ノートVSデスクトップ

as of now, as I'm in Uni... I have a laptop... although... if I could, I'd MUCH rather have a Desktop...

My laptop can't handle Crysis =[

LOL... Why is there a candygirl?... If I had to choose, definitely the laptop, small and compatible...

Damn... share the wealth will ya?

I own a MBP and a badass XP desktop, but the noise, portability, dust, power, size, cost and another 50 reasons keep me from wanting to get another desktop.

Next upgrade will either be a nice slim MAC, or I will just use my digital video out with my MBP to get full desktop monitor goodness. :P I just get tired of the desktop sometimes. There is no real need to buy one anymore, unless your a hardcore gamer, or a hardcore video editor.

lostandfound,
Theres always a Candy Girl when you are stuck on a desert Island.

you have so many computers, lol!

I prefer Laptop, mostly because of it's mobility. My toshiba satellite has been serving me for almost 3 years and it still runs most of the games, most likely it would support SC2 as well.

LOL, Danny I didn't know that but now I know...

Since I'm stuck on an island with my beloved candy girl(s), there's wasn't any place for me to travel far, so I stick to 1 powerful desktop. But nowadays HP came out with a desktop replacement laptop (HDX Pavillion) with 20inc lcd screen, Quad Core, 4Gb RAM, ATI 256mb TX2100HD & 500Gb storage, code named: The Dragon. Maybe can give this model a try-out.

laptop. and a small one, at that.
my 12'' g4 powerbook is still enough for my daily work/home life, altough sometimes i would like to have one of the new intel powered macbook pros... this is the one that will replace this laptop.

not a big gaming fan, and a true portability friend. laptops will always win, for me, until i get a phone that can do everything...

I've always been more of a fan of Desktops, since I need huge amounts of storage, I game alot, and I hate the fact that laptops die out on you every 3 hours or so. Most laptops users then say ''just plug it in an outlet''.
There goes the mobillity concept...

And laptops tend to overheat alot aswell, especially when watching a movie. Unless you want to spend some extra cash on a model with ''proper'' ventilation, meaning a bigger and heavier case.

and I've never had any trouble with noise on my desktop, just make sure the PSU and the rest of the fans are decent then it won't be much more then a laptop.

though i have 3 desktop, 1 c2d E6300@2.8G, 1 P4 3.0gh，1 P4 2.8GHz, and 2 laptop, 1 centrino 2.0ghz, 1 p4 1.6ghz..

thought that's the case, i only use my c2d most of the time, since it have much more capability then the others.. having a 8800gts and 2tb hdd total..

well, i mind just choose laptop if i have that much $$ to get a good one lol..

Hmm lets see. One Linux File server, a Mac Mini, 2 working Laptops (Centrino), 1 main desktop (Vista), a Shuttle Media Centre, 1 old desktop I made for Windows 98. I Think I have thrown the rest away.
Laptops are far more useful, but you get less done sitting on the couch/bed then on a desktop...

Well definitely a desktop for me. How else can I get to play awesome games like Crysis and COD4 without a powerful desktop.

Here where I live things goes like this:
I can either pay cheap and buy computer parts... which means I will have to assemble it, deal with incompatibility problems, and choose parts one by one 'till I find the perfect match... or I can pay double or triple the price and get a closed box.
It's a complicated issue.

So, after having like millions of problems, headaches, sleepless nights, all day driving and buying several replace parts... I finally decided that I would not buy desktops anymore.

Up 'till now, I only had 2 laptops. The first one was a perfect experience. An Acer Ferrari 4005, never gave me problems, came with XP SP2 which was the best operational system I ever worked with (I tried almost all of them).

I'm now using my second laptop. It's a Dell XPS M1330, but came preloaded with Vista (obligatory), and it's being a shitty experience because Vista is horrible. Specially if you're a programmer, and deal with lots of different software everyday.

But I still think it's a way better experience than I'd be having with a Desktop.

Yeah, I paid lots more for them. Yeah, graphics cards are weak and can't handle newer games with full settings. And this is kinda bad since I'm doing a Game Development couse which requires some 3D processing and good video cards.

But I don't care... it's worth it. Even if it's as a desktop replacement period.

If I have some spare money in the future, I'll probably save and buy a Sony Vaio, or Gateway One, or something like that.... a desktop that's as tight and factory functional as a laptop.

Oh, as for what I have:
2 laptops, and an old desktop.
- Dell XPS M1330
- Acer Ferrari 4005
- Athlon XP 2.66+ or something like that.

Answering the question from the last commenter: My laptop can run both games. I'm also playing Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2 and some other games on it. :D

i have laptop and desktop, but have to go for laptop, since its easy to carry
around~

I have the traditional bias towards desktop. Maybe because I learnt a lot from building & tinkering with one.

I have 12inch PowerBook g4, so to be a 15inch MacBook Pro, a soon to be family 20 inch iMac, and my dad has a 17inch Macbook Pro.

I find that the macbook pros have the perfect ratio of power to size. I mean hell, my lil 2 year old G4 is still one tough hard working laptop. Since I'm always on the move (job/college) a laptop fits me best. Plus the laptop desk gap isn't all that big unless you are talking about full spec $16,000 Mac Pro...

But I do video editing, photoshop, iPhoto, iTunes, iWork, safari, garage band, and halo.
My little laptop has never let me down.

I'm upgrading because, well, you just can not say no to the MacBook Pros. My laptop is tried and try but faster rendering of data (movies,jams, etc) would be nice.
also, starwars empire at war

So mark me down for laptops.

edit *I have 12inch PowerBook g4, soon to be a 15inch MacBook Pro, a soon to be family 20 inch iMac, and my dad has a 17inch Macbook Pro. *

I keep my G4 on "Better Energy Savings" and my battery life is a little over 4 hours, and never over heats in this mode.

i always take a spare battery and charger with me in case of emergencies. So far that hasn't been an issue for me.

Since I use my computer for gaming I'd have to choose desktop. I admit it takes quite a bit of upkeep to keep it up to date, but my 8800 nvidia should be useful for awhile. Also, nice to view it all on a huge widescreen monitor since I'm on it alot.

I prefer a desktop since you cant upgrade a laptop.

