Laptops are far more "proprietary" than desktops. Laptops have screens, drives, fans, cases, etc. etc. which may be unique to that manufacturer and model of laptop - therefore parts are usually far more expensive. Laptops are more difficult/expensive to repair - not only because of proprietary parts, but because they are designed to be small and light - and all that special stuff crammed into a tiny unique space makes repair more difficult.

Laptops are not the best choice for a machine which you'll work at for hours on end - the keyboard is often small/cramped and the screen small and low - not exactly ergonomic/comfortable.

Laptops may in fact be more "durable" than desktops, as they're designed to be constantly lugged around - and no doubt, modern laptops can perform just as well as a desktop - but laptops and desktops have different purposes.

 

Desktops are far more "expandable", meaning you can add way more things into them add another drive for more memory, maybe a DVD Burner if not already in it, maybe even a better graphics card, maybe even a TV Card in and out, and so on. You can't do that in a laptop.

 

If so, why do the still make the big computers?

In general, you'll find desktop computers to be less expensive for the equivalent laptop computer. I believe that's the primary reason. As Arabian Knight already pointed out, expansion & upgrade of a laptop is usually out of the question, where it's common for desktop computers.

 

I have never known a laptop to last as long as a desktop and I support both. Laptops run hotter than most desktops which wears them out faster. True a good user can be careful with a laptop and make it last a while -- problem is I've never met that good user.
When I use a laptop I have to hook up an external keyboard and mouse my hands are just too big to be comfortable for long periods of time on a tiny keyboard -- so..... whats the sense?

 

The life expectancy of a laptop is usually about two years (some fare better, some worse). If you are not big on keeping up with the latest and greatest, a tower will usually work until its software and hardware are so outdated you can't stand it. As mentioned above, if something goes bad on a laptop (the monitor on my last one) you cannot just swap it out. I am on my 3rd laptop in 6 years. I am pretty hard on them. I will be getting a tower next time though because the ease of sitting just anywhere is significantly diminished when the battery no longer holds a charge - often 12 - 24 months. If you're on the go (out of your home) and need flexibility, a laptop makes sense. If you're just using your PC at home, get a tower.

 

I have never known a laptop to last as long as a desktop and I support both. Laptops run hotter than most desktops which wears them out faster. True a good user can be careful with a laptop and make it last a while -- problem is I've never met that good user.
When I use a laptop I have to hook up an external keyboard and mouse my hands are just too big to be comfortable for long periods of time on a tiny keyboard -- so..... whats the sense?

I use a laptop because I'm off-grid and laptops use a lot less power. I would prefer a desktop, but the laptop is satisfactory.

I suspect that most laptops are retired because they just get too slow to be useful any longer because they can't be upgraded. Like, what would you do with a 233 MHz laptop today?

 

There are 3 types of laptops.
Rugged, designed to run in extreme environments, Designed to run while be bounced around in a car, in the rain, cold. These are usally high dollars units and have a narrow market nitch. They are often not top of the line in speed memory or disk size.

Business class. This is what most laptops were a few years ago. These are designed to take rough use while turned off, bumping them through airports and dragging them around when you travel. These range in specs but usually have options such as docking stations needed in a corporate world.

Consumer class is the new class, really picked up the last few years. It has basicly replaced the entry level desktop. Prices vary from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars for a high end gaming laptop.


In the early day of computers slots and upgrade ability was an issue, You had a seperate video card, network card, i/o card and even an optional mouse card. but now most desktops and laptop's have pretty much all features/functions built in. The number of people who actually add additional cards to a machine is small, Heck Most motherboards now only support 1 or 2 I/o slots where 10 years ago 6 slots was not unusual. Now a days, laptop memory are standard. Not the same as desktops but within there class are standard. SO memory and disk upgrades can be made on either desktop or laptop.

Reliability is more on the manufacture and not weather its a desk/lap machine.

For most people a laptop is just as good as a desktop when comparing like cpu/memory class machines. I personally would only want a laptop as my only computer IF I had an large external monitor and keyboard for it, but with some of the larger 17" laptops you can almost get away from an external
monitor. I drag a laptop around at work and then have a docking station with 2 19" monitors on it. Also have a desktop at work with 4 monitors on it.

At home I have an older desktop but I have a number of special purpose I/O cards that need slots. I also an older large frame laptop I use if I use.


Most computer gear only has a 3-5 year functional life span so get what you need now and figure it will be replaced in a few years, support and repair issues pretty much go away.


I am about ready for a new machine and will most likely get a laptop for my needs. Ill keep the desktop for some specialized work but the laptop will be my primary box.



Nevada: yes there are reasons to keep 233mhz machines. I have some software that will not run on newer faster machines and have to go back to the old dos laptop to run.

 

I use a laptop because I'm off-grid and laptops use a lot less power. I would prefer a desktop, but the laptop is satisfactory.

I suspect that most laptops are retired because they just get too slow to be useful any longer because they can't be upgraded. Like, what would you do with a 233 MHz laptop today?

There are actually some oddball mini desktop motherboards that use less power than any modern laptop. However they tend to be low power and wouldnt support current windows very well. Used to have link about some guy that made his own laptop out of one. Used one of those cheap Chinese aluminum briefcases to house it. Others have housed them in all sorts of weird stuff like an old toaster, etc.

Puppy Linux will still run happily enough even on a 100mhz computer, however many of the current linux applications rather require minimum of 40mb ram and much happier up around 128mb. And somethings just require more power, you for instance arent probably going to be happy watching dvds on computer with less than 400mhz processor, though video chip more important than processor. Older laptops had very marginal video chips and werent upgradable.

Laptop I use last couple to three years is 350mhz with 256mb ram that I got for like $25 and installed Puppy. Quite adequate for email and surfing. When I take it to library and use wifi, it really points out that dialup is the real bottleneck. It even started playing little embedded videos on some webpages that it wouldnt begin to load on dialup. Oh you still know its old, there is a small flash pinball game that really slows down to crawl on this laptop.

And battery still works to certain extent, though charge only lasts 20-30minutes. Not usually very important to way I use it, but when electric was out for couple weeks, really wished it would last 2 to 3 hour on a charge so I didnt have to have it tethered to car battery which itself wasnt in very great shape. Unfortunately sellers of replacement laptop batteries have very inflated idea of what such is worth.

 

I haven't posted here in a while but thought I'd drop my nickle in the slot on this one.

Opinions are like Butts. Everybody has one.

I take care of customers who have desktops and laptops for their employees.

By far, the cheapest machines to take care of and last longer are the desktops.

The laptops would last as long IF the employees that they are issued to would take care of them a bit better. Don't let them freeze in their cars. Don't leave them in the car on the back seat when the interior of the car is 140 degrees, don't set them up on a hotel bed with no ventilation, don't, literally, throw them in the trunk and don't leave them out in the rain and snow. Do they do the last one? Yes they do.

I have a laptop in my truck. It has been in there for three years. It runs good, don't look too good, but with a bit of TLC it will last a couple of more years. I only use it for mail and checking stuff on the web while on the road.

Laptops have their place and if used ( cared for ) properly they can be a good tool to have. But never put all your eggs in the same basket.