Laptop vs Desktop - Going away for University (College)

[Elcura]

So, in a few weeks I'm going to University, it's outside my town so I'll have to travel between places quite a bit (cause I'll miss my mummy ; ;).

Anyway, I'm gonna get a new computer soon for Uni but I was wondering what I should get, laptop or desktop.

Here's a few things to consider:

Security - I can't say I trust people I don't know, I dunno if it's safer to keep my desktop in my room or just have my laptop with me at all times like a newborn baby. I haven't seen my room yet (they keep changing it) nor do I know what my roommates will be like...

Durability - Do laptops break easily, are they easy to get fixed? I can guess a desktop wouldn't be as fragile but meh.

Convienience - Is it better to just have a laptop around with me? I can carry it around and do work wherever I please (like take notes in class, worth it or not?) or will I probably not do that? It'll be cool to have on the train ride to/from home instead of being confined to my room whenever I need to do some computer work. It's probably easier then transferring stuff to/from my external HD all the time too...

There's also a couple of things, if I wanted to play FFXI on a laptop, what kind would I need? I'm not sure if I can afford something really expensive (although I dunno how much I'm willing to spend yet though) so do laptops run FFXI fairly well?

There's also Photoshop, doing the course I'm doing I'll be using Photoshop, Illustrator and Maya or 3DSM a lot, do you think a laptop is just as effective as a desktop for doing these kind of things? Usually with my desktop I can play FFXI and tab out to photoshop and do crap on that, do you think that'll be possible with a laptop?

This is my first time going to Uni, so I'm not sure what's practical or worthwhile, I know most people on these forums have gone to Uni (or College) so I wondered what you think about it?

[edgarfigaro]

Get a laptop. Nothing is better for college lifestyle, trust me.

If you need a desktop for computer games/heavy duty apps, then at least get a cheap laptop for the library (bare minimum is fine, just need it for typing papers and accessing internet).

[Cletis]

yes.. if you wanna play ffxi on it.. you'll have to spend like 1200-1900..

i just bought a e1505 from dell.. and it runs nicely..

or you could get one of those tablet laptops for like 2k... im sure that will play it as well..

but be warned!!!! the archbell windower does not work with Media Center ed... you must use the JP windower (if any at all)

[Bebopaloo]

All around versatility for college life: Laptop

FFXI and Photoshop: Desktop.

That's about it, you get to chose which is best suited for your wants :D

[Lbelle]

I have both, and I rarely, if ever, take my laptop to class. Maybe further along in my college career I'll find use for it, but at the moment pencil and paper is working just fine. Sometimes a professor talks a little fast, and in those cases I wish I had my laptop (because I'm a quick typist), but really, I just use my desktop for everything.

I've been at college for two semesters, and haven't had the need to use my laptop. However, I have seen people with the mini ones just to take notes in class. That's what I wish I did, kind of.

I suggest you wait until you GET THERE and then make the decision, because you can buy any computer you want when you get there and it wouldn't take long to get either.

[Benadar]

I used to work at a college IT dept. About 90% of students nowadays have laptops, but I'd say 2/3 of them never leave their room. Time and time again they'd bring their laptops in to get fixed and they'd be covered in dust. On top of that their batteries died early because they never ran it on battery and let it drain and recharge thus shortening the life of the battery pack.

Every college freshman seems to think they'll be bringing their laptop around with them everywhere, but after a while it just gets awkward. With desktops as small as they are and flat panel LCDs being as cheap as they are I think a small footprint desktop with a 17" LCD would be a lot better all around while still not taking up much space.

Also, just in terms of replacement/upgradability a desktop is nicer 'cause you can swap in a new video card or more ram (sure laptops have a DIMM upgrade slot but they also usually have a ram chip soldered onto the mobo).

FWIW I also saw a LOT of laptops with bad HDDs. Whether or not this is because they carried them around too much when the disk was spinning I don't know, but I saw a ton of that.

The only laptops that are really worth taking w/ you everywhere are like my 12" powerbook. That thing is so tiny it goes everywhere, but for gaming and photoshop it'd suck.

Random thoughts sorry... I'm in dynamis

[zakhiel]

I wouldn't get a laptop if you're going to be working in Maya. Maya requires a shiat ton of memory and processing power and video card usually, which equals more expensive, and the kind of stuff you do doesn't really work with laptops IMO. Unless you can hook it up to an external mouse/keyboard/monitor. If you're going into animation like I think you plan, a graphics tablet is a must as well. I dunno if you have one, but if you don't get one of the smaller Wacoms. You'd think having a bigger one would be better, but it's not. This from a 5th year anim student.

