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Comment by Leimi | Hacker News Reader

I'd agree with you if the argument was "full desktop setup" vs "just a laptop". I sometimes envy people who can spend all day using only their laptop. After a few hours bent to look at my 12 inch screen, my neck and back scream.

But when using a laptop with a dock, a big external monitor, external keyboard, mouse etc, I don't see the point in using a desktop machine anymore.

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Unless you really need the mobility, a desktop is just the simpler setup, and (at least for PCs) can run more quietly under heavier load, because of better thermals due to the larger case. It’s also simpler to just add another SSD or more RAM when you need it, add/replace the GPU, etc.

That's true if you only have one location to worry about. But a laptop is simpler if you need to, for example, travel between home and work while keeping the OS / apps / files the same.

Yes, that’s why I wrote “unless you really need the mobility”.

Some employers don’t allow company data (which includes all dev work) on computers outside the company premises. Work from home is done via remote desktop. In that case, the work environment is completely independent from your location and client hardware.

Agree with you on laptops not being ergonomic by themselves for long term use.

Perhaps not an issue for many development activities, but anything involving lots of calculations (CPU or GPU) will inevitably generate a lot of heat.

Desktops tend to be better at dissipating heat.

In a previous job, our desktops massively out performed our similar spec laptops for long running simulations.

Also you can typically attach more storage and GPUs to a desktop than a laptop if you need to.

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