laptop or desktop?

[budin]

which one guys? I prefer laptop..portability really does matter in college

[ndeniche]

depends... 'cause it is true laptops come in handy @ college and universities... but if you area software geek, and as us (geeks) you like having unuseful software in your pc,loads of music, and excesive games, i'd recommnd a desktop...

but, if you have both, in addition to a PDA, it's much better...

[joshSCH]

I choose... BOTH! hah.. I'll be taking a laptop and desktop to college next year.. b/c I need the portability of the laptop, and I enjoy the comfortability of the desktop :)

[ndeniche]

agreed...

[lasher511]

they definatly both have their advantages and it is handy to have a desktop at times however i love my mac book pro.

[Duki]

since i got my laptop i'm rarely on my desktop (which is only about 2 months old).

[christina>you]

I'd go with the laptop.

[joshSCH]

they definatly both have their advantages and it is handy to have a desktop at times however i love my mac book pro.

mac book? bleh.. They just shipped my new dell laptop! It comes with Ubuntu.. I'm excited :)

[lasher511]

Ill give Dell the fact that they are cheap however if you want to keep your laptop for more then 2 years then i have found that they arn't the greatest for surviving. Plus im not sure i would trust a Dell on my lap especially with all the explosions and such that i have seen on the internet. I know they have "fixed" the problem but i would still be suspicious.

[sk8ndestroy14]

Lasher511, what is there to say about my gateway laptop, good or bad?

[joshSCH]

If dell was as cheap and worthless as you claim, then they wouldn't be dominating the industry..

Besides I would hardly call a $1500 laptop cheap.

[Rashakil Fol]

A laptop is just fine, no desktop needed, as long as it has a good keyboard and, of course, a nipplemouse. However, a desktop has the advantage of... um... in the case of Dell, not exploding. Also, it takes up less desk space, when using an external (i.e. good) keyboard.

Why did I just write this? Does anybody care? What drives somebody to spout his opinions on a POS choice between POS hardware?

[UrbanKhoja]

you'll always get better value for money and like for like performance from a desktop but a laptop boasts mobility as well as lower power consumption levels. unless you're planning on getting something like an alienware laptops are generally bad for gamers or any high res applications, this is partly because the components in a notebook / laptop run a lot hotter than those in a desktop. it's a toughie, although i have both (and a pda phone thing lol) i rarely use the desktop if ever.

Dazza :cool:

[sk8ndestroy14]

So the laptops can't really handle better hardware? (Cool avatar)

[John A]

If you aren't planning on doing any heavy computations, a cheap laptop should suit you just fine. As far as comfortability is concerned, get yourself a nice large LCD monitor and a decent mouse and keyboard. You'll hardly notice the difference.

If you plan on doing something a bit heavier, I'd recommend getting a laptop that's a bit higher-end... the Intel Core 2 Duos are excellent, especially since they support the x86_64 instruction set. And if you plan on doing any serious gaming, don't forget to have a decent video card installed. :-)

Of course, the budget is also a factor, but since you haven't given us any information regarding this, I can't fit this into any of my recommendations.

[joshSCH]

Hmm.. what kind of carrying bag and keyboard/mouse would yall recommend? My laptop doesn't come with bluetooth.. so maybe some usb wireless keyboard/mouse. What kind of carrying bag do most people get when going to college? Like a backpack one? I heard samsonite was the best manufacturer..

[jbennet]

The later P4s support x86_64, not just the Core2Duos

and it wasnt dells fault the baterys exploded, they were made by sony.

[John A]

>and it wasnt dells fault the baterys exploded, they were made by sony.
Correct. And it wasn't only Dell that was affected, a few other laptop manufacturers who'd used Sony batteries (such as Apple) were forced to do a battery recall. It isn't an issue anymore, as far as I know.

[lasher511]

Lol i don't know never really used one myself ive mainly used desktops for most of my years the first one i bought was a Dell which decided to stop working after about 2 years and the second is the Mac i have now. Im not sure that we can even buy gateways in australia.

[Hamrick]

Definitely a laptop. But don't forget the docking station! :)

[lasher511]

If dell was as cheap and worthless as you claim, then they wouldn't be dominating the industry..

