desktop or laptop or netbook?

**Gomar** · December 8th, 2011, 09:33 PM

Each has its pluses and minuses. Laptops have dropped in price recently, and are fast enough to replace desktops. I dont need blu-ray, DVD burner is fine, need 4 USBs, no less than 500gb HDD, and no less than 4GB RAM. I dont care to have the latest Core; I am not a gamer.
As for monitor, I could live with a 15", but no need for above 17".
Obviously, I can take a laptop anywhere; but I really dont want to. They are too big, and if lost or stolen, bye bye, nice seeing you. Thus, perhaps a netbook is best for travel. They are lighter, smaller, cheaper, no DVD drive, which I rarely use.
As for only 1gb RAM, it's upgradeable to 2gb; small hdd is ok as I have an portable external hdd; small 10" monitor, bigger one is $120. I am only concerned with the Atom CPU speed, pretty weak.

So, for $250 its a netbook, or for twice that a desktop w/monitor.

**Whir** · December 8th, 2011, 09:58 PM

Are you asking what you should do, or just describing the state of the market?

**RicheemxX** · December 8th, 2011, 10:07 PM

Really is there a question in there somewhere?

TBH, and what we ask to qualify buyers at work, what do you do with your system, what you want it do, and what are your expectations?

You say portability isn't a need, then why buy a laptop? You get much more out of a desktop, its much more reliable and easier to fix or upgrade if there are issues.

Netbooks for the most part are on the way out. They are nice for a quick email, check the web ect. But they lack the power to run more than one app, the screens and keyboards are too small and most people are opting to spend a little more and either get a smaller more capable laptop or a tablet.

The very last part of your statement about netbooks is really mind boggling. Why buy something super small just to connect it to a million external devices

. You could buy a mid-sized laptop for the same price as all the parts you'd be adding in and get much better performance.

**Taxmancometh** · December 9th, 2011, 12:32 AM

I'd buy a desktop.

**ShyguyXPC** · December 9th, 2011, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by Gomar

Each has its pluses and minuses. Laptops have dropped in price recently, and are fast enough to replace desktops. I dont need blu-ray, DVD burner is fine, need 4 USBs, no less than 500gb HDD, and no less than 4GB RAM. I dont care to have the latest Core; I am not a gamer.
As for monitor, I could live with a 15", but no need for above 17".
Obviously, I can take a laptop anywhere; but I really dont want to. They are too big, and if lost or stolen, bye bye, nice seeing you. Thus, perhaps a netbook is best for travel. They are lighter, smaller, cheaper, no DVD drive, which I rarely use.
As for only 1gb RAM, it's upgradeable to 2gb; small hdd is ok as I have an portable external hdd; small 10" monitor, bigger one is $120. I am only concerned with the Atom CPU speed, pretty weak.

So, for $250 its a netbook, or for twice that a desktop w/monitor.

Lots of conflicting statements in there.

DVD burner is fine for desktop, but for a netbook lack of one isn't a big deal since you rarely use one...?

You mention toting around a laptop would be too much hassle, but a Netbook would be fine, so why are you considering a desktop?

With Netbooks, your not limited to Intel Atoms... Add to that there are more than one Atom, Single/Dual core, and at least 2 generations of them.

AMD uses some of their E series APU/CPU's in some netbooks as well, which are quite nice for netbook needs. E-350 and E-450 CPU's.

Why not just bite the bullet and get a smaller to medium sized thin laptop, it fits both the Desktop and Netbook options, and still light enough.

Walmart.com: Acer Black 15.6" Aspire AS5250-0639 Laptop PC with AMD E-450 Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium: Computers

Walmart.com: HP Pewter 15.6" SmartBuy 630 Laptop PC with Intel i3-370 Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium: Computers

Walmart.com: Toshiba Matrix Silver 15.6" Satellite L755D-S5348 Laptop PC with AMD Dual-Core A4-3300M Accelerated Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium: Computers

Just a few options out there.

That first one wouldn't be too bad, as thin as most netbooks, but with a 15" Display, and a decent Netbook CPU. Has a DVD Drive, and cheap in price.

Otherwise, one of the others listed aren't bad either.

**RicheemxX** · December 9th, 2011, 02:07 AM

Another side thought on this is what are you running now and why do you think you need an upgrade?

You say you don't need the latest chips and aren't a gamer and are considering a low end netbook. Yet mention wanting something with over 4GBs of ram and a larger hdd. The only reason you'd need that much ram is if you are doing some heavy multitasking which would contradict the use of a netbook to begin with.