Laptop or desktop?

Recently one of my favourite Press bloggers posed the question: "How can you keep passing yourself off as a writer?" Unfortunately, I have no answer, but I can answer his other question: "Is it time to ditch my desktop for a laptop?"

I get asked about this all the time and my answer is the same as it was 10 years ago - it all depends on what you want to do with your computer.

In days gone by, when laptops weighed as much as a small country and battery life was 10 (10 what, you ask? 9, 8, 7, 6 . . .) it was a no-brainer.

It was also not cool making the suits wait while you set up your desktop at meetings before negotiating hedge-funded corporate takeovers.

I have a desktop and a laptop (mum always said to keep a clean pair of everything) and which machine I use depends entirely on what job I am doing.

However, since most only have resources for one machine, deciding which way to go these days may not be so easy.

Generally, desktops still rule for performance, though like every machine, it must be set up properly to perform at its best. I am assuming that all computers are well configured and running as best they can.

While some laptops I have used are very quick and capable, I have yet to find one that beats an equivalent desktop in anything other than portability. While some of this difference may be attributed to the use of mobile hardware technology, the biggest difference is in the video department.

In a desktop, one can mount dual video cards and link them together to create one serious (and very expensive) graphics adapter. While doing something similar on a laptop is theoretically possible, it's not very practical.

The latest games and CAD-type software is very demanding of hardware and even the highest-end laptop just isn't cut out for this kind of work.

Animators, graphic artists and cartoonists who render their work in 3D also need processing power like we need air, and even if using the fastest laptops, they just can't get enough of it. I concede that some modern laptops, such as those sporting the latest quad-core processing and graphics technology, might come close.

A few years ago I carried a laptop around Europe, using it for everything from running my business remotely to mapping out routes across Italy, Austria and Hungary and for finishing off my novel.

The idea is romantic: sitting on a sun-drenched balcony in a fishing village, tapping out my masterpiece on my trusty laptop. I have to admit I was getting tired of carrying the thing around though, especially through airports.

In fact, an experience at Frankfurt is directly attributable to my carrying a computer. I was pulled from the typically huge security-check queue and led through a warren of corridors to a room where a security gentleman wiped down my computer and fed the swab into a machine, which of course found no evidence of C4 (I wore gloves).

I saw others there, so security were targeting people travelling with laptops. The problem isn't just size. To be small enough to not be a nuisance, laptops then become difficult to use because of their tiny keyboards, touch-pads and screens.

One can always use a standard screen, mouse and keyboard, but who has that luxury overseas?

If portability is essential, nothing beats a laptop. For everything else, the desktop still reigns and until laptops equal or better their performance, my preferences won't be changing.

* Dave Thompson runs a computer-services company in Christchurch. Contact: dave@computerkungfu.com.

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