I used to have about 10 PCs and 2 Old World Macs. After living in Budapest between 2003-2005 with an underpowered portable (Dell CPI-A400XT for those curious), I learned I didn't _need_ all of those desktops and I honestly could live on the confines of a portable with an external drive.

Today, I run on a last-gen PowerBook G4 15" 1.67 Dual-Layer as my primary machine.

I recently inherited an iMac 20" C2D and it pretty much is my Windows and Linux developer testing and BT machine. It's nice, but it's being sold in conjunction with the PowerBook to purchase a new MacBook Pro.

I have a PowerMac G4 Cube 450 running OS X Server for me and my roommates.

I'd say desktop. Simply put, they're just more powerful machines.

But honestly, as long as I can run decent media players with variable codecs and games without lag, that's all I need.

i currently using an old P4 with HT for my desktop, with another recently 13" macbook.

After seeing how well the macbook perform, I'm now in a dilemma whether or not to make the next PC purchase an iMac or a DIY PC running on MacOSX. And if i make buying a mac my choice, thn I'm caught in another dilemma of whether to purchase a macbook pro or a desktop mac. :s

my PC is going to celebrate it's 7th birthday soon next February. ('~')

simple enough to explain it,

PC: higher performance.

Lappie : Mobility, Average performance.

I guess I'm more of a laptop person, since they're portable and less bulky than desktops. I don't really play games which require advanced specs, like eroges, so I'm fine with what I have.

Plus, laptops make business presentations and documentations all the more easier.

One's a Mac, ones a PC. Is there really any point for discussion?

Ok, I'll take off my fanboi hat now (^_^)

IMO desktops are slowly heading towards their eventual abandonment. The only exception MIGHT be high powered Dev and gaming boxes. However that is doubtful as processors with multiple cores become the norm.

I personally have two laptops. One for work and a Mac. While my Dell work laptop is no slouch it is still slower than my Mac that is a year older. I also have a desktop but I have a harder and harder time justifying its existence. I'll probably be giving it to my brother soon.

A laptop would be far more useful on a desert island when they natives come chasing you with spears, you wouldn't have to leave it behind with the candy girl.

Currently it's an aluminum iMac, a Mac mini (displaced from TV duty by an AppleTV), an indigo iMac G3, a 12" iBook, my wife's Macbook and an old Athlon PC running M.A.M.E.

Though I love my big screened iMac, if I could have only one computer, I'd have to go with a laptop. Just too darned convenient.

I think I'll take a laptop as I use a MacBook anyway haha

Hmm... I'm now more of a laptop person as I want my stuff portable.

I have a Celeron D 2.66ghz 1gb ram desktop which I now use for downloading mp3s, anime, softwares, etc.
I also have a laptop (which I bought in exchange from my Blue Argon-S (Pentium M 1.6ghz 1.5gb ddr2) last month) , an Acer Aspire 4710 Intel Core Duo 1.86Ghz 2gb ddr2, running on win vista premium and this is where I usually work on graphics, editing/creating webpages, etc since this is a lot faster than my desktop.
The only thing I really don't like with the lappy was that sometimes, it would just freeze and the reason I could think of is that it runs on Vista premium which is not really stable yet. The desktop which ran on winxp pro is much stable and really appreciate the OS.
I'm not really a gamer so, there's no problem with just having an Intel GMA 950. Gonna revert to XP again soon as it is stable and no problem with software compatibilities.

well....

I dont want to do the vote because the 'I Like Both' option isnt there.

I personally built 4 out of the 5 computers in my house. ontop of that I also own a decent grade laptop which I can use to play games it I wanted to.

even tho Id say I like the desktop because I can play games maxed out with all the eye candy, who said I cant do that with a loptop?

some small UK & American based OEM companies have got SLI compliant laptops for sale. & there are laptops which are classed as 'desktop replacement' due to the weight & hardware they packed into the laptop.

So because you can get a laptop which will be as powerful or even more powerful then a desktop so long as your willing to pay a premium. thats why I have to say im in the middle. a gaming laptop would be pretty sweet but its so expensive.

So yeah. & please dont ask why I have 5 computers & a laptop in my house......

the husband is slowly convincing me that I need a laptop (as if I don't need to look at my computer any longer than needed ^^;) but I must agree that the portability of a Laptop is very tempting.... just no budget for it now T_T;

Desktop.

Besides, Desktops are getting more smaller and smaller. I own the old HP Pavillion Slimline s7320n PC (i want the new one too), and it's hella small but holds a decent amount of stuff (177GB total space). I have about 145GB left, and i mostly use it for internet access, adding photos and downloading torrents.

I can't imagine how much smaller it'll get next with now a days technology getting better and more portable.

I'm not a fan of iMac ut i'm sure some people would even choose an iPhone over a laptop and desktop.

Fixing the problem of maintaining desktop hardware is easy... Don't fiddle with it! 99% of the computer-owning population manages to do so. The only thing having a laptop does is remove any temptation (along with any alternatives for part replacement in case of needing repair...)

I also find the driver hunt for laptop hardware to be a much greater nightmare than for more standardized desktop components.

I'll be getting a MacBook Pro soon, though. As long as I have my desktop around to get me by in case of needing repair (or netcafes nearby, once I'm in Japan), then I won't worry so much about not being able to fix every little thing by myself. It [i]will[/i] be hooked up to a giant monitor, though, at least at home.

I have about 3 working computers:
1. My laptop, which is my main machine, Acer Aspire 1524, AMD64 3400+.
2. My old desktop (1.4GHz Athlon).
3. An old server with a dual Pentium 2 at 233MHz running linux, which acts as my mail server, where all my mail comes in, and with which I can check my mail from all over the world, very handy ;p

Would love to have a MacBook too though ;p And since I hardly play any games, mainly development, surfing, email, some audio stuff, a Mac would be nice. But my next laptop will probably still be a windows machine, since my current laptop has some downsides and it's getting slow...

This might be a bit off topic but...

Vista Sucks.

Being someone who uses computers just for the fun of torrents, anime, blogging, programming and occasional oldie games. I find laptop much more useful than desktops, but if its related to gaming, then desktops is still the better choice imo.

Hmm... I do feel a little computer poor the last few years. Currently I only have my MB Pro and a 20" Intel iMac, usually I have more computers. Well, I didn't include my mom's or my fiancee's Wintel laptops. I maintain them so they are mine as well.

