Why is a laptop worse than a desktop?

Question

Iron

I wrote a lengthy response to the dubious statement of the author of the article about the convenience of large laptops for professional work, when time appeared, and the author closed the article (naturally), but Google does not sleep . These obvious arguments should not disappear... Let them lie in the form of a lack.

It was very strange to find out that large laptops are so unsightly for programmers. In my opinion, what could be better: a large screen, a full range of outputs, and almost like a desktop computer. And yet - this is the most budget option for a professional programmer.

The last sentence is strange. Any calculations in different quality categories show that laptops are always more expensive than desktops. Therefore, desktops are the most budget option.

What else is inconvenient in a laptop, especially a large one, compared to a desktop ( <sarcasm> 13 fatal flaws):
0) a laptop is always more expensive than a desktop of the same power and convenience;
1) Fixedness of the basic configuration and increased cost of modules available for replacement in case of an upgrade;
2) The high cost of repairs in all cases compared to the desktop. Especially, the worst security of the keyboard;
3) Cooling noise directly on the desktop;
4) The location and layout of the keyboard, determined by the design of the case (decided by an external keyboard - money);
5) Difficulty or impossibility of upgrading the monitor (decided by external monitors - money again);
6) an almost always losing comparison in the bus architecture of the processor and memory at comparable costs;
7) The choice of models narrows down if you need a memory upgrade, non-blocking virtualization functions;
8) Always poorer BIOS settings; difficulties for both settings and overclocking;
9) The worst modularity, as a result - the worst fit to your needs;
10) Better support for each driver and OS by vendors for PC components than for the entire laptop on average;
11) Worst (lil none) upgradeability for laptops is an implicit TCO factor;
12) In the vast majority of offers, a laptop comes with an OS with its own cost; abandoning the OS has bureaucratic delays.
And more,
13) The fragility of the matrix, especially in thin cases => 2. expensive, when repairing;
14) It is more difficult to find components. => more time for repairs;
15) Less information about people's advice on fixing deficiencies and optimization.

For the sake of what then everything, what are the pluses (4 giant pluses)?
1) if you need to clean, transport, move - much easier than with a desktop;
2) on the road without access to power and UPS;
3) synchronization of files in 2 places (home - work) and the desktop is not needed if it is simply transported;
4) compactness in non-working folded form;
5) free UPS;
6) fewer wires (6-8 - from megaalli66 );
7) less power consumption;
8) ease of changing the physical working location.

Pluses grow in importance if the laptop is small and light. Again, not in favor of large laptops.

A lot of the benefits for the desktop start to grow as you move to mini-cases, other than mobile work. But here, too, there are advances. LVDS connectors (for laptop panels) appear on some mini-boards. The next logical step is to make power modules with batteries for motherboards with low consumption, but so far there is no such mod.

Why is it all? The budget professional option is always desktop. Laptops are chosen if funds allow (extra 7-70 thousand) or require tasks. Not always large laptops have an outweighing number of pluses (except in the field of budget).

However, the author's research is useful for its statistical data. For example, I could find out what proportion of programmers who answered the survey read feature articles. My comment from a closed article:

From the diagram habrastorage.org/storage2/f93/55c/b9d/f9355cb9d028a6f1aeb91dbe176392f6.pnghabrastorage.org/storage2/f93/55c/b9d/f9355cb9d028a6f1aeb91dbe176392f6.png what percentage of thematic articles on macbooks can be understood e, if you use Yandex-Metrics for thematic articles. It shows that MacOs Share is 7% metrica.yandex.ru/stat/os/?counter_id=21756763&date1=20130710&date2=20130730&filter=month&goal_id=&group=day&select_period=month . It turns out that a quarter (no more) of the readers are programmers.

(A little about the method of obtaining metrics from thematic articles: habrahabr.ru/post/186864/ .)

Answer 1

Why is this in q&a?

Answer 2

Sorry you forgot this:</sarcasm>

Answer 3

And why was it removed?
PS I am writing from a laptop under Kubuntu with a second monitor.

Answer 4

Any calculations in different quality categories show that laptops are always more expensive than desktops. Therefore, desktops are the most budget option.

Not always more expensive, sometimes cheaper, usually slightly more expensive (10 percent).
Usually when they talk about comparing prices, for some reason they compare the system unit and the laptop, there is a huge difference.
But it’s more correct to compare a laptop and “system unit + wifi card + bluetooth card + shockproof screw + mouse + keyboard + excellent quality UPS + speakers + monitor + high-quality CO”. And here the difference is no longer the same, if there is one at all ... and it is not clear yet in whose favor.
Previously (about 5 years ago), the difference was really not in favor of laptops, but now the situation has changed a lot. This is especially true for budget laptops.

