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Ask HN: Desktop & Laptop vs Laptop for everything

1 points by kayoone 16y ago

I am really torn between this and everytime i read an article about someone on usesthis.com for example i switch my mind again on which route to go. Would you get a Desktop/Workstation AND a small Laptop or just a Laptop for everything ? In the first case id go with a Mac Pro/Imac at work + a 11" Macbook Air for mobile use. However, i would still need a Windows Box for Gaming at home. That makes 3 Computers + iPhone and maybe iPad in the future. Second option would be to go just with a Macbook Pro for everything. Problem here is that to make it a reasonable gamer for home use i would need a 15" which isnt really mobile. The 13" might just not be powerful enough for every task i throw at it. I still like solution A more, having a powerful, always-on, Workstation that you can VNC into from anywhere is great. Also having a second small mobile computer around for dabbling is great aswell. I also hate plugging/unplugging everything all the time. But then theres the money argument. You need to setup some kind of data syncing which could be painful if you forget to sync and need your data on the road etc. What do you use and why have you chosen todo so ? I am a web / game developer by the way.

byoung2 16y ago
I have a desktop with dual monitors at home, and two media center pcs connected to the two flat screen tvs (useful for , hulu, and torrents). I have a laptop with 15" screen I end up using most of the time and I take this back and forth to work, even though I have a desktop with dual monitors at work too. I also carry my iPad everywhere as well. The desktop at home is the least used, and it is what I would get rid of first, though it is useful to remote into.
Seldaek 16y ago
I can't really say what will work for you, but here's how I do it: our company only has laptops, so my work (web dev) machine is a laptop. In the office though I've a 24" monitor, along with external keyboard and mouse. Essentially the laptop is just a portable cpu when I'm sitting in the office. The nice thing is that I can take it with me in meeting rooms, go code on a sofa for a while, work in the train or wherever I feel like. It just takes 10seconds to unplug stuff and I'm good to go. At home I have the same keyboard/mouse/monitor, backed by a aging desktop machine, but I can still plug the laptop in the whole system fairly easily. The monitor has two inputs so there is a spare cable for the laptop, and all the external stuff is plugged into the monitor which has one unique usb cable that I can plug either in the desktop (using an extender sitting on the desk) or in the laptop. For data syncing, well the code sits in git repositories on machines that are accessible at any time. The rest is mostly provided by google apps or Dropbox-synced for the rare things that can't be cloud apps. I even have applications sitting with all their data in dropbox, so that I don't have to replicate settings changes between machines, and also for backup purposes.
- kayoone 16y ago
  Being able to work anywhere is cool, but id argue that its easier if you have a second small laptop that you can just grab and go somewhere then to unplug all the clutter from your laptop first, rearranging windows and whatnot. This would require that the small Laptop is powered on and has active syncing (via dropbox for example) with the workstartion to continue where you left off though. Since Cloud Apps and Data syncing is much easier today, it might better to use the right tool for the job and not a single machine for everything which then is a compromise in either field.
  - Seldaek 16y ago
    Well I work on a 14" dell machine that is light enough (~2kg) to carry around. With SSD and 4GB RAM it is also sufficiently fast. As for unplugging stuff, there is USB, Audio, Network, DisplayPort, Power.. 5 cables to pull out, it's really a matter of seconds, but if you care about that you can get a dock and then you just have to grab the laptop and go. Rearranging windows isn't an issue if you run most things fullscreen.
Khao 16y ago
You don't need any remote or sync tool when you only have one computer. I got myself a beefy gaming laptop and it's the only thing I use. I try to move it less instead of always carrying it around because it weights more, but in the end I think it's better than having mutliple setups.
- kayoone 16y ago
  so do you carry that beefy gaming laptop to work everyday ? I would bet its not the lightest one ;)
  - Khao 16y ago
    No I don't need my laptop at work. I was talking about my personnal setup but I think the weight makes me want to use the computer less. What I mean is because my laptop is kind of heavy, if I want to bring it with me somewhere I need to make a commitment since it's harder to bring. Most of the time, I end up not bringing my laptop everywhere and I'm computer-free, which is nice. You can always read a book when you're in the bus instead of working and being looking at a screen since you already do this 8hrs a day.
    - kayoone 16y ago
      yep makes sense when you got another PC at work. Thing is i have my own office so i am moving between home and the office everyday and am trying to find the right setup for both worlds. Ideally not ending up with half a dozen of machines.