All through my college days I was a laptop user. It wasn't until I graduated that I started using a desktop machine again. Now I use both, but of course when I'm off to campus or the office I can't live without my MB Pro. Some task like post shoot production I just prefer to do on a desktop machine. Maybe now that I have more powerful laptop I might become a laptop only person, maybe... What I really need is one of those 30" Apple Cinema Displays

I do have a really important question. Is this the same Candy Girl each time we find ourselves on the desert island? We have visited the island so many times we should be adding another Candy Girls each time. Am I right? Actually there are so many things in the desert island if feels much better than home. ^^;

The only computer I have is a HP Pavilion W5070 from 2005. Although I liked the machine in the beginning, but that turned into hate for long time (lack of beaty, lack of power, lack of everything good). So that's why I want to switch (someday, cause I don't have any money at the moment) to the Mac Pro (a custom one, since I will replace some of it's hardware with better ones). But on a desert island I would choose for a laptop, cause a laptop is easier to carry around than a desktop. ^^

On a dessert island? I'd probably go for some dessert first, or did you mean a deserted island? ;)

Laptops are wholesome; compact and light, but most often lack computing power (unless you say goodbye to an arm and a leg, and throw in your left kidney for some extra's).
But I doubt I'll be running much heavy software, so the laptop it will be.

I have built three old machines during the years and the fourth one that I am using now is a 3000+ Athlon 64, with 400+ gigs of hard drive space, 1 gig of RAM Dual boot of Win 2k and openSUSE 10.2. I like my desktops, but I like to have a small portable tablet instead of a desktop replacement. Those Old machines are a Dual P2 450, a former Athlon XP 2400+, and a ancient Pentium 100. I need to a Desktop to run all the time for running Seti@home, torrents and other things. I Like this machine over the newer ones because it has been reliable, quiet and not like the slow dual core Vista laptops of my Mom's and brother's, I would uninstall Vista and put Win 2K and Linux on my future laptop.

i have and use both laptop nd desktop. While i use desktop for everything from gaming, downloading and work. laptop that I use is only for work related things. Though just few days ago my desktop died :-( seems like motherboard decided to go away hehehhee However desktop can be upgraded very easily while laptops are not really for upgrades. I tried upgrading video card on my old laptop and that did not work so well, even after I put old video card in the laptop was acting weirdly. In the end I think laptops will become more flexible like desktop in all aspect and will take over. I think that laptops need to be more like desktop in power and possibilities of upgrades.

I've had both. I prefer laptop.

Only good thing about laptops are that they are easier to take them with you, then the bad parts: expensive, cannot upgrade (or just some upgrades), less power for money and a crappy keyboard.

I pefer more the desktop side than a laptop. I own both, the desktop is more superior than the laptop anyway.

I very much prefer desktops. I have a Quad Core with 2 GB DDR2-800, 500 GB HDD and an 8800 GT and it only set me back $900. The cheapest laptop I could find is still more than that and the most expensive I could find is only dual core, half the ram speed, less than half the HDD space and integrated graphics, wasting perfectly good processing cycles.

Also, no laptop can run Crysis at all Very High settings like my desktop can. ^_^

besides being able to move the laptop around easily i would much prefer a desktop over a laptop any day, laptops make me aggravate me.

Even if you were to have the same amount of ram and cpu speed as a desktop, it's still going to be slower because laptops work differently then desktops do.

Its sort of hard to say, I have both, I loved my imac & also can't live without my desktop. BUT my desktop is a dinosaur & at the moment my laptop is 6ft down under :( she died and I haven't had time to fix/get new one. been stuck using the dinosaur... Thats what u get when you are a Bus Operator = busy & no money.

Well they're sort of right in the issue. Desktops have more compatibility than laptops and you can always change parts like increasing its graphics capabilities, memory, cpu, etc.... while a laptop your mostly stuck with the original stuff it comes with, you can only increase its Ram if I'm correct.

I currently have two desktops and one laptop, one of the desktops I use to play games and download stuff (anime ^^) while with the laptop I do most of my work and navigate on the internet while the other desktop is for the rest of my family to use (I may sound bad but I really need a laptop and a desktop around me). So I would always had to choose a laptop and a desktop, wouldn't prefer one above the other.

I prefer a laptop, don't want to lug a gigantic desktop out of the rain lol. Plus I could use the laptop screen as a reflective signal which should be lighter than the desktops unless its a flat screen.

While I have both a desktop and a laptop, I prefer my desktop simply because it's more powerful and can handle all my games. The laptop i use mainly to take notes in class and to surf in the internet when I'm at the library. I find overheating is one of the laptop's biggest faults. And if I was stuck on the desert island, with a internet, electricity, and a candy girl, I would pick the laptop and use it to send out a rescue signal.

I have both, but I'd choose desktop over laptop, my laptop will never be able to handle any demanding games. Laptop mainly for work or watching tv while surfing the net.

i would chose a desktop for his game power, but now the laptops have developed desktop-like power for gaming, soo... can u give me one of those laptop u have spare?? xD

wow, you got a lot of computers Danny, you could probably sell some of them off ebay and get yourself a candygirl. ^^

oh, I forgot to answer the question. I'd choose a laptop. I need the portability for whenever I go around within or outside of the country.

100% desktop, they are much easier to maintain technology wise as HDD etc are usually recyclable. Plus the main benefit of a laptop is being portable, but I only live 10mins walk from uni :)

i own two desktop PCs and 1 laptop and i choose both desktop PCs and laptops. both has their advantages and disadvantages ^___^

PC may take up some space but they have the power that could outmatch any laptop anytime given the proper hardware at a less possible cost. not only that but you could also customize the hardware and cosmetic your desktop PC. not only that but you can also recycle some hardware parts like HDD and make it into a USB external HDD :3

laptop on the other hand is catching up with desktop PCs in terms of power and it's very portable which you take it virtually anywhere but the problem that i see with laptops is that you can't DIY custom your laptop and they are somehow expensive ^^;;;;;

I currently own a XPS desktop, so I voted that way. But in a sense, I still think laptops are still pretty convenient. Especially for classes. Speaking of which, I'm gonna need one in a few months...

