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Computer Buying Tips

If you only have one computer, should you choose a desktop or a laptop?

Results so far:

Desktop
42% 420 votes Total: 1010 votes
Laptop
58% 590 votes

Desktop or Laptop? The question seems almost out of date. However, let's take a quick look at the pros and cons of picking a laptop over a desktop.

CONS

* Desktops are cheaper
* Desktops have more storage
* Desktops have more power
* Desktops are easier to upgrade

PROS

* Portability
* The Price Gap is closing
* The Power Gap is closing
* The Storage Gap is closing
* Upgradability is outdated
* More choices in form factor

As computer technology gets more powerful, smaller, and using less electricity, laptops are quickly overcoming any of the drawbacks that used to make the choice a difficult one. Gone are the days when a laptop was seen as an underpowered substitute for a desktop. The term "Desktop replacement" isn't used much any more because of its irrelevance.

In previous years, laptops were underpowered with regards to processor speed, storage capacity, choice of optical drives, graphics, sound, and upgradability. Today's laptops are close to equal in almost all areas.

Some of the areas that they still lag behind are storage (most desktops can have multiple hard drives, and so they will be able to offer more storage), upgradability, (a large box will always be easier to upgrade than a small box where space and weight are both at a premium), and graphics, (some laptops seem to have graphics as an afterthought, but this is changing).

However, the newest breeds of laptops come with hard drives in excess of 200 GB, dedicated video RAM up to 256 MB, dual-layer DVD burners, and BluRay and HD-DVD drives are on their way.

Take a look at the MacBook Pro that was announced on June 5, 2007. They come with up to a 2.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM, 250 GB of hard drive storage, a 17" 1920x1200 pixel widescreen display, a dual-layer 8x DVD burner (the "Superdrive"), NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM, built-in iSight digital camera, wireless N, and much more. This is, by far, more powerful than many desktop PCs on the market, and, it's portable.

As far as upgrades are concerned, as previously stated, desktops will most likely always be easier to upgrade, however, upgradability is outdated. Most people don't upgrade their computers every 3 years - they buy new computers every 3 years. Thanks to huge strides in technology, computers are getting much more powerful and much less expensive all the time. This makes replacement, and not improving, the new upgrade model. In this case, replacing


Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

If you only have one computer, should you choose a desktop or a laptop?

Laptop
  • 1 of 59

    by Kay Andrews

    The answer depends on your life style and usage. Today, the computing power in a laptop and desktop are comparable. ...read more

  • 2 of 59

    by Dylan Peterson

    Well to be honest it all depends on what you want your new computer for. If you need a good computer for a relatively...read more

Desktop
  • 1 of 39

    by Jeremy Jameson

    The question depends more than anything on how you plan to use your computer. While I chose the desktop side of this...read more

  • 2 of 39

    by Joe V.

    There are several reasons why I feel that a desktop is a better computer to have. 1. Price Due to the size and ...read more

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