Poll: Your Computer.

[bam13302]

yes, it is cheaper, you can upgrade it to make it faster and give it a near unendable lifespan given a decent technical skill, can hold far more data, has more options for hardware, has more capacity, better cooling, larger screens (you cant argue that some of those tiny laptop screens get annoying as **** to look at, although admittedly, you can hook up a standard full monitor to it (show me a laptop hooked up to dual 1920x1200 23' monitors at full resolution and ill shut up), tv tuners, additional nic cards, far more hard drive capacity, more usb ports.
i have a stack of dead laptops in my room (i usually keep them for parts or to repair other people's laptops), yet no stack of desktops, a few scraps (old GPU, old MOBO, unused HDD) but those often go to someone else
add to that, mobile versions of desktop hardware (like processors and graphics cards) tend to be far less powerful then their desktop counterparts and far more expensive (for example, if you did feel like cracking that ******* open and trying to put a new processor in there).
if a laptop starts failing, you get a new laptop, if a desktop stops failing, you fix it

for me, a cheap laptop is all i need (and at this point it needs a good battery life), im currently using the cr-48, but any laptop that can do the internet and word processing (although with google, the internet has word processing) is all i need

 

[Julianking93]

I like the desktop simply because it's convenient for me, oddly enough and because it has all my music and files.
Basically, I keep it around because I don't want to lose my shit. The internet on it is rather slow (though I think that's just the crap net connection. In fact, I'm positive it's just the internet connection here) and it's a 2005 iMac, so it's a bit dated and doesn't run a lot of things I would like it to.

However, I have a Macbook Pro with all the fun fixins and it runs perfectly.
Does Steam games just fine as well even on the highest settings.

 

[kasperbbs]

I have a desktop for gaming with good speakers and a decent monitor, 1,2TB hdd, i can also plug in my hdtv if i feel like it, so it does everything i need, watching movies/gaming/listening to music is a blast and i also have a laptop which i don't really use all that much.

 

[latenightapplepie]

I don't plays games on my computer really. So I've got a MacBook Pro. I am quite fond of it.

 

[Griffolion]

Desktop computer for gaming. I5 @ 4Ghz, ATI 5970, 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz, hell yes.

Portable gaming? Motorola Xoom with Galaxy on Fire 2 & Angry Birds and Desire HD with Fruit Ninja.

Going round to a LAN party? Use my secondary mini PC: I5 stock, GTX 460, 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Desktop for me. Though it depends on the person which is "best". I like desktops as they are:

A) Generally better value
B) Generally more powerful as laptop components can be underclocked to improve battery life and heat generated
C) Easier to run cool. My laptop gets amazingly hot and is quite uncomfortable. Heat also can reduce performance and component lifespans.
D) Far easier to upgrade. With a Laptop it can be quite tricky to upgrade anything but the RAM. My desktop only has two original components left from when I bought it. The case and the motherboard, and I may replace the case.
E) Customisable. You can build and configure a desktop to suit any need or budget. laptops are more restrictive.

I'm fine for the portability factor. When I'm about I use my phone to surf the web or play some games.

EDIT: Thought of another one

F) With a desktop you can add rather than replace. Say you've got a good laptop and want to add a new SSD to improve read/write times. I can't think of a laptop with more than one drive bay. So to install a SSD and not lose all your data you'd have to either Buy a SSD with the same capacity so if you've got a 250gb HDD you'd have to spend in the region of £400+, or turn the old drive into an external one, and carry it about with you (plus that'd make that drive slower).

In the new year I installed a 60Gb SSD and Blu Ray drive in my desktop. All i needed to do was put them in the spare drive bays.

 

[Tharwen]

Laptops are way more expensive for what you get, they have a lower upper limit for power, and it's very hard to upgrade most of them after you've bought it.

For those reasons, I use a desktop PC. I hardly ever have a reason to carry my computer around, and when I do, I just use my old MacBook.

 

[Slash Dementia]

I have a Toshiba Satellite A665 that I got for my birthday this year. It's pretty awesome and does just about everything I want.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

I have a laptop, but then I needed one because I'm in college. That being said however, I don't intend on buying a desktop... probably ever. Laptops are just more convenient.

