I am getting a personal home computer. considering a laptop. what are the pros and cons.?

Answer 1

You can still get more computer for the money in a desktop, however laptop prices have come way down. I just bought my wife a good laptop for less than $600 and it has all the bells and whistles. Do you have DSL or cable modem? If you have a high speed connection, you could use a wireless router and walk around your house in any room to use your laptop. If you don't care about that or don't travel much with a computer a desktop would be the way to go. Focus on these components of the computer, 1) the processor is important don't get a Celeron processor they are cheap and slow, spend more money on a better processor 2 Core Duo processors are hot now. 2) buy as much RAM as you can affordable, this will speed up your using programs, and opening web pages. At least 512 mb. 3) buy as much storage in the hard drive as you can, at least 100 gb check Fatwallet.com and techbargains.com that is how I found my laptop for my wife and saved $600. I bought a Levono laptop (IBM) with a 2 Core Duo processor at Office Depot. About 3 weeks ago you could get them for $599 (after rebates) Good luck!

Answer 2

Unless you really NEED a laptop, due to nature of your work or travel or something like that, I wouldn’t get a laptop that would serve as desktop full time.
First of all a laptop will be more expensive than a PC with similar characteristics.
Second a laptop will be slower than a desktop with the same parameters. The reason is that laptops are built with energy conservation in mind, so the hard drive may spin slower. Upgrading a laptop could be much more difficult if possible at all.
Anyway, I bought a laptop instead of a desktop 3-4 years ago and hated it. Oh, forget altogether any kind of memory/hard drive extensive tasks, such as video editing or something like that.
If you think you will travel a lot, or have long commutes on a train and think you could use that time to work and you really have to do it, then buy a laptop. Don't buy a laptop if think you will take it with you on vacation to watch movies on the plane, instead get a good desktop and a good portable DVD player. This way you will have two good things instead of one ordinary.

Answer 3

Pros are the ability to sit anywhere and use a laptop - if you buy a wireless router, you can be connected to the internet anywhere in your house. If you go out to coffee shops or bookstores or anyplace else that is a 'wi-fi hotspot' you can connect there as well.

The downside is that they are notoriously easy to break - especially the LCD screen (at which point in time its best just to replace the computer, because the screen is 90% of the cost of the laptop). They are also easier to knock off a desk, and don't have as much room inside for upgrades.

I pointed my dad towards a Sony VAIO over the weekend, they start at about $1000 - I was really impressed with the quality of the case, and it seems to work great. I'm probably going with a Dell (but only because I don't ever need to call tech support) they make an AMD based laptop that is pretty nifty - and it will only be $800 (before tax, but that includes the wireless router).

Your best bet is to go to the computer store - preferably take someone along that knows about computers, and make sure to take your time, and don't let them pressure you into anything that you aren't sure about.

Answer 4

A Desktop is much better then a Laptop. Sure you can take the laptop everywhere but a desktop will not break down on you so easily like a laptop would. My husband's step grandfather had a laptop and he said when he actually dropped it it got a scratch all the way down the screen. Laptops are just to verabie and only good to travel with. That's the only reason why I want one but I like my desktop a lot better.

Answer 5

I might recommend getting both... everyone has great suggestions here. You get more bang for your buck and better components with a desktop in the price range. But the portability issue cannot be beat. I might recommend a low end laptop and a low end desktop. Also depends on your use. Gamers need more bells and whistle... Good luck...

Answer 6

If you mean comparing it to A desktop, here are the pros and cons.

Cons:
Less hard drive space.
Easier to break

Pros:
Power cables are not always needed when using, just ot charge the battery

Usually better wireless capability
Less room

Answer 7

cons - laptop not all that upgradeable not as fast when comparing price to price, keyboard is awkward
pros - laptop portability