Should I get a Desktop or a Laptop?

[Fat Jesus]

I'm brand new here, so sorry if this is the wrong section, but I'm going to get a computer and I'm just stuck on this. I cannot decide whether to get a desktop or a laptop. Hopefully you guys can help me decide! ^_^
This is what I'll be using the computer for:

• Programming/App development
• Gaming [Battlefield 3, Gears of War, Portal, Skyrim, etc.]
• Recording and editing Xbox gameplay (Sony Vegas/After Effects)
• Standard Internet surfing
• Photoshop/GIMP
• Pretty much any program you can think of.

I love the mobility of a laptop but I need the power a desktop can give me. I'll build it myself.

So what do you think? Desktop or laptop?

 

[Zorander]

• Programming/App development
• Gaming [Battlefield 3, Gears of War, Portal, Skyrim, etc.]
• Recording and editing Xbox gameplay (Sony Vegas/After Effects)
• Standard Internet surfing
• Photoshop/GIMP
• Pretty much any program you can think of.

Alway Desktop unless you really really need the mobility.

 

[currahee440]

Definitely desktop. I think I would go nuts programming on a 17" laptop screen. Plus desktop CPUs will always be faaassssttttterrrrr than laptop CPUs. And speed is something you can always use more of when doing video editing.

 

[thescreensavers]

This question is up to you really? Desktops will be cheaper for the same power of a laptop, way cheaper.

If you need to be mobile then get a laptop. But 17inchers are heavy and that can get annoying.

I personally only have one computer, my laptop so if I were to buy a new computer it will be a laptop as I need to bring it with me to school and such.

 

[janas19]

I love the mobility of a laptop but I need the power a desktop can give me. I'll build it myself.

So what do you think? Desktop or laptop?

That's kind of the crux of the trade-off right there, dude. To play the most modern games on a laptop you will need a powerful video card and cooling and that ain't cheap. Unless you have just gobs of money, you'll get much better performance out of a desktop. You can always buy a used netbook if you just need mobility. But you will pay a lot for a gaming laptop.

 

[ScottAD]

Why not budget it out, see if you have a desktop to do all your hard work and get a laptop for simple mobile stuff, browsing music, moving watching etc.

 

[BrightCandle]

If you can use a desktop just do that. A not all that expensive desktop can easily exceed the maximum performance you can get from a laptop and programming really benefits from CPU performance and drive speed.

When it comes to gaming there is equally no competition from a laptop, they all suck. Sure you can get crossfire/sli solutions etc but I would call them back breakers rather than mobile.They also tend to come with worse quality screens than you should really buy for your desktop and the keyboard is also not going to be as nice for coding.

If you need the mobility you might find a low end laptop + desktop also ends up cheaper than having a single super fast laptop, giving you mobility and performance without sacrificing your main machine.

 

[Zap]

Hello Fat Jesus, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

Gaming [Battlefield 3, Gears of War, Portal, Skyrim, etc.]

For this reason, get a desktop. Alternately, like others have mentioned, a desktop plus a notebook. That's how many of us roll. :whiste:

For instance, I have a tower rig with dual monitors (30"+20" in portrait) for productivity + gaming. I also have an ultralight notebook for traveling. You can easily get something $400 or less that is super light weight for when you absolutely need the portability, and use your desktop rig for the heavy lifting, such as gaming, video editing, etc.

To get a notebook that is GOOD at all of these would end up costing more than the desktop + cheap small notebook, and still wouldn't perform as well as the desktop and wouldn't be as portable as a cheap small notebook.

 

[Charlie98]

Why not budget it out, see if you have a desktop to do all your hard work and get a laptop for simple mobile stuff, browsing music, moving watching etc.

If you really need mobility, I would forget about serious gaming on it... just saying.

I've still got my 6 year old Dell laptop, I just recently upgraded it with a faster processor, 4x bigger HDD, and memory (if the Brown Truck would ever get here... ) for less than $150. It works for everything I need it for when I'm on the road... and I have my new desktop at home that does everything else .