laptop or desktop

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
i'm not quite sure which i'd like to get. i am leaning towards the laptop. i want something with power and durability. would i be better of getting a desktop or can i get what i want from a laptop? is the image quality on a laptop monitor inferior to one on a desktop monitor?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    The image quality on a laptop's LCD isn't necessarily any worse than that of a desktop. The difference is that a laptop can't afford to have as good a backlight as a desktop LCD, since it needs to be thinner and consume less power.



    As far as performance... well, what will you be doing on this future computer? If you're playing games, go straight for a desktop - do not pass Go, do not collect $200, etc. etc. The G5 in the iMac and PowerMac is just that much better-suited to gaming. You can still play games on a current Apple laptop, but you won't be playing Doom 3 when it comes out early next year.



    If you're just using pro apps, the answer becomes "it depends." If you're using Photoshop or other static apps, it won't usually matter that a Gaussian Blur takes a bit longer to finish. With Final Cut Express/Pro it might make a difference, since a G5 can do more real-time previews than a G4 can, but it's not critical. With Motion, on the other hand, you'd really want at least a PowerMac with a Radeon 9600 XT to be happy.



    Do you have a price limit (before tax)? If so, that'll help a lot - it'll tell you what your specific options are.
  • Reply 2 of 17
    money isn't really an issue. i just want something good. i'll be playing a few games that's for sure and maybe even do some audio recording. the main reason i wanted to laptop was for it's mobility. though i guess i could also get a top of the line desktop right now and maybe later on down the line get a cheaper apple laptop just for regular use.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    cosmocosmo Posts: 662member
    If you really want something portable, but cold use the power of a G5 at home, you could consider a referbished (or currently low end) iBook and the DP 1.8 ghz tower. The total price would be about the same as buying the DP2.5ghz tower. You will still need a monitor, but you can probably find a cheap, non-apple display if you need one.



    The desktop will certainly have a longer lifespan, but chances are that when you are using your portable, you won't be doing things that need as much power.



    Just a thought since you said that money wasn't a major concern.
  • Reply 4 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by King Elessar

    i'm not quite sure which i'd like to get. i am leaning towards the laptop. i want something with power and durability. would i be better of getting a desktop or can i get what i want from a laptop? is the image quality on a laptop monitor inferior to one on a desktop monitor?



    Not any inferior, just a LOT less screen real estate, even just comparing a 15 inch display versus a 20 or 23 desktop
  • Reply 5 of 17
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cosmo

    If you really want something portable, but cold use the power of a G5 at home, you could consider a referbished (or currently low end) iBook and the DP 1.8 ghz tower. The total price would be about the same as buying the DP2.5ghz tower. You will still need a monitor, but you can probably find a cheap, non-apple display if you need one.



    Go for a 19 or 22 inch crt, dirt cheap and breath takeing picture qualiy (assumeing you know how to set it up properly (you would be amazed how few people know how to set up a crt the right way))
  • Reply 6 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by a_greer

    Go for a 19 or 22 inch crt, dirt cheap and breath takeing picture qualiy (assumeing you know how to set it up properly (you would be amazed how few people know how to set up a crt the right way))



    so basically for better picture quality choose a CRT over the LCD monitor for the desktop? would i be that disappointed by getting an LCD monitor? i've never had one before, i've always used CRTs.
  • Reply 7 of 17
    anyone? anyone? bueller? bueller?
  • Reply 8 of 17
    I used to agree about CRTs until i got my Apple Studoo Display (the ADC ones). The image quality is better (i had a good CRT) and my eyes do not hurt as much. Also, a 17" LCD means a 17" diaganol screen. It is not the same for CRT which i think is the case size
  • Reply 9 of 17
    i wouldn't be playing a lot of games on the laptop. i know i want to get Return of the King for my mac, and probably a decent audio program to record music. if i were to get a real high end mac laptop, would it be able to handle the gaming, audio recording, and watching dvds as well?
  • Reply 10 of 17
    pyr3pyr3 Posts: 946member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by King Elessar

    i wouldn't be playing a lot of games on the laptop. i know i want to get Return of the King for my mac, and probably a decent audio program to record music. if i were to get a real high end mac laptop, would it be able to handle the gaming, audio recording, and watching dvds as well?