Still desktop for me, its true that I hate the amount of space it takes and maintaining the hardware to the latest ones. However, its a must since I'm a gamer that download tons of anime, movie and manga. Latest game is asking you to constantly upgrade your graphic card and hard drive.

I were stuck at deserted island with an internet connection and electricity, a lappie would be my choice.. lol... excluding the candy girl... lol

I use both. I have a desktop that I use as my main machine for everything. When I need to leave the house for a class or for work, or just going to a friends house I take my laptop. I use the laptop for just about everything even gaming. Its a fairly new alienware laptop so its got plenty of power.

I have both and prefer a desktop over a laptop. But currently I'm using my laptop more as I haven't had the time to update the hardware of my desktop which I'll probably do next year. The only thing I like in a laptop is its portability and its keyboard. Love the feel of the keyboard in a laptop :D

going to buy a laptop when i go back to hk
going to buy a new esktop because my pc can't play all high resolution RF online
soo.. both~ lol
and danny... u sure have a lot of pc!! -.- i wish i can own half the amount of pc u have lol

I have both...
But I prefer desktop

I have a 5 year old Dell desktop PC and a 1+ year old Macbook Pro.

Prefer my MBP for sure. Use the MBP for almost everything except for scanning artwork and colouring just because I still have my scanner and wacom plugged into my desktop.

I'll have to investigate more about MS Remote Desktop Connection since I currently just use a usb flash drive to transfer files whenever I need to.

Also, I plug my MBP to the wall and basically have it on charge all the time but I've noticed recently if I have the power unplugged, my laptop only last no longer than 30 mins?!? Anyone else having or have had this issue with their MBP?

It's rather simple really. If you're not going to move your laptop around, buy a desktop.

Many college freshmen in NA buy laptops but more often than not, it just ends up sitting on a desk so why not just invest in a desktop?

As for me, I have a big desktop with 5 fans and SLI, enough hp for most games.

Well, go for a desktop if you're at home, are a fan of tuning (I'm sure you'd not be happy with the default configurations and rather buy and assemble ultra-powered parts) and also aim to play the latest computer games.
It takes place however and it is not very practical to move here and there, when compared to a laptop. Finally it is better to have a laptop if you are living in a rather unsafe environment (since you are more prone to carry it with you).

As I use my laptop to watch anime, download a few things, browse internet, use instant message and e-mail communication as well as write weird things in others' blogs, a laptop is really useful and I don't need more than that (I am not a PC games player). Since I am also studying overseas, the choice was obvious.

i have 1 lappy(macbookpro), and 2 desktops(PC/G5Mac).. i use the pc for games and the macs for music. the Laptop for Dj'ing and working out of the house, and the G5 for most of my heavy multi track jobs.

I am currently in love with my Asus R1F tablet PC. I totally take it everywhere I go. It's an awesome piece of hardware that does everything I need it to do.

^_^

Laptops overheats, dies YEARS faster than desktops in general, and is moreover simply more reliable. Also, modern PCs hold less and less space, so space issues are no big deal at all to me. Even for a small room.

Desktops are more reliable. Laptops become old too soon and their processing speed may slow down. Desktops are faster and support graphics better than laptops.

that's a funny question, because i'm not really sure myself. half a year ago i updated my old desktop with a new dualcore energy efficient processor, passive cooled mainboard and graphics card. still thinking "actually you don't use it all that much". then i sold my 3year old VAIO and bought a new one with blu-ray and upgraded the memory to its fullest.

now, even though the upgrade from the desktop cost me just about 300EUR, whjy is it that i can't really let loose and only use my laptop. that way i'd have more space and less urge to upgrade internal hardware. maybe it's the thought of redundance. you have two platforms to work with but one that can be neglected but is still there.
i guess since nobody grew up to afford a notebook as his first computer(in 1997 i personally couldn't at the age of 14 ^^), the thought of having that old reliable chunk of scrap metal weighs more than having a notebook which could break at any time, be it out of carelessness or hardware failure.

of course there's captain obvious who would say: "i can't take my desktop in my lap in a train ride, arrr"

either way, depends heavily on the user i think. someday i maybe too, will switch to notebook only, but not before long.

I like em both, but i primarily use my desktop; more storage space, more power, dual-screen, better graphics card. Although my laptop goes with me whenever I go out and I can lay down with it when I'm tired.

I have both too.. The pc is for storage and the laptop for travelling and doing assignments. Most of my anime things are in PC and the laptop are only for my use, usually playing games. Next year, I'll be upgrading most of my PC hardwares to be greater versions.. LOL

If i were stuck on a desert island - i probably get the desktop. The advantage of the mobility of a laptop dies if your stuck on a desert island. plus I need something to sit with the candy girl

I have 2 PC and one Macbook. Since I bought the Macbook I ended using only the laptop, now I just use the Pc for download stuff and for some Linux homework. Maybe the laptop becomes old soon but try to have a Pc updated for play videogames can cost all of your wage.

I have both a desktop and laptop and even an old laptop turned into a very small desktop by removing the screen (Thinkpad R51 with broken screen, was just too good to throw away...) They both have pros and cons you can only choose one or the other depending on specific needs, laptops have a lot of restrictions due their size obviously and when some part breaks it's more expensive to replace (when possible) recently a surge on the phone line passed though my modem/router and burned the LAN port on the desktop mobo, juste replaced it by an EUR 5 add-in card. Hardware compatibility is only an issue if you change the hardware in your desktop often , if you use it like a laptop (no upgrades) then the result is the same. If I was on a desert island I would choose a laptop with a SONY battery, the smoke of the burning battery could be seen from some boat or plane and they'll rescue me ;-)

I'm not doing anything crazy with computers.. . Just stream and write on my mac.. If I need to do more complicated stuff like editing, I usually go my friends house to you his power book...

well, i use both, desktop mainly, while laptop in campus, or to watch anime using HDTV (using VGA cable), because it's heavy to carry my desktop to the TV and back

I like desktops better because it's definitely much cheaper to customise. And you can use it hardcore without fearing for it to overheat as much as laptops. But small laptops do have the advantage of portability...

