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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 10/17/2008
Posts: 3
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This is our family's first ever notebook - We've managed on two secondhand desktops for years.
If you're thinking about whether to buy a laptop or a desktop this is our experience to date.
Pros
It's been useful having a laptop. One of the two printers we own went dud on us recently. It's been simple to pick up the laptop and carry it to the working printer. We've even delayed buying a second printer because it's so simple. It definitely wasn't simple lugging our old desktops around (or even disconnecting the printer and reconnecting it between desktops - I HATE tangled cables).
Also I just love the extra room on my desk. Good riddence to the bulky CRT monitor.
I was particularly happy that this particular Toshiba laptop rolled back to Windows XP. It came with Vista, and I gave Vista my best shot for a fortnight. But I couldn't get the hang of it. I rolled the laptop back to Windows XP (the disk came with the Toshiba laptop). I half expected major problems because I'd never tried to install an operating system before, but everything worked well with the provided disks. I only had to troubleshoot one problem (I couldn't burn discs after the rollback but eventually fixed that problem)
Cons
Personally I think laptops are darn uncomfortable if you intend to type for hours. Maybe I'm inexperienced at using them but a "normal" keyboard is much less tiring. Infact we hardly use the laptop keyboard - except if we take it over to someone's house which we've only done once or twice.
Same with the laptop's mouse. I keep plugging a regular mouse in, because I can't get the hang of how to select text, and I keep accidentally selecting, deleting and moving text with the laptop mouse (which is built into the laptop).
I'm also a bit dubious about the quality of the keyboard. The \| key (above the enter key) is wriggly and the key tab cover keeps coming off. The Toshiba laptop's still under warranty (we only bought it back in June) but Harvey Norman says that that sort of keyboard problem isn't covered by Toshiba's warranty and they want $90 to send it off to the Toshiba repairer. They also reckon it could be hundreds of $ to fix. I was a bit disappointed about that - The key cover was wriggly the first time I used it and about the third time I opened up the lid of the laptop I was astonished to find it had fallen off altogether. Hubby looked at it under a magnifying glass and reckons the scissor action clip is dud from new. He tried to push it back into place but it keeps falling off. I haven't approached Toshiba in person to ask if it's covered under warranty, because of what Harvey Norman said (we don't have hundreds of spare dollars).
Overall impressions?
Laptops are great if you need the space and portability. I'm not so impressed by their keyboards though.
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Rank: Expert
Joined: 5/29/2008
Posts: 688
Location: Lismore NSW
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hmm well now. im not a fan of laptops but id like to get one for the handyness of it. and i agree the typing is bad and the mice are always shitty and random, almost real mice  hardware is also crammed into the machines making them prone to overheating, and makin you lap really warm ick not good in this warm weather. but you can always transport it to a cooler part of the house anyway. as for the laptop keyboard. get a normal keyboard who cares about the inbuilt one lol.
We are all born ignorant but one must work hard to remain stupid
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 7/2/2008
Posts: 290
Location: Sydney
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You just can't beat "handyness" and sitting up in bed doing your emails, working in your jammies.  I know, to those slaves to the "christian work ethic" the above is just "wrong" on so many levels, but for me, when I get a chance to do it, it is "handyness" on a stick. I could do this with my desktop, but with all the equiptment there would be no room on the bed for the cat and that is NOT "handyness". Cheers Malai5
THE FURTHER YOU GO, THE LESS YOU KNOW! www.mam3.com.au
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Rank: Elite
Moderator
Joined: 7/11/2008
Posts: 1,185
Location: Mackay North QLD
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Gedday lindy, thought I'd throw a few thoughts into the mix... lindy wrote:This is our family's first ever notebook - We've managed on two secondhand desktops for years.
If you're thinking about whether to buy a laptop or a desktop this is our experience to date.
Pros
It's been useful having a laptop. One of the two printers we own went dud on us recently. It's been simple to pick up the laptop and carry it to the working printer. We've even delayed buying a second printer because it's so simple. It definitely wasn't simple lugging our old desktops around (or even disconnecting the printer and reconnecting it between desktops - I HATE tangled cables). I assume the new laptop has wireless. A PCI, PCIe or USB wireless adapter on the desktop attached to the printer would allow you to share it with the laptop with no cables. tangled or otherwise. of course if your ADSL router has wireless on it, you won't even have to buy the adapters, You just need to share the printers over your lan. lindy wrote:Also I just love the extra room on my desk. Good riddence to the bulky CRT monitor. Trash the CRT and buy a new 19" LCD for a couple of hundred dollars. lindy wrote:I was particularly happy that this particular Toshiba laptop rolled back to Windows XP. It came with Vista, and I gave Vista my best shot for a fortnight. But I couldn't get the hang of it. I rolled the laptop back to Windows XP (the disk came with the Toshiba laptop). I half expected major problems because I'd never tried to install an operating system before, but everything worked well with the provided disks. I only had to troubleshoot one problem (I couldn't burn discs after the rollback but eventually fixed that problem) lindy, Vista is the future as seen by Microsoft. At some time you're going to have to come to terms with it. Future windows OSs are going to look more like it than like XP. Better to bite the bullet now than when your brain is old and atrophied like mine  lindy wrote:Cons
Personally I think laptops are darn uncomfortable if you intend to type for hours. Maybe I'm inexperienced at using them but a "normal" keyboard is much less tiring. Infact we hardly use the laptop keyboard - except if we take it over to someone's house which we've only done once or twice.
