Laptop vs. Desktop

hello there, i've been wondering about buying a new computer, although my doubt is if i should buy a laptop or desktop, i mean, i've always preferred desktops since they are cheaper for a better performance, but now the laptops are getting better and the prices are falling a little bit, now i can even have a dock station at home or connect the laptop to a big screen in order to work better, but i dont know, so your final conclusion would be laptop or desktop?

Desktop.

I bought a top of the range Dell laptop. The battery tends to overheat when using a 3d modeling program and cut out.

sure laptops are getting better but they'll always lag behind desktops, essentially with nearly all laptops you are getting old tech.

It really depends what you're gonna be doing with it, extensive 3D work is not recommended on anything but the very best laptops (im talking well in excess of £1000 here, maybe in excess of £2000 idk), but smaller 2D files should be workable on a reasonably good one (still £800+ i would expect)

The other factor is the ability to upgrade, this is limited in laptops, are you likely to replace the graphics card or processor in a year or 2? Are you even going to be able to easily find replacement parts, not as easily as for a desktop thats for sure.

Bottom line is laptops are a viable solution but only for those either doing non resource intensive work or those with huge wedges of cash which they dont mind spending every few years.

Personally if you dont need the portability offered by a laptop i wouldnt bother having it as your sole work machine

I would recommend a desktop is you don't need to travel - but if you do, a mobile workstation is the way to go, but expensive.

I work between 3 offices so I needed a mobile machine. I use an HP Compaq 8710w mobile workstation and it runs Civil 3D well. I have a docking station at my main location with a second monitor, etc...

I have a great desktop with a 36" LCD TV/monitor however,

I tend to use my Thinkpad™ more often.

Usin' '07 always 2D, don't have the need for 3D.

I enjoy the freedom, work where I feel like it, when I want to.

Battery, 9 cell, gets me 4-5 hours 'tween charges.

One thing I forgot to mention - I have the add-on extra battery, but the display is dim without AC power. ...and the thing is heavy! (small price to pay for free mobility)

That's quite a laptop Cary.

I would contact customer support and, I would rethink mobility.

The 17" screen laptops are related to desktop replacements.

Business laptops should be smaller, lighter, easier on the shoulder.

My major decision for a laptop. That's why I use Thinkpad™ 14 inch screen laptops.

There's a reason the Thinkpad™ is nicknamed "The Brick."

My fourth laptop is a Duo Core Intel, runs great, screen brightness is adjustable.

Worth takin' a look.

Lenovo also has a 17" wide screen that has a pullout 10" screen, dual monitors!

That's quite a laptop Cary.

...

Lenovo also has a 17" wide screen that has a pullout 10" screen, dual monitors!

No real complaints - it works well for me.

Our company is starting to purchase IBM machines now (used to only get HP) so my next one will likely be a thinkpad. Dual monitors on a laptop sounds awesome!

We just got our first basic one for a non-cad user and it seems like a nice machine.

That's quite a laptop Cary.

 

I would contact customer support and, I would rethink mobility.

 

The 17" screen laptops are related to desktop replacements.

Business laptops should be smaller, lighter, easier on the shoulder.

My major decision for a laptop. That's why I use Thinkpad™ 14 inch screen laptops.

 

There's a reason the Thinkpad™ is nicknamed "The Brick."

My fourth laptop is a Duo Core Intel, runs great, screen brightness is adjustable.

Worth takin' a look.

 

Lenovo also has a 17" wide screen that has a pullout 10" screen, dual monitors!

That Lenovo W700 Looks like a great system for even a Desktop replacement. It's very pricey at $3,500 loaded, but also has a built in Wacom digitizer. I read the Desktop Engineering's review, and here is one quote from that article:

"Thanks to its NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M GPU, the ThinkPad W700 turned in some of the fastest graphics performance we’ve ever recorded. And we’re not talking just fast for a notebook computer, we’re talking fastest ever. This Lenovo mobile system surpassed even the fastest workstation"

http://www.deskeng.com/articles/aaante.htm

I have a Duel Core Intel Desktop and my slightly faster Single Core AMD laptop preforms quite a bit better then the Desktop running AutoCad. However, If your using 2009 or later of Acad it is suppose to take advantage of multiple core processors, but I'll have to wait till I upgrade for that.

I would say that you could get equal performance from either but a laptop is portable.

KC

My current Lenovo is a T60 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Although the screen is 14", it is very bright, clear, fast response.

Brightness is easily adjustable.

The 14" Thinkpad™ has a long battery life compared to its' 17" BIG brothers.

I'll never go back to HP or Dell after using IBM or Lenovo laptops.

To help the wallet stay healthy, eBay has many very good deals on used Thinkpad™ laptops.

Value for money & performace - Desktop