But anyway, I have both a desktop and a laptop, of which I use only my desktop. Laptop is only when I have to work away from home, for example in school... :/

personally have a desktop and a laptop at home, and another set in the office. prefer to use laptop at home for leisure but when at work, desktop is the choice for the bigger screen.

I prefer desktops but I like to have laptops around too so I can still go online in other rooms.

After owning a laptop and knowings its PROs and CONs i am proud to say
Desktop.

For me Laptops are not for long term usage such as 8 hrs or 24hrs or more usage.
They are for those who are on the constant move or wants to keep their files with them
as they travel.

Desktops on the other hand, serves as the main proponent to things that you do in a heavy load basis.

My computing needs have changed quite a bit over the years, though I keep finding myself wanting a stable desktop machine. At this stage, I pretty much have a machine for every purpose:

Beefy main machine (quad core, 8gb RAM) for my primary media hub (TV tuner, etc)
Lean machine for running WHS (lean except it has 4TB+ drive space)
Small form factor machine that is hooked to the TV for media purposes (includes HDDVD/BD drive)
Another media machine for bedroom TV
Current work-issued laptop
Previous work-issued Tablet PC

...I really have way too many computers. I'm not even counting the WinMo PocketPC since I don't do too much with it...

Of all the computers I have, the tablet has to be my favorite. It's a good all-rounder. Relatively portable, powerful enough to do most every day tasks, and great for traveling. With coach class seats being so cramped, being able to flip the screen around flat is a huge plus for watching movies. Then I don't have to worry about the guy in front crushing my computer when the seat reclines.

Whos gonna pay the Internet bill? ^^;

Anyway, since I'm stuck on an island anyway, so why not desktop?

IRL, I choose desktop too since I'm always at home. Maybe I'll turn to laptops when I work? Who knows ^^

On a deserted island, who needs a Candy Girl when you can use coconuts?
OH SHI-

Im currently using a desktop, but i think i will do eventually the switch to a laptop someday!!

In our family we have 5 computers, 2 of them are desktops - one for storing all of the important stuff (easy to add or replace hard drives) and the other is a gaming rig which we try to keep up to date to play all the latest and greatest:P The laptops are: mine (for university), brother's (also for university) and my father's, which he uses for work type stuff.

Having carried laptops on trips... And discovering that you still need a relatively flat surface to type with them [desk etc, laps aren't that great since the machine gets warm/hot over time], I've come to rather despise them.

I prefer a desktop.
Yes you have to care for it.
But in reality, you have to do the same for a laptop.
The problem is that a laptop is so condensed, that there's really little you can do if things start breaking down or if you need to upgrade [instead of buying a whole new machine].

Laptops are heavy... Especially if you got to carry it and wait in airport lobbies with no room to type on. Getting them through security is also annoying.
Take laptop out of bag.
Put it back in.
Take it out.
Put it back in.

Despite the advances of full size laptops, they still can't match a desktop in power. A desktop simply has more available for it. If you want a machine to run smoothly, you need a lot of ram. If you want to have a lot of pictures and videos, games, programs etc, you need lots of hard drive space. Yes you can have usb drives. But if you have something on the usb drive and you don't have a flat surface to set the laptop on, then it's pointless.

Miniture laptops that have come out lately can do web surfing and typing etc. But that's about it. They are also far more expensive for lesser options.

I am a desktop person.
Because I like being around my computer at home.
When I leave my home, I don't want to carry my computer with me.
The chance of losing it frightens me too much.

If I were to have a mobile computer I'd rather have a tablet pc. In that way I could at least write on it.

On a dessert island with a candy girl and no where to go, why have a laptop? If you have a net card for satelite signals, just call S.O.S. and tell the guys to come in 3 days. Beyond that, it's hard to live w/o water after vigerous activity.

I curently use a laptop, mostly because of the size, portability and minimal wiring.Biggest problem I've found is finding the correct graphics drivers for this machine and the heat problem with running a high spec game for a long period of time (partially because I don't dust my desk that often and the cooling pad I've got is too small).
Chances are when I get myself a job after I graduate I'll probably buy a desktop just for the performance boost and retire this thing for travelling.

I have a laptop, but I would prefer to have a desktop as my main computer. It's just a lot cheaper to get a powerful desktop than a laptop, and I'm kind of a speed whore... =P

Used to be a huge desktop guy, but now I can't live without a laptop. Got a MBP when I first started university, and I love the portability. Or, rather, I hate being anchored to my desk. With my laptop I can do stuff in the kitchen, or in bed, or on a couch.

Hard drive space is indeed an issue, but a couple of external drives solves that. I don't need access to all my files all the time. As for performance...right now, my laptop smokes my desktop since the latter is so old. ^^;

As useful as laptops may be, I find their limitations problematic for primary use: too few ports, limited expandability, and uncomfortable to use.

The power of the MacBook was what got me seriously thinking about the notebooks but I really can't escape the appeal of a desktop. The space saving MacMini is a pretty good space saving solution, I am really attracted by the big tower units as well for the aesthetics, especially the MacPro

Before I went to university I used to have a desktop, however since attending uni (now finished, but same situation) I find that I'm always jumping between a million different places, so having a laptop is much more convenient. Also, in the past few years I haven't been doing a whole lot of gaming, so I don't really care about having a super ultra amazing graphics card in my machine.

As with everything, it depends what you want to use your computers for. I find my Samsung laptop great, but it just hasn't got the memory/processing grunt for games, editing hewwwwge pictures and videos, so my desktop at home does that kind of thing.

I've been toying with the idea of a Mac Mini as a media centre for a while now. Do have a Mini-ITX system but it's far too feeble, so just plugging the laptop into the TV at the moment. My only concerns are: does the Mac Mini have the grunt to encode free-to-air digital TV broadcasts (not HD) and the fact that it doesn't do Blu-ray, although the cost of JP blu-ray discs is so high that it probably wouldn't be worth it anyway.

I'm using both Laptop and Desktop. Desktop while I'm home in my apartmant and Laptop for studying and for doing things like at my Desktop if I'm on a trip.

