Desktop or laptop?

[SuitedSixes]

I am going to get a new computer. I currently have a desktop, but am thinking about getting a laptop. 90% of my compuer activities, lately, have been 2+2 and poker. My problem being that you can get so much more computer for the $$$ by going desktop. Do I just not know what I am missing out on, or is that the laptop is not worth the extra cost.

[Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!]

Will you be traveling? if not go desktop.

[BusterStacks]

Desktop. Hands down.

[wacki]

Desktop, cheap, powerfull, upgradeable.

Laptop, portable, small screen, slow, and you can't really upgrade it.

[namknils]

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Will you be traveling? if not go desktop.

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I don't travel much. Yet I got a laptop.

In my opinion it depends where your computer will be. I very much enjoy taking my poker playing tool wherever I want. And I mean around my home. I live in a two bedroom condo, yet I still have the option of playing in bed, playing in the "office", playing outside on the patio, or my personal favorite: playing in the living room while watching my 57" Sony TV which poker profit paid for. The downside of a laptop is the monitor which (for me) is only 15 some inches which means I need to overlap while I play, but I really don't mind that much. I love my laptop.

[Mano]

I just got a laptop, and I have really been enjoying it. I have my cable modem going through a wireless router, and now I can use the computer from any room in the house. You do usually pay a premium for the convenience of a laptop, but I got a Dell that is more powerfull than my desktop for just under $1100. It's display is WUXGA (1920 x 1200) so runs 4 party games at once with room to spare. Check out www.techbargains.com (http://www.techbargains.com) daily, and you should be able to find a good deal. If you don't care about moving about, both throughout the house and from place to place, you can get a good desktop for less, but I am really liking the convenience of a laptop.

[wacki]

Namknils have you ever tried hooking that laptop up to the 57" TV? It would make 4 tableing (sp?) a lot easier. It's easy to do.

[namknils]

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Namknils have you ever tried hooking that laptop up to the 57" TV? It would make 4 tableing (sp?) a lot easier. It's easy to do.

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I've thought of it, believe me. But I'm also an idiot when it comes to technology (hopefully not poker). I may try it sometimes, I think all I'll really need is an S-Video cable and it should be pretty simple, but whatever.

[Topflight]

Desktop.

I doubt you actually move the laptop enough to make it worth the performance/comfort sacrifice.

[BusterStacks]

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Namknils have you ever tried hooking that laptop up to the 57" TV? It would make 4 tableing (sp?) a lot easier. It's easy to do.

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you'd still have the same resolution as your computer screen at best, the picture would just be larger.

[Blarg]

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Laptop, portable, small screen, slow, and you can't really upgrade it.

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The new generation of laptops coming out changes that. You will be able to upgrade the video cards, the main problem with upgrading laptops. However, those are expensive at this point and there are almost none of them on the market. When they start to penetrate the market more in the next half year, their price points won't be that far out of line with regular laptops though.

However, laptops will never have the inexpensiveness and ease of upgrades of desktops.

To the original poster -- a good laptop will cost anywhere from half the price to five times the price of a decent desktop. In other words, if you just want to use a computer in more than one place, you could be just as well off or better buying multiple desktops for each place.

Another way of looking at it is, you could get a desktop and even if you never upgraded a thing, you could buy complete replacements for it probably several times over for the price of a single laptop.

Which is not to put down laptops, because they're great to have. I'm just saying look at your options carefully and think about what you're going to do in the future, too, and how much it will all cost.

Remember too that you can hook up a nice external monitor to a laptop, and a keyboard and mouse, so you're not stuck with an uncomfortable screen or input devices on a laptop, once you get home.

One other key thing -- if you play poker, you'll probably eventually want to try playing more than 4 tables. Laptops often do not have dual outputs that enable you to do that. That will mean a lot to a great percentage of poker players.