Budget 0-20k Desktop or Laptop - Which one to go with?

Desktop or Laptop? Which one should i stick with?


  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .

phunguus

Disciple
Hey Guys,
This is more of a philosophical Q rather than an out and out buying advice post. I have a laptop which is 2.5 y.o and a desktop which is 5 y.o. The desktop is dying and i have to make a call on whether i should upgrade it or move to the laptop permanently?

An intro to the 2 machines-
Desktop (all parts are 5 y.o. unless otherwise specified) -
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 1.6Ghz
Mobo - Gigabyte GA 945GCM S2L
PSU - VIP 400W
SSD - Corsair Force GT SATA3 60GB(originally 1.5 y.o. but got a brand new RMA'ed drive yesterday)
HDD - 160GB WD(4y.o.), 500 GB WD Caviar Blue (2 months old),
Memory - 1+1 GB transcend DDR2
Graphics - 512MB nVidia 7200GS
Display - Samsung 732N plus 17"
Peripherals - iBall keyboard Ez 9910, Logitech M-UV96 optical mouse, Samsung DVD writer, HP deskjet 3500 printer(~10 y.o.; only works with XP)
Others - iBall 11" x 11" x 7" cabinet, Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers, rusted spike guard

Laptop - Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7005.
Bought in the US by my aunt as a gift for me. No mods done.

As I said, my desktop is dying. By that i mean, the system seems very shaky and unsure. Every 2-3 days something goes loose in the cabinet. Since mid Jan 2013, the HDD is showing signs of conking off (that's why the 2 month old caviar blue in the list above). Not very sure about the PSU too. Everything heats up really quickly when connected to it. Besides, the entire configuration is a little outdated and needs an upgrade.

So for the last 2-3 months ive shifted base to the toshiba laptop. It obviously performs better than the desktop due to the better specs. Plus I simply love the portability and space saving aspect of it. But i dread the day when it starts giving troubles because i have no confidence when it comes to troubleshooting laptops.

So coming to my main Q...
Should I revamp the dying desktop and keep the laptop as a standby and get rid of it when it dies?
OR
Should I let the desktop die and continue my life with the laptop (eventually getting a better one)?

As far as my usage is concerned, most of my leisure time on a computer is spent watching movies surfing the Internet and some frequent gaming (mostly FIFA; occasional role playing/FPS game). 500GB of storage is enough for me. A good CPU/GPU combo and im all set.

The modularity of the desktop is what I cherish the most. Plus I don't want to part with the SSD as yet. But the compactness of the laptop cries out to me. It would be awesome if i could somehow integrate the SSD with an HDD on the laptop (is that even possible?). And i DON'T plan to keep both of them forever (that's just unnecessary and wasteful in my opinion).


All that said, i request everyone here to help me out with this quasi-philosophical computing situation. If anymore info/clarifications needed from my side, do let me know.
@mods My apologies if the thread is not in the right section. I found this section to be the most appropriate. Feel free to move it to the right section.
 
Integration of HDD with SSD is possible if you are ready to do some mods to the laptop. Remove the optical drive and put the existing HDD and use the SSD as the main drive.

For movies + gaming + surfing, a desktop will suit you better than a laptop. If you plan to upgrade, hold off till Haswell. Thats because a new socket will come in, leading to a reduction in value for the existing SB/IB setups.[DOUBLEPOST=1366479419][/DOUBLEPOST]I guess your optical drive is a SATA one, you need something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-to-SAT...0?pt=US_Drive_Bay_Caddies&hash=item27d2020b6c
 
Gaming on laptop is not recommended because you cant upgrade (except for ssd/ram) so, they cant run newer titles.
Laptops are not built for gaming, they are meant for portability:bag: .
If your desktop is heating up ditch the generic case and upgrade to a bettter case.
Other things you must consider are
1.Gaming on laptops kills the battery at much faster rate(we can say portability is lost if battery performance is lost) .
2.They become pretty hot (keyboard may heat up too) which is not ideal for gaming or your health.
 
Integration of HDD with SSD is possible if you are ready to do some mods to the laptop. Remove the optical drive and put the existing HDD and use the SSD as the main drive.

For movies + gaming + surfing, a desktop will suit you better than a laptop. If you plan to upgrade, hold off till Haswell. Thats because a new socket will come in, leading to a reduction in value for the existing SB/IB setups.[DOUBLEPOST=1366479419][/DOUBLEPOST]I guess your optical drive is a SATA one, you need something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-to-SAT...0?pt=US_Drive_Bay_Caddies&hash=item27d2020b6c
But Haswell is scheduled for Q2 right? That means ~3 months for release and another month or two for SB/IB prices to fall...I'm not sure if my desktop will be able to hold off till then.
And how much reduction in value are we talking about here? if its <10% reduction then it wont matter too much for me.
Anyways ill start planning for a new rig and take a call once the config is in place.

Gaming on laptop is not recommended because you cant upgrade (except for ssd/ram) so, they cant run newer titles.
Laptops are not built for gaming, they are meant for portability:bag: .
If your desktop is heating up ditch the generic case and upgrade to a bettter case.
Other things you must consider are
1.Gaming on laptops kills the battery at much faster rate(we can say portability is lost if battery performance is lost) .
2.They become pretty hot (keyboard may heat up too) which is not ideal for gaming or your health.
Actually more than everything else, it's the North Bridge thats heating up the most...it goes from 0-untouchable in 5-6 minutes. Rest are just warm in its comparison.