Regarding the island question I'd prefer Desktop just because it's the better choice for games.^^; (Currently I'm pissed a little because my Laptop which I've bought three months ago handles World of Warcraft worse than I thought -_-)

For gaming and converting movie I would have a desktop and for mobility I would have laptop. Also desktop are more cheap than laptop. Desktop spare parts can be change easily. Parts on laptop can be change but the price would be double if you compare it with a desktop. You can get a high end laptop that have the same processing and graphics power to a desktop but it would cost you a arm and leg for that system. All I can say here is it is all depend on what you would do on a pc then this would decide either to choose a desktop or a laptop.

No mobile Core i7 or mobile NVIDIA GTX 280/ATI Radeon 4870 means no laptop as my main machine. I do have a laptop for LAN parties and when I'm on the go though, but nothing beats building my own machine, running it to my 42 inch HDTV, and playing Crysis and Fallout 3 on ultra-high settings. I also do a lot of software engineering and progrmaming work that is greatly helped by having a quad-core/logical 8-core CPU and high-end GPU that a laptop just can't match.

well if I was to be stuck on a dessert island... I would choose a desktop pc, so that I can repair it easily when it breaks... also space is not an issue there ? =P

but other than that laptops are superior

I like laptops. I have only had laptops, and don't think I'd need anything bigger. Since I don't play games with computer, I don't need the most expensive super computer, and on the other hand I like the possibility to take the small laptop anywhere. At home I have WLAN, so no need to worry about cables, etc.

At the moment I have three laptops, although one of them, old HP, is quite much retired. Usually, when home, I use this basic HP with Vista Home Basic. Then I also have a small Lenovo business notebook, which is really nice and small. I think I'd take it with me when I travel to Tokyo next week.

I've gone down the route of a mix, though nothing of very high spec. At work I've tended to use desktops on the bang for buck and upgradability route - I do a lot of CAD work. But I'm increasingly enthusiastic for netbooks since the ASUS EEE came out, great for browsing in bed. Still have a couple of conventional laptops too.

Ideally I would want both, but I can't afford it. So I have a laptop that can barely handle some games. Well in a way that's good because that way I won't spend all day playing on my laptop.

I have both dekstop and laptop, although my laptop is about 6 years old (Pentium 2 mobile CPU) >__>
But its fine for web-browsing with tuned down linux. I'd buy better if I had money.

As for my desktop. its one and half year old and I don't see any reason to upgrade it yet(until Diablo 3).

I don't game so much on a computer these days, and having to move about now and then leaves me sticking with a laptop. Not an issue tbh, but the world of desktop can be quite different.

I'm in university and to be honest I don't even need my laptop (I'm one to prefer to take notes by hand). My five year old desktop is suffice in terms of visual novels and word processing.

I <3 my lappy for everything, keeping it up to date is a pain at time though :P

I prefer desktop. Because whatever upgrade and additions in desktop, it will occupy the same space as is. If laptop gets upgraded, sometimes, weight becomes a problem thus it's mobility is sacrificed. Laptops are made for mobility. Desktop is the main body.

I have desktop, and it's worse than cheapest laptop. I don't play games on PC because I prefer consoles for that, so I would like to have a laptop. I'm actually going to buy an UMPC. They are small, light and work up to 7 hours (ultra portable).
I think it depends on each one's preferences.

At home I prefer my desktop - laptops tend to overheat (especially when you do hours encoding) and my watercooling parts won't fit on a laptop/notebook ;)

I got both of them running, both on windows. The laptop it's for school class and projects. Desktop for gaming, movies

Drive space is my primary concern when i had an opportunity to purchase a desktop or laptop. Of course I purchased the former. I have no regrets when I bought my Mac Pro back in Feb 2007. If I waited four more months, an eight core would have been available.

I got 3 PCs running in my room. A massive Desktop with a Quad-Core, 4gb Ram, 1.5TB of HDD, Running Vista Ultimate 64bit which I use for most things; My Sony Vaio Laptop that is probably 12 inches wide running Vista Business which I use when I want to read an eBook or code while laying down and a Older PC running a few Linux builds that I use for testing websites and learning how to manage a server.

I prefer a desktop. You can get one with nice specs for a lot cheaper than a laptop. A laptop is handy for portability though. I bring mine home with me on breaks since I live far away from where I go to college. If you don't need to do a lot of things on the go, netbooks are pretty handy too. Decent enough specs to word process, use the internet, etc. and they're very light and small.

I have a laptop after many years of Desktop PC usage.I dont need my computer for gaming and a laptop offers much more moveability.I usually use my lappy for blogging,internet and watching animes.

i can't wait to get a laptop... my desktop is so huge and clunky, even though i love my desktop as its the first computer i ever owned, i can't take it with me if i go somewhere, i might be getting a laptop soon. but i feel it might overheat and crash a lot more often then my desktop, don't know why i feel this way.

Desktop and netbook. I need more power which laptops are at the wrong price point. And the netbook for travel use and reading DC in the garden

Desktop for me. Laptops are good for work and "mainstream" activities, like watching videos, viewing pictures, listening to music, surfing the Internet, etc. But if you're into heavy gaming, etc., laptops aren't going to get the job done. Unless the only games you play are bishojo dating sims... LOL :P

I'd go with a desktop. Sure, a laptop is portable, but therein lies a problem. If you can take it wherever, you'll spend too much time on it. With a desktop you can walk away from it and have an area that is just for computing. But I'm odd in that I try to keep my left somewhat segmented.

I'd take my desktop (XPS 630, 2 8800 nvids, 2 tera, etc) because its got everything you need. A laptop can't really do hardcore stuff, its great if your always moving, (i know i use my laptop for school every day), but if your stuck on an island, and not going anywhere, then a desktop is the way to go. And if your bothered about noise, get and XPS 630, never gets hot. :)

As a gamer, I need a really powerful rig, which in turn means I need a desktop. I do have a laptop as well, but it's used for simple games, web browsing and such stuff on the go. I love having a PC available at all times, but if I had to choose between either a laptop or a monster desktop rig I'd go for the desktop. Gaming laptops just aren't powerful enough yet, for me at least. I wouldn't be able to live without my beloved, easily upgradeable Crysis killer ^^;

I generally prefer desktops. The reason is that laptops tries to give as long battery life time as possible and this can cause some tradeoffs in performance that I'm not happy about.

Also there is the space issue. A laptop lacks room for proper heatsinks and it will have hotspots. Ever tried having a laptop on your lap while the CPU is 100% loaded?

