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by kbelder 1271 days ago
I'm surprised most of the comments here are in favor of laptops. I find them deficient in almost every way outside of portability (which, admittedly, is a huge positive). The best laptop keyboards are worse than a cheap desktop keyboard, the trackpads are always worse than a mouse, the monitor is deficient, they have no expandability, the ergonomics are horrible, and so on. I've always felt my productivity was way down on a laptop.
2 comments
Leimi 1271 days ago
I'd agree with you if the argument was "full desktop setup" vs "just a laptop". I sometimes envy people who can spend all day using only their laptop. After a few hours bent to look at my 12 inch screen, my neck and back scream.

But when using a laptop with a dock, a big external monitor, external keyboard, mouse etc, I don't see the point in using a desktop machine anymore.

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layer8 1271 days ago
Unless you really need the mobility, a desktop is just the simpler setup, and (at least for PCs) can run more quietly under heavier load, because of better thermals due to the larger case. It’s also simpler to just add another SSD or more RAM when you need it, add/replace the GPU, etc.
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baggy_trough 1271 days ago
That's true if you only have one location to worry about. But a laptop is simpler if you need to, for example, travel between home and work while keeping the OS / apps / files the same.
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layer8 1271 days ago
Yes, that’s why I wrote “unless you really need the mobility”.

Some employers don’t allow company data (which includes all dev work) on computers outside the company premises. Work from home is done via remote desktop. In that case, the work environment is completely independent from your location and client hardware.

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fian 1271 days ago
Agree with you on laptops not being ergonomic by themselves for long term use.

Perhaps not an issue for many development activities, but anything involving lots of calculations (CPU or GPU) will inevitably generate a lot of heat.

Desktops tend to be better at dissipating heat.

In a previous job, our desktops massively out performed our similar spec laptops for long running simulations.

Also you can typically attach more storage and GPUs to a desktop than a laptop if you need to.

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midoridensha 1271 days ago
So, just like the article writer, you seem to have never heard of this handy thing called a "docking station".
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