Any real reasons left to go with a desktop / tower over a laptop? (Faster / more powerful perhaps?)

d0rian said:
Yes, this is the sort of thing I was wondering about -- it seems as though it's not just about a machine's absolute specs...as it sounds like you're saying that a laptop with the identical hardware of a desktop might still exhibit significantly reduced performance because of hardware/structural/heat-dissipation limitations...and if that's the case, it seems as though there still might be plenty good reasons to go desktop...
More...

I haven't looked at the most recent of laptops but typically they're not of equal spec. They often feature "mobile" counterparts of the desktop series which aren't as powerful.

I was using someone's top of the line i7 consumer laptop from HP a year ago. I thought it was all great until I realized it will shut itself down every 45 minutes due to overheating in very hot and humid weather. It would only run properly when sitting on fans which makes the "laptop" part of it useless.

Remember that there is also the issue of cost. An equivalent desktop will set you back far less than an equivalent laptop.
If you're a power user, the best setup is still a regular desktop tower + a 14" slim(mer) laptop for when you're traveling.
 
Modularity is reason #1
Had one before but sold it because I don’t need the power and prefer portability.

Bought it piece by piece.
Sold it piece by piece.
...

Got a Lenovo T470.
14’ screen is enough for my trading.
Got a 29’ monitor that I don’t even plug
 
d08 said:
I haven't looked at the most recent of laptops but typically they're not of equal spec. They often feature "mobile" counterparts of the desktop series which aren't as powerful.

I was using someone's top of the line i7 consumer laptop from HP a year ago. I thought it was all great until I realized it will shut itself down every 45 minutes due to overheating in very hot and humid weather. It would only run properly when sitting on fans which makes the "laptop" part of it useless.

Remember that there is also the issue of cost. An equivalent desktop will set you back far less than an equivalent laptop.
If you're a power user, the best setup is still a regular desktop tower + a 14" slim(mer) laptop for when you're traveling.
More...
It gets hot and humid in the Philippines? :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: d08
Sekiyo said:
...
14’ screen is enough for my trading.
Got a 29’ monitor that I don’t even plug
More...

I admire a person who has a 14 foot trading screen, and then a 29 foot monitor they don't even plug. Hell, I'd plug it, if it helped you make decent dosh. :) (Sorry, just hacking on ya'. But at first glance the post is funny. We know what you meant).
 
Heat is bad. Here's an old clip from the Intel/AMD wars in the desktop. Heat kills! (And Intel always handled heat better.) :)

Imagine how it was in the laptops! Ick.

 
I do like myself a nice laptop, but if you don’t need heavy computing on the go, I’d say a solid desktop with a medium specced laptop be the best option.

What drives me nuts about laptops is the upgrade cost. Take something like a surface laptop, want 16g instead of 8g of ram, add 300$. Want a 500g ssd instead of 256, that’s 300$. Those are rough numbers but the cost don’t line up with parts cost.

Worst part is that laptops with upgradeable parts are getting fewer. With smaller designs, a lot are going with sauldered components so specs are locked in.

Really, any laptop I’ve ever tried or had that could keep up with a desktop was far from what I’d call a laptop, heavy, extremely hot on lap etc.

Laptop cpus usually run slower on battery to save battery life unless you change some options. So for any heavy computing your going to be plugging in.

They’ve come a long way but a desktop is always going to crush a laptop. But if space / being portable is needed, you can get some nice laptops now that would spin circles around the average users desktops.
 
Metamega said:
...
They’ve come a long way but a desktop is always going to crush a laptop. But if space / being portable is needed, you can get some nice laptops now that would spin circles around the average users desktops.
More...

That's an unfair comparison...The "average user" bought some cheapened Dell or HP or Gateway at the local Costco 6 years ago, bundled with junk they did not need, so they can check their e-mail and maybe print X-Mas cards.

And the "average user" would spend twice as much money to get that power on a laptop years later...to do the exact same thing they are doing on their trusty desktop, but on the go.

They never thought to get a cheep tablet to do the same thing, heh.
 
Any real reason left to go with a desktop/tower over laptop?
More...
I think that there are still reasons left, but it depends on how you want to use your computer.
For computation heavy tasks such as backtesting you want a computer with powerful CPU and sufficient RAM. You don't want the computer to run hot while doing the backtest because the protection circuits will reduce the CPU clock speed and thus the backtest will take a longer time. A laptop is less capable of cooling properly due to the small form factor. The default clock speeds in a laptop are often lower than in a desktop for the same reason.
For graphical work, or a trading screen with many charts, you want a powerful graphics processor, probably with the option to connect multiple monitors. The laptop screen is probably too small for this, and often can you only add one external monitor. Most desktops allow the use of at least two monitors, giving much larger monitor real estate.
The keyboard and mouse pad of a laptop are often too small to comfortably work with. So you would add an external keyboard and mouse, making it identical to a desktop/tower. No benefit to be had here for a laptop.
I only used a laptop when I was in need of the portability it provides, plus its capability to work off-grid, without having mains power supply available. If this is not necessary I prefer a desktop/tower.
 
A 24inch monitor is a must-have for technical analysis. Of course, laptop can connect to a 24inch monitor if you don't mind paying more for a laptop + LCD monitor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top