Pros and Cons of Buying Laptop Over Desktop

Since the advent of laptops, more and more people are going for it rather than desktop computers. Laptop is the sister concern of the desktop computer. However, it is gaining more popularity owing to many factors such as cost and mobility. Many factors push people to opt for laptops over the desktop owing to many advantages it offers. Let’s take a look at all the advantages which a laptop offers:

Pros

1. Mobility: You can take the laptop anywhere and work at your convenience owing to its light weight. Also, there’s no need of constant energy source. You can charge once and use it for a couple of hours without having to worry about electricity issues.

2. Energy saving: Laptops are energy saving devices since they are really small and need a limited amount of energy. Further, charging them till 100% takes hardly an hour and on full charge, the laptop can go on without electricity for more than 2 hours.

3. Cost: Laptops are cost effective. A configuration for a laptop will cost cheaper than a desktop computer with similar configuration. Further, laptops start from as low as $120. You won’t be able to get a desktop that cheap of course unless you purchase a second hand model.

However, there are desktop loyalists who swear by the desktop PC. Desktop computers were the first computers to be produced and they offer their own advantage which laptop computers don’t. 

Cons:

1. Adjustments: You can adjust the height of your monitor, the distance of keyboard; mouse etc at your convenience depending upon your use. Laptops don’t offer these adjustments and once you sit, you have to adjust your own position according to the laptop.

2. Resistant to overheating: Desktop computers rarely get over heated. Only in certain conditions when the spare parts and hardware parts are not installed properly, will the overheating problem occur. Else, on a serious note, you can run your computer without switching it off for months at a stretch and you won’t have to worry about overheating.

3. Upgradeable: Upgrading the components of a desktop is far easier than that of a laptop. If you need an additional RAM, it takes hardly some minutes to open up your cabinet and place extra RAM. With laptops, you have to be really careful while even opening it.

4. Durability: Desktop computers usually have a much longer life owing to extra durability. Once purchased, you can actually use a desktop for years where as a laptop needs to be replaced at least once every 5 years.

Both desktop and laptop offer advantages and disadvantages. The fact remains that it is up to the user to make a decision based on the intended purpose of buy.

Things to Consider When Buying a Laptop

The decision to purchase a laptop is a long one. You don’t really buy a laptop as soon as you think of buying one. This is because laptop is not a day to day commodity. Rather, it is a long term investment. It is an electronic item you will use as long as it lasts and provides you with satisfactory user experience. When you first think of buying a laptop, you think whether you really need one. Once you are sure you are in need of one, you go to various sources in order to research which laptop best suits your criteria. Then you evaluate all possible alternatives which best serve your job and at last, after evaluation, you make a purchase. However, there are a lot of things involved while evaluating, and you should be sure enough to look at the right cues. Here are the most essential things to consider while making a purchase:

1. Weight: Laptops generally weigh anywhere between one to three kilograms. This is an important consideration depending upon the type of job you have. In case you need to move around with the laptop daily, you should go for light weight ones. On the other hand, heavy laptops have a bigger screen, bigger keypad and better processing power.

2. Battery Life: Battery life is an important criterion. When you are at places with irregular electricity supply, a long lasting battery is what you will need, in order to work for longer duration without the presence of electric charge. In case you have constant and cheap electricity, you might want to consider other alternatives.

3. Ports: Your decision should be based on the fact that today, your cell phone, camera, mouse etc everything works on USB. Thus, having many USB drives will add to your advantage and make multitasking easier.

4. Hard disk space: If you need a laptop for just making simple presentations, or checking emails and surfing the internet, you won’t need much of hard disk space. Even 120 GB will suffice. However, in case you need it for work purposes, you will need much more, depending upon the kind of work you do.

5. Processor: Intel and AMD are the two leading brands for processors. AMD offers the advantage of offering similar quality of processing speed as Intel for a lesser cost. At the same cost, AMD’s processors work better than Intel’s, at the same price.

6. Warranty: Laptops are delicate electronic items. Make sure you have at least a one year warranty, so that in case it gets damaged within some days, you won’t have to bear the expense of purchasing another one. Make sure you have a good warranty.

