Laptop VS PC

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by darksidZz, Aug 9, 2007.

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  1. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    I may soon desire a PC or laptop, here you may offer links to products you'd suggest.
     
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  3. domesticated om Stickler for details Valued Senior Member

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    Get a laptop. Being mobile is much more practical nowadays than desktop PCs.
    .
    I would only recommend a desktop if you plan to do any gaming, or run any applications that require huge amounts of horsepower.
     
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  5. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    I shall obey master yoda

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    woot!
     
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  7. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    Yes...om is correct. Matter of fact, the only pervasive reason I have a desktop is that it's my media machine...I don't even play that many games on it anymore, in favour of XBOX.

    There are decent priced laptops out there that would more than suffice for most everyday tasks, and even *some* games:

    Vaio on Amazon, good price point
     
  8. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    It really depends what YOU are going to need it for. Decide that and then you will choose what YOU need. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, so just remember to build your own PC if you decide to go that route don't buy a manufactured one for you can't add much except what THEY sell.
     
  9. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    i would suggest a desktop or tower.
    my reasoning is that if you purchased a laptop you would then be influenced into carrying it around with you. this would be the perfect opportunity for a thief to strike.

    i have not looked at the statistics but i can say with certainty that way more laptops are stolen than towers or desktops.
     
  10. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    Leopold: yes, a laptop is a very tempting target for a thief. It's an unfortunate and sickening fact of life. However, if you make every decision based on what theives might take, you'd have a very humdrum set of stuff

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    If darksidzz really needs or will benefit from the portability (and actually I forgot to ask if he really needs it), then he should buy a laptop and secure his property.

    I actually did refrain from buying a laptop because I have my media centre at home and a very decent desktop at the office. I have no need to be productive while out of the office...corporate email can wait, I do have a life.

    Cosmictraveler: brand name PCs are not as restrictive and proprietary as they used to be...the only issue you'd have is that the motherboards and power supplies are not necessarily a standard size. All the other parts can be sourced elsewhere.
     
  11. Stryder Keeper of "good" ideas. Valued Senior Member

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    Simple, get a palmtop or other assorted powertoy. If it's small enough you can conceal it, it's mobile so you can use it out and about and if you don't like not having a full sized keyboard then just purchase a bluetooth accessory.

    The real basis for choosing a machine however should be totally down to what you intend to use it for, for instance if it's all those dating sites, chatrooms and other locations you might be trying to pick up on, you might be best going for a mobile solution. That way when you've outstayed your welcome they can't trace your IP down because you've been using places like Tacobell to login at.

    If you go for a desktop/tower then it means "You mean business", especially since your limited in regards to gateway connections. (e.g. you have to have an ISP rather than make use of Wifi hotspots)

    Of course if you are going to roam those Hotspots, make sure you look into security a little first. Namely don't do online bank transactions through such hotspot points. Identify that you are connecting via the correct legitimate hotspot and not a phishing portal.
     
  12. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    But you can build up a nice system for half of the price that Dell or Gateway are selling. Why pay $2,000 for something that you can build for $1,000? I look at what PC's contain and , to me, the manufactured ones don't give you all that much unless you only want to surff the web then most are about equal.
     
  13. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    I would go with a laptop. They are very powerful these days, and it's a wonderful thing to surf from your couch. I use a Dell M90 for work, but I realize these are very expensive for the typical consumer.
     
  14. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    Cosmictraveler: Dell mid-range machines are sub 1000 generally. The new Vostro starts at USD 400 (don't you just LOVE that line name?).

    Stryder: a palm/pda phone etc are thief magnets too. I actually carry a cheap-a$$ phone when I go clubbing, and leave my good phone home! But yeah, sometimes "mobile" computing might just mean me using an edge provider on my good phone

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    or wifi on a pda device.
     