Maybe you want more and bigger HDs. 2,5" HDs are expensive and laptops usually has room for only one.

A laptop monitor is usually worse than desktop monitor, but you can always connect an external one if you like.

Having said this, I would still really recommend a laptop if it fits your needs. The reason is that they tend to use way less power. 2% of the CO2 emisions is due to power production to supply computers (this includes internet backbone too, but still). This can be compared to ships worldwide, which surprisingly also emits 2%. This is quite disturbing as we have quite a lot of really big ships and they polute quite a lot because there aren't any national or international law regarding this issue.

I have to choose Desktop, but i love my Laptop also. It's just a problem of performance and the time the laptop can run on batteries ... the more power you want, the more runtime you sacrifice. Time for fuel cells ;)

I had both a Laptop and a Desktop about a year and a half ago. Used the laptop for College notes and web surfing when I was playing WoW on my desktop, which was honestly about all I used my Desktop for back then. Well, long story short, my old laptop no longer works and my desktop is on the brink of death. I want to salvage my old laptop's Hard Drive with an HD Enclosure, then spend some cash on a simple laptop that's a bit more durable and use it mostly for Web browsing and my return to college. After that, I'll save some cash up in order to build a new Desktop. Something middle of the road, with room for upgrades, mostly for gaming. I can't stand using a laptop for games. :/

OMG - not this argument again.

I own 1 laptop + 3pc's

My laptop kicks ass - 1280x800 = Guildwars@ 70-120FPs with everything maxed out.

my current pc - my beautiful workhorse, its starting to see its age more & more so planning a new system build Codenamed 'Arizona'. the other pc is a much older but 'decent' machine that I use as a software/hardware test bed & generally as a backup machine incase of hardware failure.

my final system was made out of random parts i walked out of college with back in the day. I love both platforms for different reasons - I cant just pledge my loyalty to one platform

OMG - not this argument again.

I own 1 laptop + 3pc's

My laptop kicks ass - 1280x800 = Guildwars@ 70-120FPs with everything maxed out.

my current pc - my beautiful workhorse, its starting to see its age more & more so planning a new system build Codenamed 'Arizona'. the other pc is a much older but 'decent' machine that I use as a software/hardware test bed & generally as a backup machine incase of hardware failure.

my final system was made out of random parts i walked out of college with back in the day. I love both platforms for different reasons - I cant just pledge my loyalty to one platform

No contest. Desktops all the way.
I've always built my PCs and never have I found it tedious or cumbersome to maintain or upgrade.

In fact, I hate Laptops as you can't upgrade video or CPUs easily. Also the storage options
are limited in a laptop. With desktops, I can create exactly the system the way that I wanted.
I have 2 laptops and they rarely get an use. My family have a laptop that is only used for
the Web and iTunes and that is fine, but for me, it is desktop all the way.
Several terabytes of HDD, high end video, large LCD and I'm set. :)

Also upgrading is cheap, 1000 for Core i7, 300 for MB, 500 for 12GB DDR3 and use
your existing HDD and CD/DVD/BD, and video, so you have a brand new system for
1800 that beats anything laptop spec for that price range.

I had a desktop for years, but that was at a time when I was only starting out using computers. I knew nothing of specs and stuff so I used what I had.
Then I learnt about computers, I was hating the slowness of my machine and I'd always wanted a laptop. So I bought a pretty good one, a good one at the time. It was awesome. So much faster than my old comp.
It was good but big and because of the specs it didn't have a good battery life so it was always plugged in. Defies the point of having something that's meant to be portable.
So I bought parts and built my own desktop. A pretty good on I think.
I'm loving it. It's much better than having a portable machine that's limited to use at home more or less which I can't upgrade.
The next computer I buy will probably be a mac. But that won't be for quite a while.

I don't have exclusive preferences:
Desktops are VERY GOOD for home and Laptops are VERY USEFULL for fast trips.
When I came to Japan, I was so sad that I don't have any computer for use Internet. Think if the machine can enter to the internet for me is excelent!
BUT, the computer need to be very faster...

Conclusion: Any computer with internet connection plus OS faster= The love of my life LOL!

on a deserted island with electricity and internet connection and candy girl, i'll take a desktop. The laptop will get lost somewhere or break while playing with candy girl.

I prefer desktop since I don't move around a lot and it's used for gaming, although, the fun part is when building a desktop ^^. In addition, desktop is easier to upgrade than laptop.

I currently own 2 laptops and 1 desktop. I'm not really one that swings one direction or the other in terms of what's better. Currently, my most recent aquisition was a Toshiba Qosmio that blows my current aging desktop and my aged laptop out of the water. I'm leaning towards laptops now because alot of what I do is away from home and I find it easier to port that around rather than a whole desktop.

But, I use my desktop for alot too and would love to see myself upgrading it in the near future (Though the little bugger needs a new power supply)

Desktop PC, built by myself. I will consider notebooks only if they should be assembled.

I use both. Well right now I only use desktops since my alienware laptop died after 6 good years. Will probably buy a new laptop sometime next year. I would have gotten one already but I have no more spare cash since I spent it on a few figures.

I have both...

Desktop:
AMD Athlon XP x64 1.6ghz OC to [2.0 summer / 2.5 winter]
4 Gigs DDR1 Ram @ 400mhz
NVidia 7600 GTX

Laptop:
LG R-405A
C2D - T45XX
3gigs DDR2 800mhz RAM
ATi Radeon X1250

Both work fine for motion graphics with AE CS3 and AE CS4...both need faster HDDs for work but meh...as long as it works I'm fine with it.

But I'll be biased with desktops since I'm working with high render times and overall performance, I doubt laptops can render 2K rez for 15 second spots in under an hour. But my laptop for some reason is pretty powerful after I junked Vista for Win XP SP2 x64, around 15 - 30 minutes behind in rendering for 2K rez for 15 second spots. O__O;;

I have both a desktop and a laptop, with the desktop having better graphic card and faster and bigger hdd than my laptop. The rest of the specs are pretty much similar. The desktop is use for occasional gaming, watching animes and design work. Laptop is when I go out or when there's a gathering at my friend's place.

