The laptop vs desktop debate comes back to life
Even if your computer stays put in the office, is a laptop still the better choice? Barry Collins tries to decide where to invest his media millions
H ere at the global media empire that is Media BC Ltd, we have a hard-and-fast hardware lifecycle policy. The main work laptop gets replaced every three years, once the warranty/care package expires and you enter that dicey period where you’re basically crossing fingers and hoping nothing goes wrong.
The current day-to-day system, a 2019 MacBook Pro, is nearing its final year, before it’s put out to pasture in the “cupboard for testing software that I’m worried might nuke my work laptop”. Naturally, the old hardware trigger finger is getting itchy, the business credit card is quivering in a corner. A significant purchase is within touching distance, but, unusually for me, self-doubt has crept in. Do I actually need a new laptop or would a desktop be a better idea?
As editor Tim said when I pitched this idea for a column, welcome to 2010. The whole laptop vs desktop debate went out with Gordon Brown. But as another politician on the other side of the fence said when justifying a manifesto-shredding tax rise, then Covid came along.
I wasn’t travelling for business all that much before the pandemic.
Once or twice a month I’d head into London for meetings, and then there was the annual jaunt to CES in Las Vegas. Covid has scuppered that modest amount of travel, and even if the world bounces back to normal in the next year or so (no, I’m not optimistic either), the laptop is no longer guaranteed a ticket on my business trips anyway. When I jump on the train for meetings these days, the iPad Pro tends to be my companion. I wouldn’t want to work off the iPad alone for a week’s trip to CES, say, but it’s perfect for those short jaunts into the city.
So what’s the point of a having a laptop that’s almost permanently chained to my desk? I’ve been increasingly tempted by the M1 Mac mini, for instance. A powerful little desktop computer that will take up a fraction of the space of the MacBook Pro, at a fraction of the cost. Even when upgraded to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage – the minimum I’d need to prevent Jon Honeyball throwing shade on me on the PC Pro podcast – it would cost less than half of what the MacBook Pro cost in 2019. My accountant might invite me round for a sherry at Christmas again.
But then you begin to consider the side benefits of using a laptop as your day-to-day system, even if it never leaves the office. The most obvious benefit is the screen. I sit here with the laptop placed underneath my much larger monitor. The laptop’s screen acts as a secondary display, predominantly used for TweetDeck, or for having multiple windows spaced out when I’m researching articles and dipping in and out of browser tabs. If I went to the Mac mini or a Windows desktop, I’d need another external screen and that would require a reconfiguration of my desktop space and the way I’ve grown used to working.
That’s not to mention one of the oft-forgotten advantages of using a laptop as your main system – the built-in UPS. We had builders working on our house for the majority of last year, and despite my repeated pleas to give me a heads-up if they planned to switch the electrics off, I’d frequently find the office plunged into darkness as absent-minded Trevor forgot to warn me or they managed to trip the electrics by sprinkling the hose over the fuse box. If it hadn’t been for the laptop’s battery saving my work, I’d have six fewer teeth now, having failed to stop my temper boiling over into a confrontation with fellas with tattooed tree trunks for arms.
Even if the builders’ threat has passed, power cuts seem to be more common again, perhaps due to more frequent storms. And while we’re on environmental issues, laptops will generally consume less electricity than desktops, wreaking less harm to both the climate and your electricity bills.
In conclusion, then, even without the travel-killing consequences of Covid, I’m not convinced a desktop PC is better for office-only computing than a laptop. I’m still incredibly torn over whether to stick with a portable or switch to a desktop.
Luckily, I’ve still got a year to make my mind up, until the company policy dictates that a decision must be made. By which time we’ll be on to (at least) the second generation of Apple Silicon, all manner of tempting Windows 11 machines will be on the market, and my indecision levels will be off the charts. I know this isn’t the concrete buying advice you come to PC Pro for. Luckily the A-List is mere pages away.
Even if the world bounces back to normal in the next year or so, the laptop is no longer guaranteed a ticket on my business trips
If it wasn’t for the laptop, I’d have six fewer teeth now, having failed to stop my temper boiling over into a confrontation with the builders