Work Computer Recommendations? Laptop or desktop?

Breannalee on 26/11/2021 - 02:04

Hi Guys -

Seeking anyone’s opinion on what I should purchase, I’m not extremely tech savvy with specs so I don’t really know what would be best as I’m open to both desktop and laptop options.
But basically, got a new job working from home - will be sending a lot of emails and using excel/word for up to 8 hours daily. In my spare time I’ll probably use this also for light gaming/music/photos ect.
The price points for the iMac 24” and MacBook Air are somewhat close, and if you could choose would you purchase the laptop or desk?
Or would you choose nether and recommend something else?

Extremely appreciated any answers, as I know this question has somewhat been asked plenty of times before.

Computing Computer Desktop Computer Laptop

Comments

  • Richardc on 26/11/2021 - 02:31
    +5

    Laptop with USB-c dock, monitor, keyboard & mouse.

    • samyall on 26/11/2021 - 09:36

      M1 Macbook Pro with at least 512 Gb HDD. Budget $500 for screen, dock, keyboard, mouse, laptop stand. Don't get the cheapest keyboard/mouse/screen - these are what you touch all day and you'll appreciate good quality here.

  • scrimshaw on 26/11/2021 - 03:22

    Techradar sums up the main differences between a laptop v desktop.

    It really depends on what you want. A desktop is extremely versatile in terms of roles, you can buy a low-end desktop today which would handle the basics, but if decide that you want to take up gaming or video editing some time layer, you can always stick in a new CPU + GPU.

    A laptop doesn't have much in terms of upgrade options but even when working from home, it's nice to have the option to easily pack up your laptop up and move to a different room in the house, or work while out in a public space.

    The third option is having both a desktop and laptop — that's my style. For emails / Excel you probably don't need a powerful device: e.g Lenovo Chromebook with a 10-gen Core i3 can be had for as little as $400.

    Then spend more on your desktop setup and buy a nice ultrawide monitor for the extra screen real estate.

  • raytriplej on 26/11/2021 - 08:51

    Most current budget laptops are limited by a 256Gb (ish) hard drive as they have all gone to solid state drives. An equivalent desktop would most probably be supplied with a 1000Gb hard drive.

    Saying that, you can easily plug in external hard drives or use cloud storage to store your files. Kind of depends on your usage.

    I have personally moved to laptops and keep my photos online with google photos, and am yet to hit my limit on the 256Gb drive. Word and excel files havn't filled up my drive yet.

    If you go laptop, ensure you can plug in an external monitor (or two) and you would have the best of both worlds in my opinion.

    • CrispyChrispy on 26/11/2021 - 11:06

      Most current budget laptops are limited by a 256Gb (ish) hard drive as they have all gone to solid state drives.

      How 'budget' do you mean? Under $1000? $500? My $500 laptop came with a 1Tb drive.

      • raytriplej on 26/11/2021 - 20:49

        Nice find. Generally I steer friends and family down the i5/8Gb min Ram route (no Acer) and the most common SSD is 256Gb

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