Guardian Posted November 23, 2009 Posted November 23, 2009 Which would be better to use while living there? My desktop is getting old so I am going to have to buy a new computer and I know that I am going to buy a laptop to travel with but should I also buy another desktop or can I get away with buying a high end 17.3 inch laptop for all my needs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted November 23, 2009 Posted November 23, 2009 I've worked in IT for almost 25 years. I suggest a laptop with a decent external monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted November 23, 2009 Posted November 23, 2009 Which would be better to use while living there? My desktop is getting old so I am going to have to buy a new computer and I know that I am going to buy a laptop to travel with but should I also buy another desktop or can I get away with buying a high end 17.3 inch laptop for all my needs? First, if you can wait then I would wait to buy either because solid state hard drives will be coming with all computers in the near future and IMO those should be more reliable and less likely to crash. I and others I know have had drives crash in our computers and since I believe those are the only moving parts in a computer besides the fan, I would guess a solid state would hopefully be less likely to fail.Next, I use a desktop in the US and prefer it over my laptop yet I use a laptop in Cebu and prefer it to a desktop and here is why. There are many more power failures and surges in the Philippines than in the US, so I use a UPS for a backup in both places but I plug the laptop into the surge part and not the backup part and let it run on its own battery during a failure and use the back up for my wireless router and modem. A desktop would draw the UPS down much faster.A laptop is portable, so we can travel around the Philippines and take it with us and use it on wifi connections all over the place or use a USB device that lets me hook up to the Internet that way. Last but not least, the Philippines is 220 volts and most monitors here are 110, so unless you have a monitor that will work on 220 such as the older flat screens, then you might have to buy one there. So I guess if I had it all to do over then I would just have a couple of laptops in case one fails and that is what we usually bring with us each trip, one for me and one for my wife to use and the second one can always be a backup for me to use if mine crashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropicalwaste Posted December 6, 2009 Posted December 6, 2009 Big question is What will you use it for? I have 3 x Toshiba Laptops but due to the heat issues with them I wont be buying another. Ive also got a load of desktops (internet cafe) and I will be building a high quality desktop with parts from overseas, to speed it up though I would just avoid VISTA its a real pile of dog mess and im hearing good things about Windows 7 so think ill have to upgrade one of my machines see how good it is then abandon the VISTA that came pre-installed talk about kissing good money goodbye. Anyway all depends what your doing some of the stuff I do is a bit heavy on processors which is why mine run hot. But then again if I set the network up well I could do some of the work on the desktops people use in the netcafe to take the pressure off.. anyway getting back to the main point I personally would go for a laptop if your moving around and if setting up home for good a quality desktop. Or even better buy both lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hosea Posted January 1, 2010 Posted January 1, 2010 Because it seems the moment I only have one computer something happens to it to, I suggest having a laptop for travel and backup and a desktop for home use (main usage). I had a 17.1 inch laptop once. Way! too big for travel. As far as I am concerned, laptops over 14 inches should be used for home in place of a desktop. As stated before, you can hook a video cable to your larger monitor. I am using a 32 inch monitor with my laptop and desktop. And just in case those two go down....there is a backup in the other room. Not to mention an old laptop for those family members that want to use my laptop. My feeling is you can't have too many computers, eye glasses or changes of underwear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted January 1, 2010 Posted January 1, 2010 I use a laptop & it seems to be the easiest with all the power glitches here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyAway Posted January 2, 2010 Posted January 2, 2010 Laptops are more flexible these days. I have an HP tablet that does everything from word processing to photo editing. It has an external monitor output so I can use duel screens. Plug in a USB keyboard & mouse if you miss the full size. If you need more storage just ad an external drive. How many people actually end up filling a 250GB + drive? Most all laptop power supplies will run on 110 ~ 220 50/60Hz power. None of mine ever had a problem in the Philippines or Hong Kong.Definitely stay away from Vista. It is a dead horse now. I recently upgraded to Windows 7 Pro and am happy with it. Several weeks ago I got a good deal on some of the Acer 10.1" Netbooks. Great little internet and light duty systems. I will use them for traveling from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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