go with what you feel comfortable with, I personally wouldnt want to be chained to the worry about constantly keeping an eye on it.

Even an older one will let you read andtype at the library or starbucks.

That sounds like a good idea to me.

[Shy GurL]

Originally posted by Aaron73153
I'm heading off to NC State next year and I still haven't decided between a desktop and a laptop. Desktops are more powerfeul and can be upgraded easier, but the laptop is portable.

Which do you prefer?

I would get a laptop. Take it where u need it like to the library etc..

[isus]

laptops are awesome.

and when you get right down to it, if you can handle the fact that it's an apple, apple's are the best... they are thinner, lighter, and more powerful than many pc notebooks... unless you get one of the 8lb alienware beasts that use a normal p4 cpu. lol.

for desktops and gamers, get a pc. if you're not worried about games, get a mac.

watch the flames come in now.

[nasrules]

If you can afford a good laptop, go for it. But remember that you can't really get a decent laptop for under a grand (talking £s here), whereas you can get a decent PC for under £400 if you build it yourself.

[triniti]

I say laptops because I have a centrino 1.3ghz in which they have 1MB of cache and it is faster than my p4 2.0 ghz laptop, both with the same ram, however the centrinos can have a faster harddrive out of the factory which is a plus. And another note is that my centrino laptop runs 15" at 1400x1050 which gives me ample view of source code. It is a Gateway BTW. My desktop is cool for being at home however, i travel around so it is not convient to keep anything on except 100's of gigs of flicks.

[CCSDUDE]

If you can spare the cash I'd say go with a Sony laptop.....the ones I've used worked great and heat wasn't as big of an issue as with...oh....say a free P4 2ghz laptop from Toshiba I have....

Btw; love the avatar, potato. Calvin is classic...

[matstao]

Originally posted by Aaron73153
...

As a compromise I was thinking of getting a high-end desktop, and I have a friend who would sell me a win-98 laptop for $100.

This sounds like the best plan to me. A desktop is so much more powerful and flexible when it comes to upgrades or future concerns. It's also much less likely to be stolen or dropped. The old laptop will be good for portable activities like those which Krell mentioned or as an mp3 jukebox.

Have fun at college. Many of my fondest memories are from my college years as are most of my favorite blackouts.

[FrozenShadow23]

I'd go for desktop man. A nice desktop will beat any laptop. If you want a laptop for notes and wordprocessing, pay big for a desktop, then drop some chump change (in compairsion) for a cheap laptop to take around with you- No worries about getting it lifted, and a powerful box at home to play with. I SO Rule, heh.

Edit: Uh, my bad, you already thought of that... heh, well obviously I agree with this idea... heh... I got nothin'

[at.morris]

I'm living in student house at the moment with 5 other people. The person who lives in the room opposite me had his laptop stolen. The worst part is that we were all in the house and had two guests. The theif climbed onto the kitchen roof and arccoss to his bedroom window. Reached through, unplugged everything and made off without anyone noticing. Scary.

In saying that, for a student laptops are the way forward (although whoever said take it to the library must be having a laugh - whats a library?). I often get jealous of my flatmate sitting out working in the sun! He even got a network cable long enough so he can keep internet access while he is out there!
He also takes it to the computer labs, unplugs a computer network cable and plugs it into his laptop! Then he can get superfast T1 connection. Films actually take minutes to get, and BitTorrent comes into a life of its own!