A New Computer: Laptop or Desktop?

We’ve looked at which planner would be right for us, and what is the best way to take notes. We’ve done our research, now it’s time to start working! And another question a lot of students ask at the start of the year is what kind of computer would be best for them to buy.

What are you going to do with it?

The most important question to determine what’s the right computer for you is: What are you going to do with it? If you’re using your computer mainly for internet related things, like checking your email, browsing the web, blogging, using social networks and using Web 2.0 applications like Google Docs or if you use it mainly for writing articles, papers and collecting and organizing research material (using DEVONthink Pro for instance), you don’t need the most powerful computer out there. And if you’re planning to buy a laptop, a Macbook will be just fine.

When you’re doing a lot of creative work like editing movies, graphic design, making music or other things that use a lot of your computer’s processing power, you might want to look at the ‘pro’ lines manufacturers like Apple are offering. But even then, it depends on how much you really need that extra processing power those more expansive machines offer.

When we buy a computer to work on during our studies it’s also a good idea to make sure we will be able to work on this machine for the coming years. With that in mind we could be better off with a computer with a little bit of extra power.

On your lap or on your desk?

Wether a laptop or a desktop is good for you really depends on your situation. If you’re going to do a lot of work at school or you’re going to collaborate with others in different locations a laptop is definitely a better choice. Some people like to carry their computer with them everywhere they go, to be able to work in their spare time and make notes during classes. But, if you’re going to use it primarily for homework, and you won’t need the portability described above, a fast and reliable desktop computer will deliver what you need.

We also have to keep budget limitations in mind. And for the price of a nice laptop you can get a desktop computer with a lot more power, a bigger screen and a faster hard drive. So it’s a good idea to first set a fixed budget, and then make a balance between the need for portability and the need for power to determine our choice.

What about operating systems?

I’m an all-time Mac user, so it’s easy to predict my answer if people are asking me whether they should buy a Windows computer or a Mac. And since nowadays Apple uses Intel processors and we can run Windows as well as Mac OS X on our computers I see absolutely no reason to buy a computer that runs Windows only.

There’s only one thing I really don’t like about Apple. And that’s the fact that you have to buy an Apple Care Protection Plan in order to get three years of warrantee and free repairs in case anything stops working. I had to have the logic board of my first iBook replaced three times, which really made me aware of the need for those extra two years of care. I always advice people to buy Apple Care when they buy an Apple laptop.

So the conclusion is?

There is no best way to go. It really depends on your needs and your situation. That said, I’d personally prefer the flexibility of a laptop computer although you have to trade in a bit of processing power, so this is what I advice most of the time to students who are asking me this question.

I would like to hear what you think about this, and what kind of computer you prefer!

Photo by Dan Taylor