PC or laptop?? that's the question!

[#1]

Quote from: hollytree

Hmmmm, I do believe Promod and Sprite between them have cracked this conundrum.

Naturally.. because I'm always right
(just remember to tell OldJim that for me ok?  ;D)

[#2]

At the moment I'm on Dad's laptop at my Parents', and his Desktop at home, because my own Desktop is riddled with viruses, ad-ware and other nonsense which will eventually be fixed by my Brother, who is an It Consultant, but he lives in South London, has 2 kids and works full time so all his time is taken up.

[#3]

Quote from: MrT

Going back to your original post: Quote from: hollytree Thinking of replacing my ancient Dell desktop. But can't make up my mind what kind of PC I should get!  What are your thoughts? Does your desktop do everything that you want from it? Is it a case of wanting a similar PC but one that is easily transportable between rooms? If the answer to both of the above is yes then a modern laptop with a reasonable spec will do want you want.

@ Mr T : thanks for bringing the subject back to my original query!  Yes my desktop PC does everything that I want albeit slowly as its only got Pentium 2, 1 gb RAM and OS XP. So I do need something with plenty of poke and windows 7 which wont work on my comp apparently. BUT I also need to be able to transport it between an upstairs room and our living room AND I want something comfortable to work at.. my experience of working for long periods at a laptop with its relatively tiny and poorly sited keyboard has not been a positive one.
Incidentally, I've just been looking online at something called a portable, all-in-one desktop PC - never heard of this and wondering what you and others think of them?

[#4]

AIO,s are pants 

[#5]

ermmm... why???  some reasons for this view would be appreciated, rongtw,  
dick:quote

[#6]

In my opinion, All-In-Ones have all the lack of portability of a desktop computer and all the expense and difficulty of replacing parts of a laptop computer.  If it's a "portable all-in-one" it's a laptop! 

[#7]

AIO's also tend to have limited airflow/cooling and limited space for expansion (i.e. better or bigger graphics cards).

[#8]

I have no hands-on experience of AIOs but, from what I've read, a decent one would cost more than £1000.
I have no idea what your budget is.
You can get a very good laptop for a lot less than £1000 and have plenty of money left over to add things like a wireless keyboard if you prefer.

[#9]

From what I've read, it sounds like you ideally need two desktop pc's...one in each room.
You've already said you find laptops limiting, so it's the only solution...if your budget could stretch to getting two...or get one now and the other later.

[#10]

@ReedRichards: I take your point  about AiOs... in other words all the disadvantages of the laptop AND the desktop combined , so not good
@Mr T: another good point ... my budget is only £700, im afraid.. and a desktop - type keyboard is essential for me
@ Glenn: I can probably get around the lack of a separate keyboard by getting either a wired or plug-in one for a laptop. Your suggestion for 2 separate PCs , one in each room, makes sound sense but my wife probably wouldn't wear it in the living room and neither wd our bank manager :(.
Am I right in thinking that it's simply not possible to have, for instance, your desktop computer upstairs and your keyboard, screen, mouse etc downstairs or upstairs as required?? That way, I would just need to shift the peripherals around as and when needed.  Could they be connected wirelessly over that distance? And through solid brick walls? Or with cabling? As you can no doubt tell, this is a totally unfamiliar knowledge area for me.

[#11]

You cannot update your screen fast enough using wireless.
You could run your desktop headlessly using a modest computer downstairs
if you were OK with low-grade screen output (no video pictures)!
The upstairs PC would be doing all the work.

[#12]

Interesting, vilefox.... can you explain how this would work?

[#13]

You'll regret asking that.. now he's going to go on his anti windows / pro linux campaign 

[#14]

Is it possible to sort of split your work?
Buy a new PC and put that in your prime most used location. But keep your old Dell somewhere else for the more easy mundane tasks.
And you could also improve the old Dell. A new keyboard and plenty of good cheap screens on ebay.
A cheap upgrade and a new PC.

[#15]

Quote from: Sprite

You'll regret asking that.. now he's going to go on his anti windows / pro linux campaign

Try VNC or similar - works on all platforms.