    I have an old PowerBook DVI (667MHz) with 256MB of RAM and it works fine for most stuff. I haven't played many games on it, but I was able to play WarCraft 3 at a reasonable speed with all of the options turned down. I'm sure that at least 512MB of RAM would have helped that though. I am able to play emulators with pretty good speed though I can't compile console apps and play emulators at the same time. I mostly use Playstation 2/GameCube for games. I hope that helps.



    And I wouldn't bother to buy the extra RAM upgrades from Apple. It's probably cheaper to use NewEgg.com to pick up some SODIMMs.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pyr3

    I have an old PowerBook DVI (667MHz) with 256MB of RAM and it works fine for most stuff. I haven't played many games on it, but I was able to play WarCraft 3 at a reasonable speed with all of the options turned down. I'm sure that at least 512MB of RAM would have helped that though. I am able to play emulators with pretty good speed though I can't compile console apps and play emulators at the same time. I mostly use Playstation 2/GameCube for games. I hope that helps.



    And I wouldn't bother to buy the extra RAM upgrades from Apple. It's probably cheaper to use NewEgg.com to pick up some SODIMMs.




    so you think putting in 1GB of RAM would drastically help that fact? the picture on the laptop for those games was top quality too?
  • Reply 12 of 17
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by King Elessar

    money isn't really an issue.



    If money isn't an issue then buy the top powerbook as soon as new ones come out. There is no reason to buy a desktop.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    that's what i'm aiming towards.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by King Elessar

    so you think putting in 1GB of RAM would drastically help that fact? the picture on the laptop for those games was top quality too?



    The picture on a laptop LCD is just as good as the picture on a desktop LCD of the same resolution. About the only difference is going to be in the graphics card, RAM & CPU. If those three factors can't keep up with the game, you have to turn down the game's graphics settings (dynamic lighting, using lower-res textures, texture compression, etc.) and the image suffers. The screen itself, though, won't be any less good.



    1 Gb of RAM really does help most games, since it gives you more room for the OS and the game itself, meaning less swapping to the HD.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Kesh

    The picture on a laptop LCD is just as good as the picture on a desktop LCD of the same resolution. About the only difference is going to be in the graphics card, RAM & CPU. If those three factors can't keep up with the game, you have to turn down the game's graphics settings (dynamic lighting, using lower-res textures, texture compression, etc.) and the image suffers. The screen itself, though, won't be any less good.



    1 Gb of RAM really does help most games, since it gives you more room for the OS and the game itself, meaning less swapping to the HD.




    so i will be sure to get a good video card for the laptop. any recommendations? ATI 9800?
  • Reply 16 of 17
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    well, it's apple so you only have 1 or 2 options with each revision. Right now it's only something like $100 or $200 difference, so just get the better video card. If you max it everything out on a newly released revision you should be pretty well future-proofed.



    It also doesn't really seem like you know what you want, so maxing it out now will help you get a better idea of what you need or don't need in a couple years when it's time to buy another one.



    Of course, it's extremely likely you would be totally fine with the low-end powerbook (with 1GB+ RAM), so you could save yourself a bunch of money by just getting that. It's far more than powerful enough for what you've described here. I'm still using a 2yo 1 Ghz powerbook and the main bottleneck I experience is the hard drive. In other words, for the first time since I started buying computers I don't feel the need to upgrade for performance.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by giant

    well, it's apple so you only have 1 or 2 options with each revision. Right now it's only something like $100 or $200 difference, so just get the better video card. If you max it everything out on a newly released revision you should be pretty well future-proofed.



    It also doesn't really seem like you know what you want, so maxing it out now will help you get a better idea of what you need or don't need in a couple years when it's time to buy another one.



    Of course, it's extremely likely you would be totally fine with the low-end powerbook (with 1GB+ RAM), so you could save yourself a bunch of money by just getting that. It's far more than powerful enough for what you've described here. I'm still using a 2yo 1 Ghz powerbook and the main bottleneck I experience is the hard drive. In other words, for the first time since I started buying computers I don't feel the need to upgrade for performance.




    thanks for your input. my next question is a pretty simple one. i have a Linksys WRT54G wireless router. my moms Dell laptop and my brothers Windoze PC are both hooked up to it along with my Windoze PC. will it be a problem when i get the Mac laptop?
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