Never said that i said that they have a habit of going ass over after a couple of years exploding batteries is just one of these things. If you dont believe me then tell it to the pile of 10 not working optiplex GX270s that i sitting in the corner of my office.

Dell Dominate the industry specifically because of their cheap computers. Dell's main client base isnt general home PC users, its big companies who usually replace their computer after 2 years anyway so it is an advantage to buy from Dell because they are the cheapest out there.

Dell do what they do well and i have never said any different from that.

Besides I would hardly call a $1500 laptop cheap.

That depends on how you were to look at it. Yes $1500 may be alot of money especially to a college student however if you were to look at getting a computer with the equivilent Specs from another company its a pretty fair statement to say it would be more then $1500.

When your dealing with computers cheap tends to mean the best price for the specs your getting.

[Rashakil Fol]

Hmm.. what kind of carrying bag and keyboard/mouse would yall recommend? My laptop doesn't come with bluetooth.. so maybe some usb wireless keyboard/mouse. What kind of carrying bag do most people get when going to college? Like a backpack one? I heard samsonite was the best manufacturer..

Carrying bag? Don't go all technosexual on us.

For a keyboard, I recommend something from Unicomp. Especially if you want your roommate to hate you.

[Duki]

I have the swiss gear MAXXUM. I LOVE it... the backpack has tons of pockets which are deep and can hold the laptop with 2 text books and a notebook easy. Only downside is, it's made for 15.4" displays and smaller.

That depends on how you were to look at it. Yes $1500 may be alot of money especially to a college student however if you were to look at getting a computer with the equivilent Specs from another company its a pretty fair statement to say it would be more then $1500.

meh, $1500 deffinately isn't cheap for college material requirements. For business related and beyond the typical word processing of most college students (you know.. us geeks), $1500 could possibly be borderline low-end. My company just bought me a Dell M65 which came to about $2400; however, this included my wireless mouse, backpack, 80GB portable external drive, MS Office Basic 2007, Visio 2007, a 1 year subscription to CompuTrace, and 3 years Dell Gold-Tech support... soooo you can probably forget the first part of this post now that I think about it, because this is one of the best laptops Dell offers and without all of that stuff you could probably get it for about $1800 (with dell rep discounts).

[lasher511]

I have a pretty good laptop bag that i got for christmas a bit after i got my MBP i can't remeber the brand name but it has a whole seperate section in the back for your laptop and not just a little padded area inside the backpack itself. Although i do get funny looks when i get asked to open my bag in shops as i leave and there is nothing in it. Usually this is because i would put my lunch in there after buying it at the shop.

For extra protection i got a really good sleeve from the Mac shop which is basically made out of the wetsuit material and is basically skin tight around the mac so you dont have to carry a big case with you just something the size of your laptop.

I know that Sony make something similar for the Viao but as far as i know mac and sony are the only companies these things are avalible for. You might be able to fit your laptop into one of the Vaio cases depends however how thick it is.

Just wondering what people think the best brand laptop is to go with and why. This can be based on past experience, look, feel size etc.

Personally i like the Mac Book Pro probably because thats what i have but it also seems to have a few little gimics that some of the PC laptops dont have such as the light sensors that dim your screen and light your keyboard when it gets dark. Also i think their the only brand that i know of that are only 1 inch thick which really helps when carrying them around.
The one problem that i have with my MBP is the case. Although i have not gotten to many scratches or had many problems as of yet it seems like its not quite as durable cosmetically as i would like. Although it protects the computer itself better then a regualr laptop,every little scratch and dent shows.

If i had to choose a PC i would probably either go for a HP or a toshiba mainly because i think they last a little bit longer and once again have a good damage resistance thing going.

If i wanted to go for like a desktop alternative i would probably go with Dell but when it comes to portibility the Dells are a little chunky for my liking.

In Australia because we get sort a tax break through work if we buy a laptop people tend to buy what we call desktop alternative so basically a really big laptop that probably doesnt get used for anything but the general home stuff

[Duki]

before i got this laptop i was using a desktop replacement that my supervisor had... yeah it was powerful but had a battery life of about 45 minutes and weighed about 11 pounds! ha!