PC vs Laptop

[SPARTISH]

ok im a student at uni and need a comp with fast download speed (to download electronic books of course and maybe regnum =P) good memory, good internet speed, fast and basically a computer that will last and not crash on my arse everytime i forget to save my work.

so what u think is better for me a PC or a laptop

also wherever i go everyone has vista and im not a fan of it (maybe it jus takes some getting usedto for me) what is a good reliable easy to use program thing for a comp... or any recomended computer to buy from another student or recent student?

(by the way i know nothing about computers xD)

much apreciated =D

[ArcticWolf]

Will you be constantly on the move? Do you mind the size of the screen? Do you have free labs in your university?

I'm in love with laptops, I just can't live without them because of the freedom they give you. Desktops are nice for working on long projects when you have a nice workplace and you don't have to be on the move.

[Znurre]

I've got a gaming laptop, and I am really happy with it for now.
If you are ready to pay an additional ~400 euro for a laptop compared to the same components fitting inside a standard case, go for it.

I never regret my choice of buying a laptop and I will never consider buying another stationary computer, ever.

As for the OS, I am running ArchLinux on mine and everything worked out of the box except for the NVidia drivers... :)

[SPARTISH]

Hi Znurre and ArticWOlf

well ive been in uni for 3 weeks (2 days a week) and already have been given 4 assignments, i bought a 8gig USB so i can take my work werever i go without the computer...but i thaught get a desk with a laptop for the workspace and i would be able to work wherever i go or in one place, but unfortunately ive herd laptop battery time is really bad and i dont really want it switching off while im working and dont wanna be sat near every plug socket in the house xD.

would be nice to have a desktop computer in one place where i go to work but i will have to stay there and might get bored... also i herd that desktop PC's are ment to be faster and also the keyboard is much easier to use since ive been typing on a proper keyboard for like ever...

well the screen size dont really matter unless i decide to play regnum it would have to be around 17+ so i can see around (plus im used to playing it on a 20 odd inch screen so easier to relate to). as long as i can confortably place my hands on the keyboard and reach all the keys without moving anything apart from my hands (without being squashed like the small notepads) il be allright =D.

o yea which would be best quality for the price.

will that archlinux run stuff like Microsofte Paint (big fan of experementing on paint due to bordness) and microsoft word?

THANKS FOR THE REPLYS

P.S ur not Dky are u....i get easily confused and ur sig either means that Dky is ur right hand man or you started playing on a knight?

[Myxir]

If you want to pay the same price for a laptop and a desktop pc, desktops are usually faster.
The keyboard thing is just a thing you have to get used to. After a few weeks/days you propably won't notice it.
Laptops with a 17" screen are usually very expensive.

About archlinux...
It would imo not be the best choice to start with archlinux if you want to use linux.
For the paint and word stuff there are native linux applications like gpaint and openoffice.

But depending on your money you might get a fast pc for gaming stuff and so on and a low price laptop. But question is how good the quality of the laptop is in that case :p

[UmarilsStillHere]

I find PC's tend to be more powerfull than the laptop of the same price, so unless you plan to be on the move alot, stick with a Pc :)

[-Edge-]

I use a laptop now, its much easier for when you're on the move, have projects at school, and if you feel like laying down on your bed and playing instead of in a sweaty chair in front of your desk all day ;)

The current laptop I use was much better then my old desktop anyway, 17" screen, very decent specs for a very affordable price and manufacturer. You just need to look at deals on laptops, and usually you will always find a great one.

The only problems you might encounter are overheating, even for a gaming laptop. It's nothing to serious if you manage your cooling system well.

[Ulmanyar]

Just keep in mind that if you choose a gaming laptop they are usually either more "bulky" or have higher tendencies of overheating than "normal" laptops. That is: in order to have a decent gaming laptop you have to sacrifice some portability (17" and 3.2kg is not really that nice to carry around).

[SPARTISH]

hi ulmanyar, edge, umaril and myxir

thanks for the help, i guess judging by this forum im currently leaning towards a desktop pc...

ive herd that windows vista is better than linux for writing on word and searching the web...is this true?
or will i be able to do the exact same things i can do on vista on linux coz i herd linux is better gameplay speed and affects =o

out of windows xp, vista and other linux things which would be the best for speed, regnum gameplay, internet research and downloading?

thanks

[Znurre]

Linux is something totally different than Windows.
It's a kernel in an operating system, usually composed by several applications and formed into a Linux distrubution.

Since Linux really has nothing in common with the Windows kernel, you cannot natively run Windows applications on Linux and vice versa.
That said, you can still run most Windows applications ontop of a Linux kernel thanks to an emulation layer called "wine".

Linux is usually said to have better performance then Windows, thanks to superior memory management and the way the kernel is built.
You also are not affected by Windows virusesed on Linux, since Windows applications cannot be run natively which means you don't need any antivirus software.

Linux is also opensource, which means anyone can contribute to it - making it grow faster than any other OS out there, with constant security fixes and improvements.

A Linux distro is usually tricker to get started with than Windows - simply because it is not Windows.
It might not be more complicated in reallity, but if you expect it to be like Windows you will have a hard time.

If you decide to go with Linux on your laptop, there are also past 500 different Linux distros to choose from.
You can find more information on www.distrowatch.com.

PS. Concerning my signature, it's an IRC quote made by Dky :)

[ArcticWolf]

ive herd that windows vista is better than linux for writing on word and searching the web...is this true?
or will i be able to do the exact same things i can do on vista on linux coz i herd linux is better gameplay speed and affects =o

No, Vista is not better than Linux. But you may feel more comfortable in Windows because you've always used it.

