Because of the pandemic, many people resorted to working from home. That meant that they needed to have a device ready for this sudden shift in their work situation.
To ensure that you work at your best and most efficiently, you need a reliable workstation at home. What should you pick as your main workstation?
Today, we will do a laptop vs desktop comparison. This time, we explore their strengths and weaknesses as workstations. Join us as we explore your options and help you find the best one for your setup.
Maintenance
Between laptop vs desktop for the home office, we look first at maintenance. You need to take your time to make sure your machine functions well. For this, we will look at the two aspects: hardware and software.
On the software side, both laptop and desktop-based workstations work at their best. Especially when given the time to bolster their security and performance.
In this case, you need to take time for security updates and performance diagnostics. Make sure to defragment and to speed test whenever possible.
Some of the errors occur due to something in the software. Thus, the type of workstation you have would not matter as much. You can address these segments when needed with a good deal of troubleshooting.
When you look at the hardware aspect, this changes the playing field. Here, you will see how different it is to maintain the two machines.
On the desktop side, you can open the case and work on the needed maintenance. You can replace parts with relative ease, letting you swap out the faulty parts with new ones.
You can also choose to upgrade the hardware you have. This way, you can ensure it provides you better performance.
Laptops
On the laptop side, this becomes a rather tricky situation. Other areas that you can clean and maintain are mostly on the body and screen. The situation changes when you venture towards the inner workings of the machine.
Once you venture inside, you need to disassemble the laptop and service the parts inside. For this, you would need the help of a technician in a service center.
They can work on the cleaning and dusting as well as replacing the faulty parts that would be compatible with the laptop.
With the case of monitors, the built-in display needs compatible replacements based on the laptop model. With the case of external monitors, you can switch to a different one as long as you have the cable for it.
In this aspect, the desktop shines. Maintenance and upgrading are among its best assets. Just in case, consider these preventive maintenance tips for your laptop.
Affordability
The next thing to consider here is the price between a desktop and a laptop. That can be a contention point when looking for a reliable workstation. The other factors to consider will be how affordable they are and if they are worth the price you bought them in.
Looking for the cheapest option, a desktop might be a good fit. Though as a disclaimer, this would pertain to a few details that may need a second look.
Though part of what makes this a cheap option is that it might only factor in the unit. That does not include the accessories yet, such as the display or the mouse and keyboard. When you have those included, the price pushes a bit higher.
That also changes if you decide to assemble the desktop part by part. It does offer a great deal of customization and lets you get more from your budget.
When you look at the laptop, that situation changes quickly. While it may seem to have a higher price, it already has all you need in a single unit.
You have your monitor and peripherals built-in. You also have a webcam and access ports. Thus, letting you start right away as soon as you open the box and start up the device.
In that vein, the laptop is a better option when you look at the price. You can check out these Lenovo laptops to see what suits your needs.
Movement and Setup
For this aspect, we will look at the portability and ease of setup. Both workstations can do well when placed in a home office. Let us look at the advantages of laptop vs desktop when you set them up for home use.
Looking at the desktop, its design lends well to a workstation. Being a stationary unit, you can place that in a dedicated area. It’s a perfect setup for a work-from-home perspective.
That means you can bundle and sort the cables and other forms of clutter in a presentable and neat manner, keeping them out of sight to help you focus on your tasks. With a computer table and some tie-wrap, you can accomplish this without issues.
You can also get a suitable monitor for your workstation and the type of keyboard and mouse that you wish to use for ergonomic reasons.
Meanwhile, you have portability as the laptop’s main selling point. You can bring the laptop to any location as desired and set it up whenever needed.
Do you need to work on work-related tasks for longer hours? You might need to take action on the cooling system and the battery.
This aspect runs on a matter of preference. Whichever you pick as a workstation for your home office, either would do fine. If you need to move around, however, the laptop shines more in that regard.
Performance
Performance becomes a factor that can dictate how you work. Your workstation’s performance must suit the nature of the work you need to do. With this in mind, this will let you pick the best type of workstation for your home office, between laptop vs desktop.
Laptops work great for people with medium workloads. Due to its portability, you can bring your work with you. Medium-sized laptops can work on documents or check emails.
The weakness of the laptop is in managing powerful processes. That could be the case when working on tasks like 3D graphics design or video editing.
Although there are laptop variants that have powerful specs to process such tasks, the tendency is that they might cost more.
Desktops come on top as dedicated workstations. Heavy-duty processes work well on these units.
That is due to the powerful processors installed on them. A gaming desktop PC has the same capability suitable for video editing and 3D rendering.
Depending on the workload that you have, your choice between laptop vs desktop for home office may change. A desktop would be suitable for heavy-duty tasks, especially if you installed strong processors with superb cooling systems. Otherwise, a laptop would suit your needs well for documents and other administrative tasks.
Accessories and Peripherals
With the right set of peripherals and accessories, you can gear your workstation to your needs. That tends to be a must for desktops. They need external monitors, as well as input peripherals.
With the right number of ports and cables, you can use multiple monitors or other accessories. Webcams, speakers, and microphones come to play as essentials for video calls or recording. You can also include more as you go along.
By default, laptops can work well as they are. With the right set of accessories, a laptop can turn into a dedicated desktop workstation. Although you would need to take note of the available ports and cables that you can work with.
The good thing about laptops is that they come with wireless options by default. That helps with accessories that can operate by Bluetooth.
The other issue you have to pay attention to is the cooling aspect. You need to have a consistent airflow to cool the processors down.
For this, both sides go neck and neck. You can see how well a laptop and a desktop can do.
Connectivity Options
By default, a desktop would have access to the internet through a LAN cable. If you plan to use a Wireless connection through Wi-Fi, you would need a receiver or adaptor for it. That may seem like a negligible point for a desktop that remains stationary.
That is the edge that a laptop has. Keeping note of its portability, a laptop can access the internet as long as there is a stable Wi-Fi connection. When looking at that angle, the laptop has the upper hand.
Verdict
It boils down to preference and workload as both can compete and rise. A desktop has a lot to offer in performance. However, its advantage is that it teaches a mindset of setting an area for your office at home.
Laptops can follow suit, despite their portability. They can also compete with the right setup and specifications.
Work from home is a different matter. Choose a machine that suits you, especially for IT professionals working at home.
Laptop vs Desktop: Make the Workstation Choice
Between laptop vs desktop, it truly boils down to the nature of your work. The desktop can work on heavy-duty tasks. The laptop has the edge on portability and connectivity.
Choose what suits your setup. If you found this article helpful, you can check our other entries today for more.
