Desktop, Laptop, or Tablet

[RPMPIRE]

With the introduction of a vast amount of new tech toys, I feel that each computing device can be as versatile as the next. However, if you were to choose just one as your primary device, which one would it be?

For me, I have worked with all three, but I prefer to have a desktop (call me a caveman) but mostly because since a lot of my job is pointing, clicking, and looking at a crap load of data on excel spreadsheets, I believe that I work a lot more efficiently on a desktop. I've used laptops at home, but despite it's good portability, I still don't find it as versatile and I feel that laptops get outdated fast (especially with the advancements of tablets). Also, since I don't travel too much right now, I don't really need it. As for tablets, I use it mostly for media streaming.

What's your preferred computing device? Keep in mind, this if going to be your everyday device for work, play, entertainment, etc.

[meenman]

I have been using laptops for the last 17 years and havent owned a desktop in over 20. I would love to be able to switch to a tablet, but they are not there yet to replace all of my computing needs.

[tristanhilton85]

I prefer to use my desktop over anything else... I don't mind using a laptop, but it's not my first choice. Tablets are great for browsing the web/playing some games but that's about it.

[darkhunter139]

I have all 3 and prefer my desktop over any of them by far.  Nothing beats a nice big monitor and keyboard/mouse.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by darkhunter139

I have all 3 and prefer my desktop over any of them by far.  Nothing beats a nice big monitor and keyboard/mouse.

And the power, and the storage... and not worrying about batteries.

I use a Mac Pro, but when I'm out I love my MacBook Air.

My iPhone is my tablet.

[David in FL]

I travel weekly. Laptop for me, but I spend a lot of time with my iPad too. Most of my time on this forum comes via the tablet..... Waiting for the day that full MS suite functionality comes to a tablet. Some day......

[jamo]

I've got a MacBook Pro and a external monitor (older Apple Cinema Display) at my desk, as well as a wireless keyboard and mouse. So it's certainly not as fast as a desktop that I could have bought at a comparable price, the portability is nice and I can use two monitors at once, which is also nice. Between that an my iPhone I don't think I would ever use a tablet.

[awmgolfer]

It depends on what you want to do but as an overall if I had to choose, I would go with a laptop. I also use a mouse and external monitor and it works great. I can update the internal components with no issue so staying current is the same ease as a desktop. I also have an iPhone and just got a tablet. For my late night browsing I love the tablet, easy to lay in bed and browse or read a book. I use a laptop, smarthphone , and tablet equally, just depends what I am doing. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Golfingdad]

I voted laptop ... From our brand new iPad :)

[Zeph]

I've only had laptops the last 9 years. At some point I stopped online gaming, so there wasn't the need for the power. Since then, laptops have become fast enough for my needs in gaming. I use the computer at school, so I need a laptop. At home I got a 23" 16:10 monitor and a keyboard. I always use an external mouse, also at school. As for storage I got 1TB and 2TB, which is enough for my needs. Most of it is filled by music and TV-shows. Important and smaller sized files are stored on Dropbox, which makes them very accessible and secure. If I at some point don't need to lug around the computer anymore and perhaps want more power, I might consider a desktop. A tablet is not really comparable to the other two. It's more of a toy for entertainment. I spend most of my time online reading and writing, and I can't imagine writing for a longer period of time on a tablet. At home I got laptops here and there, so I don't need the tablet for that. On the run I always got my Samsung G2, which offer me all I need.

[nevets88]

I use a MacBook Pro for a computer and iPhone for a smartphone, but I read a lot and a tablet is essential. Reading from a laptop or smartphone in a word, sucks and I've literally read whole books off a smartphone. The 7" tablet is perfect for book reading. I can borrow ebooks from the library and not worry about late fees. Searching through books is much easier on a tablet and dictionary and wikipedia lookups are a cinch.

Tablets may be toys to some, but useful tools to those who have atypical needs. It is excellent for storing and reading music scores. I don't think people who say tablets are toys have ever used Evernote or any of the specialized apps not available to the public for professional needs. They are excellent for learning languages like Chinese because of the touch interface. When I take the subway, it's amazing how many people are using tablets/ereaders compared to say 2010 and the demographic of the users is varied.

[RPMPIRE]

Tablets do have apps where you can remote access your desktop or laptop (as long as it's on). For work, sometimes I need to connect to my desktop and I can do it remotely using the LogMeIn app. It's not comparable to working on an actual laptop or the desktop, but it's good if I need to email and run spreadsheets or PDFs.

[nevets88]

Nowadays I don't think it's one computing device to rule them all. True the desktop (trucks according to Steve Jobs) does the grunt work but different types of devices are doing more of some of the things desktops did. I would ask what's your preferred desktop/tablet/smartphone split?

[RPMPIRE]

Originally Posted by nevets88

I would ask what's your preferred desktop/tablet/smartphone

split?

For the split question, I would pick desktop and smartphone. I don't like carrying around a tablet for security reasons and also because it can't fit in my pocket.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I voted laptop ... From our brand new iPad :)

Which one did you get?

[Beachcomber]

A nice notebook (Ivy Bridge) - with a docking station connected to a large desktop monitor (23") - with a wireless keyboard and mouse is the optimal setup for me.

[RonTheSavage]

I have all three, and I voted Laptop. My 18 month old son has basically taken my iPad from me. We hardly ever turn on the desktop anymore.

[ChrisSmith]

If you can only select one, I think laptop is an easy choice. Its got almost as much portability as a tablet and almost as much functionality as a desktop.