A comment based on the computers I see on this desk--so not really relevant to the point of the post :(.
Why do people do serious work on a laptop? I mean when they're not traveling.
I'm typing on a laptop now, because I'm away from home. It's frustrating--the keyboard is the opposite of a mechanical keyboard, and the laptop screen is tiny. The track pad is so awful that I turned it off and now use a mouse (the track pad was forever going off and doing something unexpected, apparently because it's in the way and I accidently touched it with the palm of my hand or something).
Yes, I know, I can get separate monitors and keyboards. But if I'm going to do that, why not just have a desktop? I can fix the desktop if the power supply goes bad, I can easily add a second SSD, I can easily add memory. And the desktop is cheaper to replace than a laptop. In my view, laptops are only for travel.
I had used 'desktop' in the past - like 1998-2008 - but later as I got laptop and needed to be more 'mobile' the laptop was more desired.
Then I 'spent' many years (2012-2022) on a couch with IKEA laptop stand - that worked too.
Lately when I have finally done a proper desk again - I added some 'desktop' for either FreeBSD package building with Poudriere or for some casual gaming as AMD Ryzen 1700 with 8C/16T and AMD Radeon 5700 does quite good job at it.
... and I do not use just 'any' laptops. I still use ThinkPad XY20 series from 2011 - they all have that great 7-row keyboard and are VERY usable.
As for the upgrades of the hardware - mine ThinkPad W520 can have TWO 2.5 disks at the same time and additional THIRD disk in mSATA port. I also have 4 RAM slots - populated at maximum 32 GB total ... and about a price? Its possible to get one for $200-$300 range.
Even if you want something more modern - like ThinkPad T495 with AMD Ryzen - I recently got one for $240 - along with 4 cores and 16 GB RAM. I also got ThinkPad T14 with 6C/12T AMD Ryzen also with 16 GB RAM for $260. These are not expensive toys ...
A comment based on the computers I see on this desk--so not really relevant to the point of the post :(.
Why do people do serious work on a laptop? I mean when they're not traveling.
I'm typing on a laptop now, because I'm away from home. It's frustrating--the keyboard is the opposite of a mechanical keyboard, and the laptop screen is tiny. The track pad is so awful that I turned it off and now use a mouse (the track pad was forever going off and doing something unexpected, apparently because it's in the way and I accidently touched it with the palm of my hand or something).
Yes, I know, I can get separate monitors and keyboards. But if I'm going to do that, why not just have a desktop? I can fix the desktop if the power supply goes bad, I can easily add a second SSD, I can easily add memory. And the desktop is cheaper to replace than a laptop. In my view, laptops are only for travel.
Probably because I got used to it.
I had used 'desktop' in the past - like 1998-2008 - but later as I got laptop and needed to be more 'mobile' the laptop was more desired.
Then I 'spent' many years (2012-2022) on a couch with IKEA laptop stand - that worked too.
Lately when I have finally done a proper desk again - I added some 'desktop' for either FreeBSD package building with Poudriere or for some casual gaming as AMD Ryzen 1700 with 8C/16T and AMD Radeon 5700 does quite good job at it.
... and I do not use just 'any' laptops. I still use ThinkPad XY20 series from 2011 - they all have that great 7-row keyboard and are VERY usable.
As for the upgrades of the hardware - mine ThinkPad W520 can have TWO 2.5 disks at the same time and additional THIRD disk in mSATA port. I also have 4 RAM slots - populated at maximum 32 GB total ... and about a price? Its possible to get one for $200-$300 range.
Even if you want something more modern - like ThinkPad T495 with AMD Ryzen - I recently got one for $240 - along with 4 cores and 16 GB RAM. I also got ThinkPad T14 with 6C/12T AMD Ryzen also with 16 GB RAM for $260. These are not expensive toys ...