Ask HN: Benefits of a desktop system? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Benefits of a desktop system?

6 pointspandatigox20 comments

I have recently been contemplating on getting a Mac mini for personal use. Before then I have been using laptops.

I mentioned my desire to a friend who strongly argued for laptops, saying that you can make it like a desktop at home by adding monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc and still have it portable.

What is the HN community's opinion on the matter? I would really like to know what benefits have been perceived from just having a desktop opposed to a laptop/desktop hybrid.

* I understand that there are specs to also consider, but I'm more interested in people's personal opinions, rather than the specs. Thanks

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To be honest, I'm perhaps a bit 'special' but my linux workstation is i7 5930k (6 cores, 12 threads) overclocked to 4.5Ghz, with 64GB of ram, and 2 BenQ 32" 4K screen. I'm reasonably sure I can find something that big as a laptop!

Laptops are also massively more expensive than an equivalent desktop, while /most people/ never move their laptop anyway.. I never really understood that. In fact, that big system's entire hardware is very likely considerably cheaper than a 'developer laptop'.

Personally, I use a crummy laptop if needs be, and I remote into the big workstation from wherever I am (I use x2go a lot).

Sources proving most people never move their laptop?

> Personally, I use a crummy laptop if needs be, and I remote into the big workstation from wherever I am (I use x2go a lot).

How does it handle having a massive resolution on the remote side, and a way smaller resolution locally?

x2go can make you two types of sessions 1) the 'local screen' one that will have that resolution problem and 2) a 'detached' one that will be the size you like, for example fullscreen laptop sized.

The 'detached' kind are quite a bit faster somehow, so I use that, and often re-connect to it from the local screen in a window when I get back to the desk.

It's surprisingly practical, as my 'detached' session usually have a different window layout, tools etc.

My Fractal Design define R3 case has contained 2 different motherboards so far, 2 power supplies, it has seen a lot of disks and has contained various amounts of RAM over time. It is a pleasure to open it up an play with it. I think this case will last for a long, long time and will contain ever increasingly modern hardware, to be upgraded in small steps. I can't see myself do that with a laptop.

I also have a R3, it's very nice, understated (doesn't look like a transformer's idea of a PC) and very, very quiet.

And I'm the same, I regularly upgrade bits, it's easy, and quite cheap too.. DDR4 memory is quite cheap at the moment for example, so I stocked up the mobo, that should do me for a few years!

A note tho, every 6 months I take the PC down, remove the case panels and give it a good clean, remove the dust etc. I take particularly good care of the bits that are harder to service, like the graphic card fans..

I have used my MBP in a TwelveSouth BookArc with Apple BT keyboard and touchpad. MBP gets rather hot in spite of being in a ventilated position. You have to leave it plugged in for the MBP to work in closed-clamshell mode. Doing so I think I've cooked the battery. I'm only getting about an hour or so use when not plugged in. And the fan runs flat out.

I have since built a desktop with 2x24" screens, SSD+HD and using the BT keyboard and touchpad with it. The MBP is back being used on the road - still need to replace the battery.

In hindsight, I should have gone straight to building the desktop and using a ChromeBook on the road.

The Mac mini is nice, but think you get better value for money using a standard desktop. As many HNers have pointed out as far as bang for buck goes, laptops are expensive to buy and even more expensive to upgrade or repair.

Personally I just like having a workstation and tend to want to do work at my desk. Portability is not a major need for for my computing. It is good to have a laptop but I don't need a killer one.

I have a Mac mini, which I purchased a few years back before I got into coding and more seriously interested in computers. Now I am planning on upgrading over the next couple of months and have been learning about building my own PC. If you are married to Mac OS, buying an apple may be the way to go (I can't speak to the merits of a hackintosh), but I highly recommend learning about building your own pc. It's a lot of fun and pretty easy.

If you're interested, let me know and I can send/post some getting started resources.

Finally, desktops are just going to be generally more powerful. For example, if you want to run 3 4K monitors you're really not going to be able to do that on a laptop.