Instead of Office you have OpenOffice.org. It's cross platform, that means it works in linux, windows, freebsd, mac, opensolaris, solaris express, aix, etc...
Give it a try, it's free (and open-source) (http://www.openoffice.org/).
Oh, and it's from Sun Microsystems (http://www.sun.com/), a big company.

You may find Regnum runs faster on Linux than Windows. I don't know, I never played Regnum on Windows. :P
And for anything not available for linux (autocad and stuff) you can try Wine, a kind of emulator.

You can even have both linux and windows in the same computer. That's called dual-boot. I recommend you to try this before switching to linux only.

Linux (specially Ubuntu, OpenSuSE and Fedora) are easy to learn, but keep in mind they're different from Windows. Funny fact: my father doesn't like computers very much, and I don't like to fix computers all day long... So I installed Debian on an old spare K6-2 and gave it to him (of course I tweaked it a little bit so as to enable remote administration). He got so used to Debian that when he had to use Windows he found it difficult and useless.

[SPARTISH]

hi znurre

wow past 500 O_o il try n find out if theres any better than vista

BTW il be getting my assignments of the university website and they use windows vista
-will i be able to download the work do anything with it if i am on a linux computer?

p.s ur sig makes me want to play on a knight but on ma sisters laptop with shit internet it said it would take 60+ hours to download regnumonline
=( downloaded it for 2 hours and 5% so i left it xD

[UmarilsStillHere]

Though it seems not be be the case there I often dont trust that timer on the downloads, When I last D'loaded Regnum it started at 3 hours jumped to 40 hours, eneded up in several hundred hours then rapidly dropped down to around 4 again, all within about 20 mins :}

[SPARTISH]

hi umaril

lol this is O2 Mobile internet for the laptop and it really is slow, i have to waite like 5 mins for a page in the forums to load...and a 8 min youtube vid is almost loaded now and its only been 45mins !!!!

not to mention it has netintelligence and everything i type in is usually blocked, it wont let me download computerised books and damn liabry books i need are always gone...

[Syd_Vicious]

One thing to take into consideration as well though is that laptops are not that upgradeable. You can check between manufacturers and see they do offer some upgrade capabilities, but not much. With a desktop if you dont like the current speed of your cpu, memory, hard drive you can just switch it out for a new one; don't like the case just switch it. Typically with a laptop you can switch some of those items out, but you will not be able to go to the next version.

For an AMD/Intel comparison your laptop motherboard would not be able to directly switch between different chip thicknesses. Chips are being developed to fit more on a chip, but keep it relatively the same size overall. The latest process is 45nm chips, but there are talks of going to a 32nm, 28 or even 22nm process. What this means is that if your laptop is running a current 45nm chip it wouldnt run a chip with a smaller nm process. Same could be said for a desktop, but that is a quick fix and not as costly as buying a new laptop. For a desktop you just buy the new chip and motherboard, install and your good to go as some new motherboards offer some backwards compatibility with older (legacy) hardware. This might run around $400 AMD and about $1000 Intel. For laptops you must essentially add the upgrade cost and cost of a new laptop. So hypothetically if a bargain laptop is say $600, it would be roughly $1000-1600 to get a laptop with the latest greatest processor laptop wise (not a hardcore gaming laptop).

If all you want to do is download things and play some games that do not require many resources a laptop is fine. Gaming laptops have been mentioned and for some are a good deal, as stated earlier you must maintain a little more environmental awareness about cpu load and heat. I used to play with an Alienware Laptop that had a desktop 3.8 ghz processor in it. I used to use the cooling fan to toast my bagels in the morning. Though it did have a bevy of problems and it always had to remain elevated to maintain good air flow. Some of the problems were graphics chips would over heat, it had a dual hard drive configuration and the controller for them would crash sporadically and it was like carrying a large cement brick. Not to mention it was twice the power draw as a normal laptop (5 amps for my current normal laptop and 10 amps for the alienware)

What I would recommend you staying away from though are those netbooks if you really want to play games. They typically come with a minimalist graphics chip in them and are not very suitable for 3d intensive applications/games. You essentially get what you pay for. Where lap tops do beat PCs is that the laptop screen and laptop system are covered under the same warranty. I have had it where an LCD monitor for a desktop was damaged in transportation and not covered like the desktop system itself was. So I was out a monitor.

Laptops in general for me and some the applications/games (DVD Authoring/Heavy CPU/Graphics card 3d applications) I use only last about 2 to 3 years before I need to start looking at a new one because I like to be able to play the newer games on my Laptop. My desktop I have on rolling updates every 2 years sees a new CPU, every year a new Graphics Card, Memory updates/additions as needed, Hard Drive additions/changes (I currently run 4 hard drives for different things) about 18 months.

You also mentioned you are concerned with battery life. If you are able to wait a little while some laptops are coming out with LED screens that substantially increase the battery life compared to a standard LCD.

So in short it is up to you and what you intend to do with your computer not just today, but tomorrow as well.

Note: You can install Microsoft Office in Linux, but if your UNI is completely Microsoft oriented (ie. SharePoint Servers) it might not have all the functionality and interoperability between applications that a native Windows session would have. I would recommend talking with someone from the UNIs IT division to get their recommendation.

[SPARTISH]

hi syd_viciouse

thanks for ur help man, i think im ready for the jump from Vista to Linux.
i wont kknow much things on linux but im willing to learn about things as i go along...it looks alot better than boring vista.

gna go with a desktop i think because as u said it was easier to upgrade if needed, and no worries about the battery running out =)

hi ArticWolf, sorry i missed ur comment i was writing mine and you managed to post it before me and i missed it xD.

i saw a vid of the linux ubuntu thing and it looked simple so i think m gna get that one. but as all new programs it will take some time to get used to.

[Gytha_Ogg]

So...what did you end up getting? How's it working out for you?

Just curious. (i.e. nosey :sifflote:)