1 points by kayoone 16y ago

byoung2 16y ago

I have a desktop with dual monitors at home, and two media center pcs connected to the two flat screen tvs (useful for , hulu, and torrents). I have a laptop with 15" screen I end up using most of the time and I take this back and forth to work, even though I have a desktop with dual monitors at work too. I also carry my iPad everywhere as well. The desktop at home is the least used, and it is what I would get rid of first, though it is useful to remote into.

Seldaek 16y ago

I can't really say what will work for you, but here's how I do it: our company only has laptops, so my work (web dev) machine is a laptop. In the office though I've a 24" monitor, along with external keyboard and mouse. Essentially the laptop is just a portable cpu when I'm sitting in the office. The nice thing is that I can take it with me in meeting rooms, go code on a sofa for a while, work in the train or wherever I feel like. It just takes 10seconds to unplug stuff and I'm good to go. At home I have the same keyboard/mouse/monitor, backed by a aging desktop machine, but I can still plug the laptop in the whole system fairly easily. The monitor has two inputs so there is a spare cable for the laptop, and all the external stuff is plugged into the monitor which has one unique usb cable that I can plug either in the desktop (using an extender sitting on the desk) or in the laptop. For data syncing, well the code sits in git repositories on machines that are accessible at any time. The rest is mostly provided by google apps or Dropbox-synced for the rare things that can't be cloud apps. I even have applications sitting with all their data in dropbox, so that I don't have to replicate settings changes between machines, and also for backup purposes.

kayoone 16y ago
Being able to work anywhere is cool, but id argue that its easier if you have a second small laptop that you can just grab and go somewhere then to unplug all the clutter from your laptop first, rearranging windows and whatnot. This would require that the small Laptop is powered on and has active syncing (via dropbox for example) with the workstartion to continue where you left off though. Since Cloud Apps and Data syncing is much easier today, it might better to use the right tool for the job and not a single machine for everything which then is a compromise in either field.
- Seldaek 16y ago
  Well I work on a 14" dell machine that is light enough (~2kg) to carry around. With SSD and 4GB RAM it is also sufficiently fast. As for unplugging stuff, there is USB, Audio, Network, DisplayPort, Power.. 5 cables to pull out, it's really a matter of seconds, but if you care about that you can get a dock and then you just have to grab the laptop and go. Rearranging windows isn't an issue if you run most things fullscreen.

Khao 16y ago

You don't need any remote or sync tool when you only have one computer. I got myself a beefy gaming laptop and it's the only thing I use. I try to move it less instead of always carrying it around because it weights more, but in the end I think it's better than having mutliple setups.

kayoone 16y ago
so do you carry that beefy gaming laptop to work everyday ? I would bet its not the lightest one ;)
- Khao 16y ago
  No I don't need my laptop at work. I was talking about my personnal setup but I think the weight makes me want to use the computer less. What I mean is because my laptop is kind of heavy, if I want to bring it with me somewhere I need to make a commitment since it's harder to bring. Most of the time, I end up not bringing my laptop everywhere and I'm computer-free, which is nice. You can always read a book when you're in the bus instead of working and being looking at a screen since you already do this 8hrs a day.
  - kayoone 16y ago
    yep makes sense when you got another PC at work. Thing is i have my own office so i am moving between home and the office everyday and am trying to find the right setup for both worlds. Ideally not ending up with half a dozen of machines.