I do use the laptop as home though, especially when I am gaming or watching anime, I'll login to my msn on my laptop so that I still can see msg coming in, it's also good for finding hints without having to alt+tab or quite the game XD.

guys, I have found the simple solution to avoid drivers hunting: BUY A MAC !

I've been using PCs for the last 15 years and I probably spent a few hours up to a day every 1-2 months for reformatting my drive and reinstalling windows and all the drivers...

just because one day, the Pc decides to crash without any reason

i've been using Macs for 2 years now, 0 crash, 0 virus, 0 reinstallation

no match

Mac wins by KO

i have two desktops and two laptops (as well as some older not working desktops and laptops from pre-2000 that i could get running if i really wanted to but not worth it) i use one of the desktops running vista and 1 laptop running Ubuntu, my parents use the desktop with XP and my brother uses the laptop with vista, the 1st 3 are HPs and my brothers is an acer so there is no shortage of computers in my house :p (on a side note i hate macs...)

If I had to choose, I'd choose my desktop (C2D E7200 @ 3.2GHz). It's my gaming rig/file server/virtual machine host.

Ironically, now that I'm freelancing full-time, I'm spending much more time on my laptops (a Dell Vostro and a MSI Wind) ^^;

The laptop vs desktop argument is about as old and prolonged as the 'mac VS pc'. I use desktops out of nescesity: For work(rendering huge images), and on the side, for gaming. I live in a computer household, where everyone is either an old, aging hacker, or working in the IT field. I build all my desktops myself, and generally pay alot less for them in total than I would if I were buying commercially created PC's. I have a laptop which I rarely use unless I'm going somewhere where I need explicit computer access, as most of the things that I need to do I have a hard time doing on a laptop. I'd suppose if I didn't work in print and graphics, and wasn't an online gamer, I'd probably prefer a laptop just for space consolidation.

The Desktop vs Laptop argument is pretty frivolous because laptops were designed to be flexible, a computer for mobile use and not to to replace desktops - which are fixed and capable of greater power and processing with all the added peripherals. Laptops provide you with an extension containing all the tools you need when you're on the go. Desktops are just the opposite, everything you need when you're not going anywhere.

I mainly use my laptop even while at home because I can just unplug and take it anywhere, even outside because of our wireless connection. If I'm using my computer for a long time I don't like to stay in one spot and tend to move around so it works for me. Mobile while at home.

Desktop!

Laptop gives you mobility, but you will have a hard time running certain games with a laptop.

Oh. I will use my desktop to ask for a ship to take me home. Ha ha ha!

I'd use laptops for simple things out of home, but in normal conditions I'd prefer desktops.

well, both the laptop and the desktop i have both suck... =/
since i dont really play that many intensive games, i would probably prefer a laptop...
i do like laptops for their convenience, but id have to get one with more than 45 min of battery life... >_>

btw isn't this a weird question? I mean if somebody ends up on a desert island, how likely is it that there will be electricity? If there is a transformer on the island then I will just break into it and hack it to report a severe danger that they have to check out right away (or maybe I can even write messages). If there are no transformer station and there is 115/230V, then there is a transformer nearby meaning there is a populated island close enough for normal people to swin to it. The electricity kind of solves the "stuck on island" issue XD

have it both but prefer the descop can use it till broken!!!

big up for desktop. I hate laptop, i buy some month ago my first laptop because it's very small (eeepc), but before i never want laptop because they are too big to go around with that!! And the battery it's completly useless!
Laptop don't work with game, it's impossible change component, .... or laptop is small, but very small, or it's unnecessary.

I have both a Desktop and a Laptop and i must say that after i stopped gaming and such i found out that Laptops look better, takes much less space and are a must have when traveling much. Only down side for me is the hdd space ^^ but that can be solved whit a network/usb drive :)

I own both a Desktop and a Laptop, but I can't live without them. I use my Laptop for blogging, checking my emails and surfing, but it comes in handy when on the go ;). Desktop is the center of my life; videos, 16 GB iTunes library, World of Warcraft. It is also a dual-boot setup with Kubuntu and Windows XP. I even recently upgraded my Desktop from 512 MB to 1.5 GB, which is a huge improvement for me being a WoW player. Though I have everything I need on my desktop, I do use the laptop--both at the same time. XD

Problem with desktops, as I see it, has also something to do with this:
http://xspblog.com/2008/12/15/barry-schwartz-the-paradox-of-choice-ted-talks/

Too many choices, too many hardware boards, brands.. too many choices to make.

I've abandoned desktops a couple of years ago.

Though I still want to have a desktop, mainly because they are cheaper, more customizable and more powerful.
But only the thought of picking all the bits and pieces of it gives me a headache.

I mean, some 10 years ago I'd assemble my computer myself without too much trouble... but nowadays, there are just too many choices to make.

Nowadays I'm not too big a fan of recently released games as I was some years ago, so it's not this much a problem.
But I had so many problems with my laptop this year that it made me think that it'd be a nice thing having a desktop at home...

At least, when you have a desktop, fixing any problem is usually just a relatively cheap hardware piece away.
Laptops can give lots more trouble and be way more expensive to fix...

I owned 2 personal coms. 1 is G4 Quicksilver desktop which is hooked up to a 17" CRT display & a 15" NEC P4 1.8ghz laptop.

For my Mac, I've upgraded as much as I could. Add-on to 1 GB ram & superdrive. Slow but very steady. As for my NEC, nothing much I could do to it. It run on a dedicated 128mb graphic card and If I wanna upgrade it's ram, its gonna cost me.

Both aren't gonna help me in my upcoming project in music production. Still considering, a MacBook or DIY Desktop. Puzzled.

Laptop, but only because it would cost to much to bring my desktop along as checked baggage ^^

I prefer to have both... but if i have to choose, then desktop... Hardware-wise, Desktop just better, it's more high-end, easier to maintain, also you can put huge capacity hard-disk inside it..

Still gonna need lappie in the end, though i don't mind a crappy one...

Having both laptop and desktop for me is necessary. Each of them has certain benefits. Desktop computer allows me to have hard drive matrix and my valuable data secured, while the laptop makes possible to take some work outdoor.

For personal purposes I would choose to have a laptop, but when at home I would connect it to the larger screen, like 24" and USB hub with external keyboard, mouse and data storage connected.