  15. leopold Valued Senior Member

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    i purchased my emachines (which is a gateway product) for $400.
    it has XP home installed, CD burner/DVD combo drive, 80 GB HDD, 256 MB ram, 1.8 GHTZ sempron 3100, nvidia video and lan. not a bad price for what i got.
     
  16. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    There you go leo! Except you should have gotten 512MB at that price

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  17. dsdsds Valued Senior Member

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    Disadvantages of laptop:
    Laptop keyboards are less ergonomic
    Not upgradeable
    More expensive (feature by feature)
    Small screen (for my next monitor, I wouldn’t settle for anything less than 24")
    Rechargeable batteries (great for traveling, pain for home use)
    Difficult to repair (change components) yourself.

    Disadvantage of desktop:
    Not portable
     
  18. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Is this the one you are talking about?

    W3621


    $398


    CPU : AMD Sempron™ 3400+ (Socket AM2) Intel® Pentium® D Processor 925 (Dual Core) 1
    Operating System : Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic2
    Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium2

    Chipset : NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 Intel® 945GC
    Memory : 512MB DDR2 (Dual Channel Capable) 1GB DDR2 Dual-Channel Memory
    Hard Drive : 80GB 7200rpm SATA II3 250GB 7200rpm SATA II3
    Optical Drives : 16x DVD±R/RW SuperMulti Drive 16x DVD±R/RW SuperMulti Drive
    Media Reader : - High-Performance 15-in-1 Digital Media Manager
    Video : NVIDIA® GeForce® 6150 Integrated Graphics Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
    Monitor : 17" flat CRT
     
  19. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    Arguable at best, Acer and Sony both have slanted-keyboard laptops to compensate.

    Completely incorrect, RAM, Hard drive and optical disk are easily upgradable. CPU upgrade is much more delicate and a little restrictive, but possible.


    Portability is the tradeoff. Not a disadvantage if portability is key.

    Subjective. I find repairs of a laptop take more time, but the tasks themselves are not difficult.

    I'd also include these desktop disadvantages:

    - Cable management nightmare (generally)
    - Needs additional furniture
    - Power protection for a desktop more expensive (a laptop is it's own battery backup, you only need surge suppression or line conditioning at most - dependant on uptime requirements tho)
    - Aesthetically designed desktops are just as expensive as a laptop.
     
  20. §outh§tar is feeling caustic Registered Senior Member

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    whatever you do, don't buy an hp laptop
     
  21. Enterprise-D I'm back! Warp 8 Mr. Worf! Registered Senior Member

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    Southstar, I'd suggest don't by the line that was absorbed (Presario). The Pavilion line is decent in my experience.

    Vaio and Tecra are the bomb tho

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  22. pencil Banned Banned

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    I would get a PC instead of a laptop. Laptops are "slower" versions (component-wise) of desktops and to prevent overheating and to miniaturize and reduce weight, the components are often underclocked than their desktop counterparts. Laptops are also less upgradeable. Laptops almost always have intergrated video which will never perform well in high demanding games, you can however get a dedicated video card but it will never reach a desktops videocard.

    If you decide to get a laptop, get one that has ATLEAST a Core 2 DUO processor (not Core duo which is older). Core 2 duo comes in two flavors for laptops. The original processor uses a Meroem core which runs at 667mhz FSB while the newest processor is Santa Rose and runs at 800mhz FSB and the difference is significant. I just bought a SONY FZ-140E from Circuit City for about 1.1K (it has santa rose core and 2 gigs ram). Beware that with the current version of laptops (all laptops that use a Core duo or Core 2 duo) will make a electronic frequency noise that maybe annoying. This is due to a motherboard design flaw (none of the manufacturers will admit this).

    If you decide to get a desktop, get one that is Core 2 DUO with conroe core (not allendale which is the "low end" version). If you are tech-saavy you can order all the PC parts from newegg.com and built it yourself.
     
  23. dsdsds Valued Senior Member

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    huh?:bugeye:
     
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