Very few people take laptops to class as well. They show that alot on TV but it's not real. More people use the computers in the library probably if they don't have one and just burn/transfer to an iPod or something.

Also, check at your school to see if they offer academic discounts on computers/software (or just d/l ;d). A lot of times you can get 'em cheaper than through their websites and stuff.

And laptops are not easy to fix, either. Their parts are more expensive and most of the stuff is attached to the motherboard directly. You drop your laptop like I did and bust the screen, it's cheaper to just buy another one than to get a new screen (unless you find a real steal on eBay).

This is just my opinion. >_>

[Fayth-]

A whole ton of people at my school bring their laptops to class. Maybe we're just laptop friendly. Always fun seeing people play solitare during a lecture

[Piper]

I guess i'm old fashioned writing all my notes on lolpaper..
Laptop just seems like too much hassle and it seems like they're just a weaker version of the desktop.

Maybe I haven't been introduced to the right types, but thats how it looks to me.

[Gafgarionn]

I'd bet 9/10 people that bring laptops to class are doing something different with them than what they're supposed to be doing. I'm going to school in a couple weeks too, and I asked this same question. The general concensus seemed to be getting a laptop, but I disagreed with most of the reasons so I now have myself a brand new custom build desktop.

[Zigma]

I have both. Depending on the person you are, A laptop might distract you a lot.

Also, A laptop to play FF11 doesn't have to be expensive. Back in Feb, I paid $800 for my dell d800 and it still runs like a champ. I imagine you can get it a bit cheaper now but you'll have to shop around to get the same config that I have on mine.

Since you mention your gonna do gfx and shit, your best bet is to get a desktop. Cheaper and more powerful. If you still want a laptop to take notes, play web games and surf the internet, get yourself an ibm thinkpad (pentium 3) and load it up with a fuckton of ram which will be cheap. They go for like $125-$150 and are like 5 pounds!

[Tymon]

If you like to study outside of your room, get a laptop.

If you like to study in the peace of your own place, or if you need a computer that can store alot (read: porn), get a desktop.

If you're rich (read: rich parents) get both.

[Elcura]

Thanks for the advice so far, I think I might wait until I get there but I'll probably be looking at a desktop, as Photoshop/etc are more important for my course then anything else :D

I'm not exactly going into full time animation, but I will be doing it for around 2 years and probably in and out of it in the future. Also I am pretty easily distracted as well so being able to surf the net during class isn't in my best intrest

[Raineer]

If you're going to be photoshop-heavy then you really will probably appreciate a desktop more. FFXI runs perfectly fine on a laptop (better on a desktop of course), but I do prefer a desktop if I'm actually "serious" about what I'm working on. I tend to do a lot poorer of a job on a laptop no matter what the task, it just invites itself to more distraction somehow lol

[GRT]

piece of advice: if you are going to start college, put down ffxi for a while

[Elcura]

piece of advice: if you are going to start college, put down ffxi for a while

lol, I probably will. Or just be playing lite until I settle down...probably a good idea to stop although for a while though

[Not Kuno]

What why can't you photoshop on a laptop? I do all my image work on it and it FUCKING OWNS when I get a random idea in class or anywhere and I can work on my images at home or in class.

Also laptops own or else I would be bored at 7AM in math right now instead of posting this.

[Elcura]

What why can't you photoshop on a laptop? I do all my image work on it and it FUCKING OWNS when I get a random idea in class or anywhere and I can work on my images at home or in class.

Also laptops own or else I would be bored at 7AM in math right now instead of posting this.

Well, I tend do to really heavy loads with Photoshop, for smaller images and stuff I'm sure a laptop will suffice, but does it deal well with heavy loads?

I'm talking plenty of layers and colours at 150-300 dpi, some of my PSD are over 200mbs (cause I do a lot of A3 work).

I'm not sure if a laptop could handle that kinda thing well...maybe I could get a cheap (really cheap) one for other stuff though... but I doubt it =x

[SephYuyX]

Obviously the soultion is to get both, keep the desktop in your dorm or whatever, and take your laptop mobile.

If you must only get one, youll have to weigh out which youll be doing more; walking around and going to multipule places finding yourself needing to use a computer get a laptop, or if you find yourself at your dorm or w/e doing all of your work get a desktop.

What I would do is bring my laptop to school, do whatever I needed to do, and then just put it on my desktop if i needed to when I got home.

Laptop will be around $1k for what youre trying to do. Desktop would be 500$