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Do you use both a personal desktop and laptop? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 6 months ago by DiscoShrew@lemmy.sdf.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I'm moreso curious if laptop functions have been offloaded to phones. If you have a full gaming desktop, do you see the use case for an additional laptop? or if most people here don't see the need for the increased processing power of a desktop, do you just use your laptop and a phone?

For myself, I mainly use my desktop, but I have a bunch of quite old laptops for tinkering.

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[–] tmpod@lemmy.pt 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I've been a laptop-only guy for over 10 years, here's my take:

At first, I wanted a powerful and colorful desktop computer, so I could play all the games I wanted, maybe touch on some 3D software, and overall have a cool setup. However, I couldn't afford it at all (though times during and after the 2009 crisis, in Portugal), so I ended up just sticking with the handful of years old, 17 inch and 4Kg laptop my older brother had given me.
The years passed and I never bought a desktop. The mobility and versatility of laptops was too good to give up, and having poured many hours into configuring my system (first years of laptop-only coincided with first years of Linux, pretty much) I didn't want to have to manage and sync two different computers. I wasn't aware of Nix and similar OSs, but even that doesn't solve the sync issue. Now my work requires me to take a computer with me, so I must have a laptop. I also work from home quite a lot, but I like to work outside, in the porch/garden.

Nowadays you can get really good and mobile (gaming) laptops, like the ones from XMG (and their sister brands) or even the newer Frameworks (which are also great for other obvious reasons). Even XMG laptops are quite reparable, outside of CPU/GPU failures, and DIY is supported by the seller. I'm currently rocking their XMG Fusion 15 L19 (late 2019), and am incredibly happy with my purchase, it's still in pristine shape!

Of course, this doesn't apply to everyone, but I think a laptop is generally a safer bet, if you know where to buy.
Happy to discuss this further! :)

Edit: Just wanted to drop an very nice laptop-focused channel: Bob Of All Trades. It seems they haven't been very active as of late, but they were very informative and had good guides some years ago, when I was looking for a new laptop.