Answer 5

Most of the shortcomings are due to the material factor (cost).
Nobody bothers to buy a couple of external monitors, pay a little more for convenience and change the laptop more often than the desktop (dopksteam, every year) - and there will be no problems.
Convenience costs money. But it pays off.

Answer 6

IMHO, the main drawback of normal (decent hardware, 17+ FullHD screen) laptops is the form factor itself. The screen is rigidly connected to the keyboard, plus a touchpad in front of the keyboard. If you want to put the screen further away, the keyboard will be very far away. If you want to put the keyboard closer (on the edge of the table, for example, or on your knees) - the screen will “crawl” behind it, and the touchpad will interfere. And it is generally impossible to place the keyboard at a horizontal angle to the screen.
Connecting an external keyboard partially solves the problem, but only partially - the "system unit" of the laptop limits the location of the screen (the screen cannot be moved to the edge of the table) and more space is needed than for a monitor and a conventional keyboard). But even if you connect an external monitor and keyboard and close the laptop, making it a “system unit”, then the problem of placing it on the table remains - it takes up a lot of space horizontally, it’s dangerous to put it horizontally on the floor under the table, and for a vertical one you need to be smart.

Answer 7

All these as many as 13 points can be quite possible by throwing out “buttered oil”, shrinking to 4-5, which in turn come down to two: money (still questionable, by the way) and an upgrade.
Why all this writing, if you could limit yourself to these two words (or, if you so desire, 4-5 points).

Answer 8

In my opinion, the number of your shortcomings of desktops can be reduced - they are repeated.
If we talk about modularity and the problem of upgrading, then there is a problem - but it is usually not critical. You can’t just change the motherboard or processor on the desktop either - just all at once. And you can buy a hard drive or the amount of RAM in a laptop.
I personally only changed the latter in my old desktop for 7 years of operation, and that was a problem, because the type of memory (DDR) and the hard disk slot (IDE) also quickly became outdated.
If we talk about support, there is a difference if you assemble the desktop yourself without a store - but this is not the best option today - because no one guarantees that everything you put together will work well. There are a lot of hardware incompatibilities. Desktops are checked for compatibility, so under warranty you won’t be able to change anything there either, or even just open them.
You will need monitors for both desktop and laptop. It's just that without them it will not be easy to develop. For some, of course, the large screen of a laptop is enough. But in my opinion, a light laptop with external monitors is much more convenient. Speaking desktop all the same, they usually mean the system unit. And the fact that the laptop already has a monitor is more of a plus for it, I don’t understand how it became a minus for you. Upgrading a desktop monitor is also decided by buying a new monitor.
Changing the OS on a laptop is really more problematic - but why buy a laptop with the wrong axis? I've seen laptops sold without an OS (with dos like). But you do not take into account the cost of the operating system - if it does not come with the desktop (and there is the same rake).
In fact, there is a choice - either to be tied to one axis cheaply, or to choose the most expensive one. It doesn't matter if it's desktop or laptop.
I’ll just keep silent about the BIOS settings for overclocking - I thought no one suffers from this anymore. Overclocked processor - more electricity, more heat, more noise, more likely that the cooling system will not be enough. Today, manufacturers no longer rely on clock speed. Why do you need it? You can immediately buy a better processor.
Once upon a time, people assembled a computer from components, used stolen axes and were fond of overclocking and upgrade options (which they did not use - because everything was outdated at once). Today it's not like that anymore. Desktops are obsolete - many prefer monoblocks. Synchronizing data between devices has ceased to be a problem with the development of cloud services. And laptops have also morally begun to become obsolete merging with tablets.
Returning to the question, in my opinion, the main advantage of the desktop is that it is cheaper. It also has more different connectors - a docking station for a laptop is not cheap.
The main advantage of a laptop is that you can sit with it on an armchair, on a veranda, in a cafe, on a train, at an airport, wander around the apartment with it, go to the bathroom with it :), take it to lessons/lectures/meetings, meetings, rallies. If your interaction with the computer comes down to work or rest in one place, then the desktop is probably the best choice. Otherwise, laptop.
Personally, I opted for a lightweight laptop with a docking station and an external monitor with a keyboard. This allows me to combine the advantages of a laptop and a desktop. But it costs more.