These are just some of the major factors you need to look at. There are many more, and the list can go on such as the brand name, the memory, accessories, touch pad etc. Whichever suits you best as per your usage and requirements.

Laptop Overheating Issues

If you have a laptop (or any computer for the same matter) that is constantly restarting or rebooting for no apparent reason, the reason may well be overheating. If your computer is constantly rebooting and there are other tell-tale signs such as the fan coming on more often than you remember and sounding louder, very hot air coming out of the side vent, you almost certainly can determine that you have an overheating problem.

The good news is that it can be fixed by you, that too in under 5 minutes. No incorrectly diagnosed (and very expensive) motherboard upgrades are needed. All you need is a screwdriver and a vacuum cleaner. You might even get away without the vacuum cleaner.

Much like vacuum cleaners a laptop switches itself off if it gets too hot. This is to protect the valuable brain of the computer, its main processor or CPU, as well as our precious legs. Also similar to other things that overheat, the problem is often caused by excessive fluff build up in an important area.

On a laptop this crucial area is the fan that sucks air across the CPU to keep it cool. After about a year or two of use, many laptops build up layers of fluff in the fan area that are thick enough to stop the flow of air. This means the CPU is not being cooled properly, it overheats, and the safety mechanism kicks in and shuts the computer down. You experience it as a reboot. (Geeky fact: - There is a mini temperature sensor built onto the main chip itself that constantly monitors its temperature)

To be absolutely sure you have the problem I describe, ask yourself this question... After your computer has switched itself off for the first time in a day, and is switched back on again, does it switch itself off more quickly the second time?

If you leave the laptop to cool down, can you run it much longer before it switches off?

If the answers to these questions are yes, you absolutely positively have an overheating laptop causing your reboot problem; don't let anyone else tell you differently.

Turn your laptop over and look at its base. Somewhere there will be a panel that you can remove with a few screws, that gives you access to the main processor and fan. Most likely there will be several panels you can remove with a few screws - but don't worry - I'll help you find the right one.

Incidentally, not every laptop allows access to its main processor and fan (Apple laptops typically don't). Some use other mechanisms besides screws e.g. catch latches etc.

Top 10 laptop maintenance tips

Laptops are the hottest gadgets available today. A person is virtually handicapped without a laptop by his side, and laptop provides the greatest advantage of being mobile and portable, enabling us to complete our work regardless of where we are. Laptops are very sensitive and once damaged, can be really costly to repair. It is thus natural that we should take care of our laptops and see to it that there is no harm in any way. As compared to desktop computers, laptops are much more sensitive and easily damageable. Some simple yet effective laptop maintenance tips are as follows:

1. Dusting: Your laptop should be kept free of dust. Daily, as you keep your laptop aside and go to sleep, dust accumulates over it overnight and if dust enters inside the keypad, it becomes really troublesome. Thus, you should take a dry cloth and clean the dust from the surface, after which you should use a blower to blow out dust which has entered inside.

2. Avoid liquids and food: It is advisable to avoid having food while using the laptop, or while you are near the laptop. This is for the simple reason that if the liquid seeps inside, various forms of damages can occur such as loss of monitor display.

3. Optimum temperature conditions: Laptops get heated really fast, especially when they are being charged while in use. Thus, keeping them in direct view of the sunlight or in the kitchen near the stove should be avoided.

4. Defragment: Laptop cleaning is not only about the outside dusting, it is also dependant on how you maintain the internal functioning. Daily, when you are done with your work, at least defrag your hard drives once.

5. Protect against viruses – Make sure that you have a good antivirus installed so as to protect your PC from malicious agents such as virus, Trojan, malware etc. You should take care to run an antivirus scan from time to time.

Cleaning your laptop touch pad

In this section, we shall look at a really important concept of keeping your touch pads clean, which if damaged, can cost you heavy expenses to repair. All you need is a damp cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Use round about 50% isopropyl alcohol solution and spray it using a sprayer on the touch pad. After you are done spraying, you can use a damp cloth to wipe it. Always remember that when you are wiping, do not press too hard else the internal parts of the touch pad might be damaged. After you are done, you will see the results for yourself. The touch pad will shine as if you have just purchased it recently.