Same with the laptop's mouse. I keep plugging a regular mouse in, because I can't get the hang of how to select text, and I keep accidentally selecting, deleting and moving text with the laptop mouse (which is built into the laptop). A cheap USB or not so cheap bluetooth key board and mouse means never having to say, "I'm sick of this crappy keyboard / touch pad!" lindy wrote:I'm also a bit dubious about the quality of the keyboard. The \| key (above the enter key) is wriggly and the key tab cover keeps coming off. The Toshiba laptop's still under warranty (we only bought it back in June) but Harvey Norman says that that sort of keyboard problem isn't covered by Toshiba's warranty and they want $90 to send it off to the Toshiba repairer. They also reckon it could be hundreds of $ to fix. I was a bit disappointed about that - The key cover was wriggly the first time I used it and about the third time I opened up the lid of the laptop I was astonished to find it had fallen off altogether. Hubby looked at it under a magnifying glass and reckons the scissor action clip is dud from new. He tried to push it back into place but it keeps falling off. I haven't approached Toshiba in person to ask if it's covered under warranty, because of what Harvey Norman said (we don't have hundreds of spare dollars). get a second opinion. Toshiba won't like for people to be reading about their crappy keyboards on the interwebs  Try contacting them through their wed site perhaps. Overall impressions? Laptops are great if you need the space and portability. I'm not so impressed by their keyboards though. [/quote]
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from. Ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid one, just stupid answers. (mostly)
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Rank: Expert
Joined: 5/29/2008
Posts: 688
Location: Lismore NSW
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malai5 wrote:You just can't beat "handyness" and sitting up in bed doing your emails, working in your jammies. that i also fear i mean my sleep is bad enough id be like a vegetable if i had the oppertunity to lay in bed with a laptop. already lazy enough haha 
We are all born ignorant but one must work hard to remain stupid
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Rank: Technician
Joined: 7/2/2008
Posts: 290
Location: Sydney
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Well, that is an easy one. A Laptop, by a long margin because you wouldn't carry a landline phone around with you in this day and age, now would you??? Cheers Malai5
THE FURTHER YOU GO, THE LESS YOU KNOW! www.mam3.com.au
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Rank: Moderator
Joined: 3/30/2008
Posts: 802
Location: Sydney, Australia
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myrnapac is a spammer, and has been obliterated accordingly.
Vito Cassisi: Tech Blog
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 9/7/2009
Posts: 6
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Both of them are useful and both of them has its downside. Laptops are very handy and you can bring it anywhere, but laptops can be easily be upraded, and if they can be its too expensive and also we can't hide the fact that laptops are more expensive than desktop. Desktop can be loaded with hardware and software, only you can't bring it anywhere with you cause it too many to carry on.
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Rank: I'm new around here
Joined: 10/14/2009
Posts: 2
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both, heheheh. My desktop is bigger but my laptop is more portable.
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Rank: Enthusiast
Joined: 4/5/2008
Posts: 60
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My wife has been using a Macbook as her primary machine for the past year after starting her new job. She recently started going to a physiotherapist for back pain from having to lean over to use her laptop.
Laptops were never designed to be a users primary system and be used for extended periods. This will become evident to all those students in NSW who will be given a netbook. A few years from now all of them will have serious spinal issues that will be painful to deal with.
I have a laptop that I use for work, but it's only used to run demonstrations or presentations. I also have a desktop at work and home which is where most of my work gets done.
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Rank: Elite
Moderator
Joined: 7/11/2008
Posts: 1,185
Location: Mackay North QLD
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Oh come now Block. It's all a matter of posture. Desktop users can develop back / eye strain if they don't learn to sit up straight and set up the monitor properly... unless it's a Mac thing?  I say bring back the old 4 kilo laptops and make the students do sit ups with them every hour. 
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from. Ask questions. There's no such thing as a stupid one, just stupid answers. (mostly)
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Rank: Enthusiast
Joined: 4/5/2008
Posts: 60
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Slatts, you're right, desktop users can develop the same problems.
However I'm sure you'll agree that there's no way you can get the correct posture, etc when using a laptop particularly when its one of the ultra portables or netbooks. Your wrists are stuck together while you are typing, your neck is skewed in an uncomfortable downward direction, etc.
To solve the issue, my wife got a wireless keyboard and mouse for work and I purchased her one for home as well. So although it's a laptop, she uses it like a desktop.
I doubt all of those students getting shiny new netbooks will have either the desk or bag space to carry around a keyboard and mouse with them all day.
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