Top 4 Reasons for Buying a Laptop Instead of a Desktop

One of the main reasons someone might consider buying a laptop computer over a desktop computer is the space available in their home office or work area. As technology advances it seems the smaller the better has become the new catch cry in the computer field. This gives way to many alternatives to the cumbersome hard drive weighing more than I can safely lift and no longer does the physical desk have to be taken up with the inflexible layout of the desktop computer.

Laptop computers really are perfect in their design. Small in dimensions and light enough to lift with one hand, even my small hand can just manage when I move from one room to another with computer balancing nicely in the right hand and the must have coffee cup in the left hand.

Perhaps this should have topped the list for the best reason to buy a laptop instead of a desktop. There is no denying the laptop can, and does, go everywhere. No longer are we tied to an office, nor a desk. For those wonderful warm days when everything looks brighter on the outside, it takes nothing to pick up the computer and move there, no problem. Work can now be a joy instead of a chore.

Interstate travel, international travel, there is simply no holds barred with the laptop. Admittedly there are more security precautions to get through at the airport but even the specially designed bags are set up so well these days it only takes seconds to get the machine onto the surveillance belt then back to the carry on.

1. Limited space
2. Portability
3. Price
4. Environment

As with all technology new machines have a high price tag initially. But once they have been on the market for a while and competition kicks in, prices tend to plateau making the item affordable for everyone. Prices for laptop computers have come way down in the past ten years. My first laptop was so expensive the only way I was going to get it was by way of leasing. At the end of the three year lease term I had the option to purchase for a final lump payment but by then the price of a new laptop computer had reduced significantly to be less than the payout figure.

These days a decent laptop with at least 1 GB of RAM and a high processor speed can be bought for well under a thousand bringing them in line with the top of the range in desktop computers. Most have all the main features of the desktop including a quality DVD drive and numerous USB ports for connecting a wireless mouse and keyboard or plug-in modem for broadband.

The throw away society was taken to new heights with the invention of the personal computer (PC). With the introduction of a PC in every home has come a host of accessories from printers to modems, cables and keyboards. What happens when these items become obsolete? Given the ever changing requirements of the Internet, bigger, faster software needing bigger, better hardware this can happen as frequently as a bi-annual event.

There is no genuine recyclable outfit to handle the thousands if not millions of hardware thrown out in any given year. Those hard drives along with the monitors are, arguably, contributing more to landfill than any other known commodity in our modern times. At least with the laptop the sleeker dimensions than the desktop computer will, in the future supply less space and weight to a never ending problem.

If you are leaning toward the laptop option you might want to look at the benefits of a netbook before you make your final decision. Jeffrey Neal’s hub 'Netbook vs Laptop' is full of useful information and makes many good comparisons between the two.