cannot decide on laptop or desktop

[danlightbulb]

I'm totally torn.

I know a desktop will be much more capable than a laptop, for less money. A desktop 960 is twice as powerful as a laptop 960m.

I have limited space in my house, but could squeeze a small computer desk into my living room somewhere, at a push.

But the main thing is how I currently use my laptop.

It doesn't leave the house, but as I live alone I tend to plonk myself on the sofa on an evening and have the laptop on the coffee table in front of me. I just leave it on all night in that position, dipping in and out of things, internet, forums, videos, files, all whilst the tv is on in the background.

If I get a desktop I will actually have to go and sit down in front of it, and use it for a period of time, rather than just dipping in and out of it as I please from the comfort of my sofa.

This is the problem I have. I think its a habit I have gotten into really, with the way I currently use my equipment. Mainly due to living alone and being bored mostly. If I was married I wouldn't be able to just sit in front of the laptop all evening with it on the table in front of the sofa. Maybe I should try and wean myself off this way of using it, by forcing myself to have a desktop.

But on the downside I think if I had a desktop I may not use it. I'd need to want to get up and have a dedicated pc session, rather than dipping in and out. I have an xbox console now which I could have a session on and I quickly lose interest in it.

Don't know what to do.


Sorry I know this isn't actually about the hardware itself, but I didn't know which forum was best to put this in.

 

[manbearpig]

Sounds like you have answered your own dilemma, just get a laptop.

 

[danlightbulb]

The laptop would be fine if it weren't for its graphics performance. I'm worried it won't be any good unless I spend £1200.

But saying that, a desktop with all the bits, monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse, plus a desk and chair, will come to that easily:

ALL THIS, plus OS, desk and chair:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £194.99
• 1 x MSI Z170-A Pro Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £82.99
• 1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FB2K2/1= £49.99
• 1 x Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)= £79.99
• 1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler= £29.99
• 1 x Xigmatek Mach Midi-Tower Black= £24.95
• 1 x Aerocool X-Predator 550W 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply= £47.99
• 1 x Cougar 200K Keyboard & 500M Optical Gaming Mouse Value Bundle= £39.95
• 1 x Asus Radeon R9 390 DC3 OC Strix 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £259.99
• 1 x Acer KA270H 27" 1920x1080 VA Widescreen LED Monitor - Black= £134.99

Total: £945.82
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​

​

OR THIS and my sofa:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Gigabyte P57W-CF1 17" FHD IPS / 6700HQ / GTX 970M 3G / 16GB DDR4 128GB M.2 SSD / 1TB HDD - Win10= £1,199.99

Total: £1,211.09
(includes shipping: £11.10)
​

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But to be honest I didn't want to spend that much, on either a laptop or a pc if I went that route. My budget was £800.

 

[linktoinsanity]

You can get a gaming laptop for around £800, but whether it would be up to the spec you are after is the question. You could also down-spec the PC a bit to save on costs. And if you are not going to overclock, just use the Intel stock CPU cooler. Remember also that a lot of the saving from PCs is that you can re-use the screen (for example) with a future build as well as more internal parts than a laptop.

It sounds like a laptop would be better suited to your needs anyway though to be honest.

 

[joedeath332]

Go for the laptop option . As it would suit your usage best.

 

[jbh110tdi]

sounds like a laptop would suit your needs better unless you wanted to build a small but powerful PC to sit next to you're TV and use a wireless keyboard and mouse.

 

[bledd]

Personally I'd never buy an expensive laptop. If one component fails (besides ram or HDD), it's expensive to replace them, if not impossible (due to price)

 

[Howitzer]

unless you wanted to build a small but powerful PC to sit next to you're TV and use a wireless keyboard and mouse.

This sounds like a good option for you. and 1080p gaming at a sofa distance would be fine imo as long as you have an ok TV.

Considered this one myself til I decided to go fulll on PC mode lol

 

[eddiew]

Silly question, but how about a gaming desktop and a cheap-but-large android tablet to do your sofa surfing? A 10" screen is lovely for reading forums wherever you are in the house, but it's a nice coffee-table format that nobody else is likely to object to

 

[danlightbulb]

Thanks for the responses.

