Desktop vs. laptop

[walkinwood]

If your desktop is still functional and meets your needs, and ask your son for a rain-check.

Buy a google nexus 7" and it will meet your portable dictionary needs as well as be a good email / forum browser when you want to do that relaxing in an armchair or out of the house.

It will also give you the experience of mobile computing and you'll be able to make a better desktop/notebook decision when the time comes.

 

[Rustic23]

Forgot to mention, I also have a Dell Venue 8 Pro. I would not recommend this. If you have never had a tablet, maybe you would get use to this. However, it is a bad replacement for an Ipad, and a bad replacement for a laptop.

I got the Dell and shortly after I upgraded my HP netbook with a SSD. It is by far a better computer that the Dell. I tried to like the Dell, but in the end it just does not fit.

 

[aja8888]

We just bought an Acer Chromebook (internet machine). I let DD use it now I can't tear it out of her hands. Very light, touch screen, fast, no mechanical hard drive, HDMI port, USB port, SD card slot, camera, Chrome OS (browser). It comes with 100 GB Google Drive storage for 2 years. Plus, I can use Google docs for all my needs, use GMail (which I use exclusively) etc. This will replace my Lenovo laptop and maybe the desktop too.

All this for $299.00

Now if I could only get it back.....

Chromebooks: Acer C720 Chromebook

 

[Katsmeow]

As FIREd suggests, a desktop plus a tablet is an ideal combination. It is easier and less expensive to extend the life of a desktop (vs laptop) by swapping or adding memory and hard disk.

This entirely depends upon how you use your computers and what you do with them. I absolutely love my iPad but it doesn't substitute for my notebook computer. I recognize that for many people a tablet may be a complete substitute for a notebook, but not for everyone.

 

[pb4uski]

I like my tablet for reading and surfing but don't like typing on it at all so a desktop/tablet combination would not work well for me. I may try a bluetooth keyboard with the tablet when traveling.

I prefer a laptop to a desktop because I can use it wherever in the house I want to spend time - on the dining room table, on my lap in the living room, at my desk, etc.

 

[haha]

Thanks to everyone for all these comments, preferences and suggestions. I would ask son for a rain check, but my PC is aging and I think I had better take a gift when it is offered!

Not sure yet what I will choose. I can see that there are advantages to both.

Ha

 

[Gotadimple]

Ha,
I moved to a laptop 3 years ago. That said, the laptop rarely moves - it just takes up less space than a desktop. With a 15" screen, it is heavy to readily move around. I do not have a docking station (not all laptops offer one). I do have it hooked to:
* DSL wireless modem
* Portable back up drive (Toshiba)
* Printer/scanner/fax
* Wireless laptop mouse

For travel, portability, and general surfing in other parts of the house, I have a tablet (Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1"). When travelling, I use Wi-Fi when available as this tablet does not contain the radio chip to connect to a satellite service (ATT, T-Mobile, etc.). In the house, the wireless modem provides automatic access to the internet. I never perform any financial transactions on the tablet.

- Rita

 

[Walt34]

After all this discussion I am thinking of getting a tablet for DW. At the moment we have one desktop PC (tower, actually) with a 24" screen, that we use for everything that requires a computer. I like the desktop because photography is a hobby and I use a graphics tablet for editing, much easier than a mouse. Lightroom and especially Photoshop can be memory and processor intensive at times, and I also value a wide-gamut calibrated display. Normal office-type displays just don't cut it for photo editing.

DW occasionally grumps at me because I'm tying up the PC and she'd like to look up something online. So I'm thinking of either a tablet or cheap notebook so she can read E-mail and use a web browser. That's probably all she'd want it for so I'm thinking the tablet might be a better option for that purpose. Also she is um, "technologically challenged" so I'm thinking that after it is set up the tablet might be easier to use.

Thoughts?

 

[pb4uski]

I think that would work. I like my tablet as long as I don't have to type more than a sentence on it, but adding a bluetooth keyboard may be a good solution to that.

 

[aja8888]

Look at a Chromebook vs a tablet (Acer is touchscreen @$299):

Chromebooks: Acer C720 Chromebook

 

[steelyman]

I have one of the original (silver) Samsung Chromebooks. I used it for a couple of hours this afternoon. It's not used a lot but fits in a backpack perfectly. When I open it up, it immediately says, "What What do you want to do, cowboy?!?".

I bought it on a whim at Best Buy while traveling. It was so inexpensive, I figured if a truck runs over it, I'll just get a new one.

 

[Walt34]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll probably get one.

 

[KingB]

I saw this one. $399 - $150 rebate = $249. You need to send an old working PC to get the rebate. I already have a notebook so I don't need another one.

ASUS T100TA-H1-GR Transformer Book Intel Quad Core Atom 2GB Memory 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD 10.1 2-In-1 Touch Notebook Windows 8.1 - T100TA-H1-GR at TigerDirect.com

 

[Walt34]

Is that a supercomputer? $24999 is the price listed. No commas or decimal point shown.

And some people think punctuation doesn't matter.

 

[sengsational]

I had a personal desktop, a company laptop (that I often brough on road trips to use with a GPS reciever, and hotel based we surfing), and a little tablet (that I really don't like to type on).

Since FIRE, I don't have the laptop, and haven't replaced it. I, like many, enjoy the flexibility of the desktop....slam in another drive or video board and go to town!