And say if i didn't have the gaming bug in me, would the laptop be right for me?
Actually what are the main requirements that point towards a desktop or a laptop as a computing solution?

Edit: Found a page that sufficiently answers my Q - Desktops vs Laptops.
Actually ans to almost any Q is on the Internet...you just have to ask the right Q to google.
Would still like to hear your opinion though :)
 
No gaming and need portability get laptop.
But remember that desktops are more powerful than laptops.
What i suggest revamp the dying desktop and keep the laptop as a standby
 
Since the IGP is on the northbridge, no guesses as to why it heats up on the laptop. In mine, when playing any game like CNC Generals, the NB used to get heated up pretty fast. On the other hand, when I had re-purposed it as a download rig, it was the southbridge that used to heat up (SATA transfers)

Either way, irrespective of whether its on the laptop or desktop, check if the heatsink is making contact with the chip. On both, there should be a heatsink. On the desktop I cannot comment on why its heating up.
 
hey guys,
after some thinking on what to buy, i was almost gonna get the AMD A10 5800K with ASUS F2A85M mobo. But due to LBT strike in mumbai, i had to wait.
I did some more research during the wait period, discussed with friends and thought some more. The end result is that i think its best to build a setup now within 25-30k and get a GPU later.
So here is my final(?) config (ofco with the template)

  • What is your budget?
30k
  • What is your existing hardware configuration (component name - component brand and model)
    • CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 1.6Ghz
    • Mobo - Gigabyte GA 945GCM S2L
    • PSU - VIP 400W
    • SSD - Corsair Force GT SATA3 60GB(originally 1.5 y.o. but got a brand new RMA'ed drive yesterday)
    • HDD - 160GB WD(4y.o.), 500 GB WD Caviar Blue (2 months old),
    • Memory - 1+1 GB transcend DDR2
    • Graphics - 512MB nVidia 7200GS
    • Display - Samsung 732N plus 17"
    • Peripherals - iBall keyboard Ez 9910, Logitech M-UV96 optical mouse, Samsung DVD writer, HP deskjet 3500 printer(~10 y.o.; only works with XP)
    • Others - iBall 11" x 11" x 7" cabinet, Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers, rusted spike guard
  • Which hardware will you be keeping (component name - component brand and model)
    • SSD - Corsair Force GT SATA3 60GB(originally 1.5 y.o. but got a brand new RMA'ed drive yesterday)
    • HDD - 500 GB WD Caviar Blue (2 months old),
    • Display - Samsung 732N plus 17"
    • Peripherals - iBall keyboard Ez 9910, Logitech M-UV96 optical mouse, Samsung DVD writer, HP deskjet 3500 printer(~10 y.o.; only works with XP)
  • Which hardware component are you looking to buy (component name). If you have already decided on a configuration then please mention the (component brand and model) as well, this will help us in fine tuning your requirement.
    • Intel i3 - 3220/3225 - Rs 7200/10000
    • Gigabyte GA-H77-D3H - Rs 7000
    • Corsair Vengeance 4GB 1600Mhz - Rs2500
    • Seasonic SII 520W - Rs4500
    • CM Elite 431+ - Rs 4100
Total - 25300/28100
  • Is this going to be your final configuration or you would be adding/upgrading a component in near future. If yes then please mention when and which component
Yes, will upgrade the following within 6 months
    • GPU will probably get a GPU ~10k
    • Will also get a 21"+monitor
  • Where will you buy this hardware? (Online/City/TE Dealer)
    • Mumbai
    • Open to online purchase
  • Would you consider buying a second hand hardware from the TE market
    • No
  • What is your intended use for this PC/hardware
    • Gaming
    • Browsing
    • Desktop Processing
    • HTPC
    • Watching HD movies
  • Do you have any brand preference or dislike? Please name them and the reason for your preference/dislike.
None as such. As written above in this post, I had 2 AMD builds in mind-
1. One was A10 5800K + ASUS F2A85M . Dropped it because i would be dependent on Trinity series for upgrades and also its performance with a GPU is worse than what i'll get with a proper CPU.
2. Second was FX 6100 with + ASUS M5A97. Dropped this too because neither CPU nor the mobo has an iGP and i cant squeeze a graphics card now. Also the mobo doesnt have a PCIe 3.0 slot which i believe would be necessary for upcoming graphic cards.
  • If you will be playing games then which type of games will you be playing?
    • FIFA
    • GTA 4 (will try with the iGP. if its unplayable, then after i get the GPU)
    • Strategy - Civilization 4, CNC (after i get the GPU)
    • FPS - BF3 (after i get the GPU)
  • What is your preferred monitor resolution for gaming and normal usage
I used to do everything at 1024 x 768. Cant say much about what im expecting but 1080p is what i have in mind.
  • Are you looking to overclock?
    • No
  • Which operating system do you intend to use with this configuration?
    • Windows 7 64 bit
 
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