As the school year slowly approaches, the deadline for parents to outfit their students’ with the best and the most appropriate technology looms near. Simultaneously, with the festivities approaching, more people are investing on technology. 2020 has been a year which relied totally on technology for its functioning. With the classes being held online, and jobs and internships offering work from home schedule, it was, and still is, an absolute requirement to upgrade to a better device.
The desire to upgrade could rely on a few factors, such as your interest in something portable or something powerful or something that blurs the lines between these two traditional ends of the spectrum. Before skimming through a series of desktops and best laptop brands, you might want to consider a few detailed breakdown of everything you need to know about the devices.
Nevertheless, the answer to whether to buy a laptop or a desktop is complicated, unique and subjective. Elaborated below are few points, discussed to consider while trying figuring out what works best for you and deciding accordingly before you drop the cash on your next PC.
Differences:
A desktop PC is a computer that you can keep on a desk in your bedroom or office, unaccompanied by the portability. It generally comes with separate parts – a tower or system unit of the PC, a display monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. One the other hand, a laptop (also referred to as a notebook) is a portable, all-in-one device that usually has USB inputs on the sides for optional peripherals. It has a built-in keyboard, a trackpad to replace the mouse, and comes in variable size – from 10 inches to 12 inch curve-screen gaming leviathans.
PCs are generally more customizable that laptops. You can assemble top-of-the-line parts for every aspect of the PC when you choose a desktop, while your choices get limited with laptop.
Why buy a laptop?
Laptop is, undoubtedly, the best option for outstation students. If you are not willing to settle for the limitations of modern tablets, and rather want a computer that you can use at home, at work and on the move, then you will probably want to go with a laptop.
On the other hand, a desktop will restrict you to working from a specific location. While laptops are more delicate than desktop PCs, you can easily find rugged laptop that will take a fall or two without being destroyed.
Why buy a desktop?
If your requirement is a computer that can store a huge amount of data or for just playing games, a desktop PC is the way to go.
A powerful desktop is generally less expensive that a powerful laptop with similar grunt. Also, desktop PCs are subjected to any alterations – add more storage, RAM, or a better graphics card to improve your computing experience – an advantage that laptops do not serve.
There is also all-in-one PCs available, which are stylish devices where their components are built behind the screen. This benefits you to easily move and set it up, takes lesser space on the desk and does not need to be connected with too many wires. However, they are more expensive than and not as easy to upgrade as normal desktops.
Buy a new set or upgrade the current one?
This depends on the age of your computer. If it is over three years old, then finding the best upgrade parts can be frustrating and can burn a hole in your pocket. In this case, it is worth buying a new one that has all the latest technology installed.
The key components to upgrade are the memory, CPU (or processor), hard drive and graphics card. The relationship between these parts is important so if you upgrade to a faster processor, the other parts need to be able to keep up.
Buy a premade desktop or build your own?
One way to cut down on the expense and hassle of upgrading an old computer is to buy a new pre-made desktop. Premade desktops are usually higher priced and are supplied with a warranty for the complete computer if something fails.
Premade desktops also come with some software installed, like Windows 10, so you can plug it in and straightaway use it.
Software
Laptops usually come with an OS (operating system) already installed. Further, to protect you PC from being infected by a virus, an antivirus program or internet security suite should be installed.
There a number of options you can choose from, the most common and trustworthy options being Norton AntiVirus and Kaspersky Internet Security. These programs run in the background while you work and ensure that none of the programs you run or the emails you read is infected by viruses.
In the end, buying a computer or choosing between a desktop PC and a laptop is not a tough task as long as you have your requirements clear. Both options come with their set of drawbacks and benefits. The detailed breakdown of both in this article will have your form a better perspective and make choosing your device easier for you.