My tv isnt great (720p) so id probably need to budget for a new tv if going the tv pc option. Plus a new tv unit too as there is already an xbox 360 and a virgin box on it.

I also realise that 800 does get me a 960m, but im concerned this wont be good enough to play the particular game im interested in (planet coaster is apparantly quite demanding on both cpu and gpu). Yes the laptop reliability issue does also worry me when spending so much.

If going for a desktop, i do realise i can get it cheaper. But i cant help feeling that if going the desktop route it wouldnt make sense not to overclock it or get a decent graphics card. Im worried my monitor choice is not good enough too, and that will add cost also.

Getting a 10" tablet is a nice idea but takes away from the pc budget and i feel is already stretched.

 

[danlightbulb]

Hmm so I was reading around the forums and came across a suggested build on another thread which I've amended slightly.

I'm impressed by this build for the money, including monitor, keyboard and mouse.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AOC G2260VWQ6 22" 1920x1080 TN FREESYNC 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red= £95.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Case & Super Flower 450W FX 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply Bundle= £48.95
• 1 x Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £46.99
• 1 x Intel Core i5-6500 3.20GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £175.99
• 1 x Kingston 240GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SUV400S37/2= £44.99
• 1 x Asus Radeon R9 380X DirectCU II Strix OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £199.99
• 1 x Logitech MK120 Desktop Set (920-002552)= £18.95
• 1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C14 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX421C14FB2K2/1= £49.99

Total: £695.94
(includes shipping: £14.10)
​

​

According to the 'can i run it tool' on game debate this system has no bottleneck for planet coaster on high settings. In contrast to the 960m laptop which did have bottleneck and was coming up medium.

If I could get the price down a little more, the tablet + pc option could be viable.



***oh crap I forgot the OS...another £80 needed

*** what fans need to be added to that case as it doesn't come with any. Does it come with cables?

 

[ExoMale]

just to throw another sort of idea in there.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Asus H81-PLUS Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard= £52.99
• 1 x Intel Core i5-4460 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail= £152.99
• 1 x Team Group Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TPKD38G1600HC11DC01)= £25.99
• 1 x Seagate 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (ST1000DM003)= £37.99
• 1 x Silverstone SST-GD10 Ultimate HTPC Case= £69.95
• 1 x XFX Radeon R9 380 "DD Dual Fan" 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-380P-4DF5) - OEM= £169.99
• 1 x AOC G2260VWQ6 22" 1920x1080 TN FREESYNC 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red= £95.99
• 1 x Super Flower FX 450W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - Black= £42.95

Total: £660.54
(includes shipping: £11.70)
​

but does sound like you would benefit more from a HTPC based system for less than £200 to connect to your tv for movies etc and use the rest of an assuming £600 budget for a decent most likely used gaming laptop or at least something with an i5 and a dedicated graphics chip whether its aimed at gaming or not.. you be surprised how well certain laptops can game considering thats not their focal point.




edit: you can get windows 7 for cheap and just upgrade to windows 10 if you wish

 

[danlightbulb]

but does sound like you would benefit more from a HTPC based system for less than £200 to connect to your tv for movies etc

Already have a 2Tb home NAS to store and stream films which runs over wifi through the xbox360 to the tv, so no need for a tv based pc just to do that. It also stores my personal files, photos etc, which are backed up to an external USB 1TB HDD.

and use the rest of an assuming £600 budget for a decent most likely used gaming laptop or at least something with an i5 and a dedicated graphics chip whether its aimed at gaming or not.. you be surprised how well certain laptops can game considering thats not their focal point.

I was all set to buy a laptop with i7 and a 960m, but planet coaster will be a demanding game and its really the only game I want to play. Will also play some other SIM type games too like cities skylines. So its stopped me in my tracks really. I wish there was more information about the new 1060m - it may solve my planet coaster worries for the same money.

edit: you can get windows 7 for cheap and just upgrade to windows 10 if you wish

Have heard this and been looking but cannot find where from.

 

[Sasahara]

If your current laptop is ok for basic stuff, keep it and get a desktop for gaming/high end stuff.

