“Should I get a laptop or a desktop?”- This is a question that is often faced by buyers, especially those that are willing to buy a computer for the first time.For simplicity’s sake, here we would only consider prebuilt desktops, and put them against laptops and see which comes out better.
Portability and Battery Backup
The one aspect where laptops would always stay ahead is their portability. Be it a 14-inch or 17-inch laptop, one of these is always easy to carry and work on the go over a desktop that is not meant to be moved.The latter is only dependent on main power, while a laptop has a battery too. A certain Dell laptop can offer a real-time backup of up to 18 hours!
Winner – Laptop
Screen Size
Laptops today come in different screen sizes 14-inch, 15.6 inches and so on. While a traditional desktop requires an additional monitor, you can get one of those All-in-One computers made by HP and other brands that have everything fitted inside the display unit itself.But again, such tend to be costly and have drawbacks as a laptop does.
Winner – Laptop
Cost to Performance Ratio
Laptops and pre-built desktops are available in different price segments. However, the cost to performance ratio of a desktop at any price point tends to be better than a laptop no matter if it’s from Lenovo or some other manufacturer.A laptop with a given set of hardware would cost higher than a desktop having the same configuration, and you won’t be utilizing all of it either. The difference is further prominent as you go higher on the price ladder.
Winner – Desktop
Cooling
A desktop, especially the gaming ones, have ample room for airflow and have better cooling options like usual radiators, AIO cooling, liquid cooling, etc.A laptop, however, has little space inside where only radiators can be placed, and that too in restricted numbers.Due to insufficient cooling, almost every high-performance laptop reduces its performance to a suitable limit to prevent over-heating.
Winner – Desktop
Upgrades
Take any desktop – upgrading and maintaining it would be much easier than even the best upgradeable laptop in 2022. This includes the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage and more, depending on the motherboard.A Lenovo laptop or one from any other brand is not as upgradable, and only certain parts, like the RAM and storage, can be swapped with a better unit.
Winner – Desktop
Repairs
Now, this is something that may not bother you for the first year (or whatever warranty tenure you opt for) but is still a very important factor. Due to a desktop’s design, repairing any component is not only easy but also cost-effective.In a laptop, on the other hand, most components are fixed on the motherboard. So this means any repair, if possible, requires professional help and is costlier.
Winner – Desktop
Verdict
A laptop often beats a desktop when it comes to ease of usage, and certain ones like hybrid laptops are further convenient to use. Things like display, touchpad, etc. are all inbuilt too.A desktop will not offer you touchscreen functionality and you will have to buy peripheral devices like a monitor additionally. But the count of ports is more on an HP desktop than on an HP laptop, which makes a ton of difference for certain kinds of users.
All such differences can be noted, but it all comes down to what one’s personal needs are. So even though desktops may have an upper hand in certain aspects, some may still find laptops more useful in daily usage.