 

[putowtin]

I have a desktop for gaming, general internet shananigans (like spending half my day on the escapist) My laptop is only for my writing.

 

[Lord Doomhammer]

Powerful laptop for mobile domination! Its a SAGER, not an ailenware, but it still runs crysis on high settings, and its great for 3d modeling and animation. I admire what kind of power you can fit into desktops, but I just can't convince myself that being stuck in one room is a good thing. Especially with school.

Specs... $1395 US
17" screen, with a camera(that I don't use)
Intel i7 M640 Twin core with hyper-threading @2.80GHz (3.4GHz turbo mode)
8GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GT450 with 1.7GB Vram
320GB drive running @7200RPM D: (I need a new one)

I'm kinda annoyed with it though, its also got a HD integrated GPU on the motherboard, so when I'm just surfing the internet it uses the iGPU and gives me 3-4hrs battery life, and then when I boot up a game it powers up the Nvidia GT450. But it doesn't recognize some old games (original halo) as being games, so it won't boot the Nvidia card for those games.

 

[TheComedown]

So the whole back story behind this thread is that you have never actually used a semi decent computer?

 

[JTLW]

Gaming here. While laptops can be more convenient for a LOT of things, desktops have the upper hand in priceerformance. For example, I have a rig just for recording in the other room. i7 950 at stock, 12GB of RAM, couple of 1TB hard drives and an SSD for booting. It's quiet, runs dual HD monitors, and encodes audio at crazy speeds. Wonderful.

On the gaming front, I have a C2Q Q9400 with 4GB of DDR2, a GTX460 (soon to be a GTX560Ti), a cheapo SSD for booting and a couple of 1TB drives for games and videos. Currently planning on moving to a Sandy Bridge system when the Z68 chipsets are around and stable.

On the laptop front, I have a friend who owns a £2000 laptop that was given to him by a company that sells these systems as pro audio workstations. It's got a core i7, 6GB of RAM, and a HD5650. He doesn't like it too much. He says it's heavy, bulky, has poor battery life, runs hot, can't handle games as well as it should, and would be too expensive compared to what could be purchased desktop-wise.

For example, the aforementioned i7 950 rig I built? Core components including monitors, speakers, Windows 7 etc all came to £1300. Throw in the Firewire DI interface we use, as well as some audio monitors and a new mic or two, and you are getting close to £2000.

Laptops are good if you need power on the move, but the performance cuts and the sheer cost of the things kind of eliminate them from my own personal preferences.

That said, I would like a core i5 loaded m11x for taking to gigs and recording the desk DI.

 

[KiKiweaky]

Laptop screens can be a bit small sometimes there also a pain to watch a movie on if theres more than you in the room. I'm not really sure here but I've never seen a 5.1 surround sound system connected to a laptop, I had a look and it seems they can only use 2.1 at best... which would not do at all D:

 

[StormShaun]

Is a desktop that SUCKS THE BALL OF GAMING, I need an upgrade but dunno anywhere and how to get it there to get upgrades in Perth Western Aus.... and im getting Battlefield 3 and the witcher 2.......IM SCREWED

 

[Woodsey]

Mine was built with the intention of gaming on it, but I pressed desktop before I saw it. Laptops are generally overpriced and worse for gaming, and I have no need for portability.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

desktop, its just much more powerful.

im yet to come across a game that my graphics card cant handle (sometimes unsupported though).

stupidly i made my g card future resistent, but my processor not, so when the time comes i gotta fork out alot more money

 

[Wicky_42]

I got a laptop for Christmas as I entered second year at uni, and although it's great to be able to comfortably work in studio it doesn't hold a candle to my desktop.

I mean, it's good, has a dedicated graphics card and dual core processor, but my desktop's got a quad core, a decent heatsink to handle its overclock and a current gen graphics card - there's no comparison when it comes to gaming and 3D modelling or video editing. Not things I do all the time, but even having Maya running for an hour or so starts pumping out some serious degrees from the laptop's fan!

 

[octafish]

I have a decent desktop for gaming, encoding, photoshopping and general heavy lifting. I combine that with a netbook for true portability, and legacy games like Baldur's Gate 2, JA2, and Xcom. I have a 15.6" notebook given to me by work, I don't like it because it is just too big.