 

[danlightbulb]

If your current laptop is ok for basic stuff, keep it and get a desktop for gaming/high end stuff.

It isn't really. Its 8 years old, runs very hot, screen flickers white/pink and has black lines in it. CMOS battery gone so if I unplug it I have to reset the BIOS.

Barely runs a you tube video now. It will do banking, and forums obviously lol.

I bought the home NAS because the laptop may die at any time and I needed a secure place for my files.

 

[ExoMale]

ha fair enough then, full gaming system in motion then..

i cant comment on gaming laptops, i had a laptop several + years ago that was classed as a 'power & performance', it cost over £600 and for the important part it had an i5 & hd5000 mobility gpu, only had 4gb ddr3 ram and back then i could max out Wow, mw2, world of tanks and many other games(WOW was my life when i was younger), granted it wouldnt really have likely held up to the division/FO4/SWBF/RB6S/evil within if i still had it, mean my i3 haswell desktop holds up very well, but thats more modern and better.........

but so long as the laptop has dedicated graphics and at least a quad i5 or 6 core amd then you shouldnt go too wrong, while gaming laptops are good, i have read reviews on certain ones only being so so and these are over £700 machines.



as for windows, you can get reliable ones cheap enough if you look around hard, but for me i have certain operating systems on ISO as i own the product keys, so makes sense other than windows 8.1 as i still have the disc. if you already own windows 7(assuming you dont run vista or xp on your current laptop) at least then get an iso and use your key.

 

[danlightbulb]

Yeah laptop was vista but I installed linux to try and speed up the performance. Didn't work. Will probably have to resign to a new win10 OS.

 

[Sasahara]

If you go for you 2nd build and get a cheap laptop for basic stuff you could take look as the Asus E402MA. I have seen it as cheap as £130.

I got one and was surprised how good the N3540 4 core CPU was.
OC don't have the windows 8.1 version in stock atm. :/

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...8.1-laptop-blue-e402ma-wx0055h-lt-221-as.html

Has VGA & HDMI, plus 1 usb 3.

You'd want to add an additional HDD for storage, this has to be the thin 7mm HDD, it won't take 9mm ones. The 2GB ram is soldered and not upgradeable.

I use it as a media player and a laptop, the Product Weight: 1.65Kg is nice, long battery life for a cheap laptop. Note the battery isn't user replaceable.

Compare it against other laptops of similar price.

Review here.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...ptops-and-netbooks/asus-e402ma-1309349/review

 

[danlightbulb]

Hmm food for thought there. Can't really be beat for value at the price its available for. I assume by your post that it is possible to fit a 2nd SSD sata drive (7mm thin type as in my basket below?).

Leaves me money to get a full system for games and more demanding stuff.


Referring back to my build:
- do you think its possible to bring the price down any further whilst retaining the level of performance? eg how about going to AMD CPUs?
- what case fans would i need to go with the case?
- do i need a fan controller?
- would i need to buy any cables?
- is wifi already part of the mobo?
- are any other parts needed to build it from scratch as I have nothing existing.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AOC G2260VWQ6 22" 1920x1080 TN FREESYNC 1ms Gaming Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red= £95.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Case & Super Flower 450W FX 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply Bundle= £48.95
• 1 x Asus H110M-K Intel H110 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £46.99
• 1 x Intel Core i5-6500 3.20GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £175.99
• 1 x Kingston 240GB SSDNow UV400 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" (7mm height) Solid State Hard Drive - (SUV400S37/2= £44.99
• 1 x Logitech MK120 Desktop Set (920-002552)= £18.95
• 1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-17000C14 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX421C14FB2K2/1= £49.99
• 1 x Asus Radeon R9 380X DirectCU II Strix OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £199.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £89.99

Total: £785.93
(includes shipping: £14.10)
​

 

[danlightbulb]

Sorry to bump but can anyone help with my questions, ive never built a pc before.

Referring back to my build:
- do you think its possible to bring the price down any further whilst retaining the level of performance? eg how about going to AMD CPUs?
- what case fans would i need to go with the case?
- do i need a fan controller?
- would i need to buy any cables?
- is wifi already part of the mobo?
- are any other parts needed to build it from scratch as I have nothing existing