Linux supports desktops like LXDE which can look very much like OS X (or Windows). LibreOffice is a viable alternative to MS Office. As for development work, most tools are available on Linux.

Obviously if you are developing for iPad, iPhone then you are better off with Apple hardware, OS X & X-Code.

For me, it's simply because it's been incredibly easy to swap out broken parts as they come and go. I don't have extreme performance needs with my main machine, and various spare computer parts always find their way into my life, so it's been very cheap to maintain from the beginning, and I don't have worries about running it into the ground.

Laptops and other portables are harder in this regard, especially regarding batteries and intense usage. Other then that, I really don't see how adding keyboard/mouse/screens couldn't do the same thing though really. In fact my plan is to masquerade a laptop as my main desktop computer to save space and use less electricity. It will have no other purpose then to be my "desktop" as I have another laptop better suited for portability and battery life. Built-in power backup for my main rig is a plus though!

I don't care about portable. How often do I want to use a computer to make something somewhere that's not the office or at home? Never, in my experience.

"Well, you can hook it up like it's a desktop."

The laptop may be portable, but the monitors and peripherals definitely aren't. That setup isn't portable, only the laptop part of it. In the event that I hook it up like a desktop, I'm paying more for the privilege of having an under-powered desktop running whatever god-awful driver collection goes along with it's cruddy components and not infrequently pre-loaded with a bunch of bloatware as part of the install that has those drivers (often hard to find otherwise.)

For me, the desktop is the clear preference. If I want portable, I'm just consuming content - a tablet will do fine for that.

Unless you use a docking station it becomes a chore to plug & unplug the monitor, external hard drive, network, etc every time you switch between desk and portable modes.

1. Even pretty cheap desktops can be packed loads of memory, and can run a lot of virtual machines.

2. You can easily swap out/upgrade components.

3. If you are running the system nearly 24 hours a day, a desktop might cope much better than a mid range lap top (regarding life of the components). So use the laptop only while you are traveling or for a demo. When you are home, use the cheap but powerful desktop with loads of memory and easily replaceable components.

Cons are that Desktops consumes a lot more power and generate a lot of heat. and that might be good or bad depending on your climate.

Cons are that Desktops... Not to mention that desktops create a lot more noise pollution in your room unless you have liquid cooling system.

Not necessarily so. I use a big case (Fractal Design R series), with 4 * 140mm fan. The case has thick noise insulation, and the big fans turn (always) very slowly (500rpm, just above stalling) so it's completely inaudible.

A lot better that the tiny fan of a laptop that drives everyone around crazy as soon as you move the mouse :-)

Liquid cooling as quieter than air is debatable. Liquid cooling has pumps that make noise. Personally I am going with air.

Furthermore, I'm not sure how a laptop would be intrinsically quieter than a comparable desktop. In a desktop have more control over mitigating the noise.

Coding is so much more pleasurable on my 24 inch IPS dell monitor than it ever was the laptop. I also know some developers who swear by their 28 inch screen monitors.

I was using a Thinkpad for about 8 years before I got myself an Intel NUC (i7 processor, 128GB SSD and 16GB RAM) for a total cost of under $800 (if I recall correctly). The Intel NUC is literally half the size of the Macbook mini and was a breeze to put together.

How does the Intel NUC handle long-running intensive tasks?

Does it have issues with overheating under those conditions?

I've had no issues with with running multiple intensive tasks.

It does heat up a little more than the macbook mini, but not by an amount that would worry me. The little fan at the bottom seems to do a pretty good job.

I have a personal 15" Macbook Pro and two external monitors hooked up to it whenever I'm home, and nice things about it are that it is powerful and portable enough to serve both as my main home computer and occasional work computer whenever I'm out of home. I also have a fairly high-end Windows 10 desktop computer which I use only for gaming. I agree with your friend's argument, it fits with my lifestyle. For me, I examined my lifestyle, and then decided on the type of computer that I should get.

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