In the first part of the series we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of dekstops. Let’s look at the pros and cons of laptops, and whether a laptop is more suited for you.
First and formost, the main advantage of a laptop is its portability, use it wherever and whenever you need it. The laptop is purchased mainly by people that need to be able to access or create files on the go. The ease of being able to sit down anywhere and have the same computing power as a desktop at fraction of it’s weight is liberating. Of course like everything else there are strings attached to this freedom. One of the major draw backs to using a laptop over a desktop is battery life, a typical laptop has a battery life of about 4-6 hours of normal usage. This means creating Word documents, Powerpoint presentations, and browsing the interent. If you do not charge your battery after it has been drained from the usage, essentially your going to be carrying around a very heavy paper weight.
Laptops can also be very expensive, and since we are comparing similar computing power between the desktop and laptop, an entry level laptop will run you between $499 and $899. Unfortunately the draw backs do not stop there, as we mentioned in the part 1 of the series, laptops come with much smaller screen sizes and the entry level laptop will not have the same screen resolution as that big 20″ monitor that is attached to your desktop. This means, the real-estate that is available on the desktop which allows you to open more programs on one screen is not available on the laptop, and that can be frustrating when using programs like Microsoft Office. That being said, there are laptops that have larger screen sizes and higher resolutions that allow you to have the same experience as a desktop, but those machines add more weight and a much higher price tag.
Laptops also come with internet limitations, when your home you connect your desktop to your modem and you have a uninterrupted signal which gives you lighting fast speeds. A laptop can also be connected to that same modem, but what happens when you leave your home? On top of the expensive price tag, heavy weight, and short battery life, connecting to the internet requires additional fees which can cost up to an additional $50 a month.
Laptops are great for the people that require the ease of portability, but if you find yourself using your computer at home more times than outside your home. It might be beneficial to your wallet and your back to invest in a desktop.
