PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

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Thelaptopvs

desktopdebate

comesbacktolife

jumponthetrainformeetingsthese

days,theiPadProtendstobemy

companion.Iwouldn’twanttowork

offtheiPadaloneforaweek’stripto

CES,say,butit’sperfectforthose

shortjaunts into thecity.

Sowhat’sthe pointofa havinga

laptopthat’salmostpermanently

chainedtomydesk?I’vebeen

increasinglytemptedby theM1Mac

mini,forinstance.A powerfullittle

desktopcomputer thatwilltakeupa

fractionofthe spaceoftheMacBook

Pro,at a fraction of thecost. Even

whenupgradedto16GBofRAMand

1TBofstorage– theminimumI’d

needto preventJonHoneyball

throwingshadeonmeonthePCPro

podcast– it wouldcostless thanhalf

ofwhat theMacBookProcostin 201 9.

Myaccountantmightinviteme

roundfora sherryatChristmasagain.

B

utthenyoubegin to consider

thesidebenefitsofusinga

laptopasyourday-to-day

system,evenifitnever leaves the

office.Themostobviousbenefitisthe

screen.Isitherewiththelaptop

placedunderneathmymuchlarger

monitor.Thelaptop’sscreenactsasa

secondarydisplay,predominantly

usedforTweetDeck,orforhaving

multiplewindowsspacedoutwhen

I’mresearchingarticlesanddipping

inandoutofbrowsertabs.IfI wentto

theMacminiora Windowsdesktop,

I’dneedanotherexternal screenand

thatwouldrequirea reconfiguration

ofmydesktopspaceandthewayI’ve

grownused to working.

That’snottomentiononeofthe

oft-forgottenadvantagesof using a

laptopasyour

mainsystem– the

built-inUPS.

Wehadbuilders

workingonour

houseforthe

majorityoflast

year,anddespite

H

ereattheglobalmediaempire

thatisMediaBCLtd,wehave

a hard-and-fasthardware

lifecyclepolicy.Themainwork

laptopgetsreplacedeverythree

years,oncethewarranty/care

packageexpiresandyouenterthat

diceyperiod whereyou’rebasically

crossingfingersandhopingnothing

goeswrong.

Thecurrentday-to-daysystem,a

2019 MacBookPro,is nearingitsfinal

year,beforeit’sputouttopasturein

the“cupboardfortestingsoftware

thatI’mworriedmightnukemy work

laptop”.Naturally,theoldhardware

triggerfingerisgettingitchy,the

businesscreditcardisquiveringina

corner.A significantpurchaseis

withintouchingdistance,but,

unusually forme,self-doubthascrept

in.DoI actuallyneeda newlaptopor

woulda desktopbea better idea?

AseditorTimsaidwhenI pitched

thisideafora column,welcometo

2010.Thewholelaptopvsdesktop

debatewentoutwithGordonBrown.

Butas another politicianontheother

sideofthefencesaid when justifying

a manifesto-shreddingtaxrise,then

Covidcamealong.

I wasn’t travellingforbusinessall

thatmuchbeforethepandemic.

Onceortwicea monthI’dheadinto

Londonformeetings, andthen

therewastheannual jaunttoCESin

LasVegas.Covid hasscupperedthat

modestamountoftravel,andeven

iftheworldbouncesback to normal

inthe next year or so (no, I’mnot

optimisticeither), thelaptopisno

longerguaranteeda ticket on my

businesstripsanyway.WhenI

BarryCollinsisa

formereditorof

PCPro.Hemay

endupflippinga

cointosolvethis

problem.Send

adviceorspare

changetobarry@

mediabc.co.uk.

@bazzacollins

Evenifyourcomputerstaysputintheoffice,isalaptopstillthebetter

choice?BarryCollinstriestodecidewheretoinvesthismediamillions

myrepeatedpleastogivemea

heads-upif theyplannedtoswitch

theelectricsoff,I’dfrequentlyfind

theofficeplungedintodarknessas

absent-mindedTrevorforgot to warn

meortheymanagedtotripthe

electrics by sprinklingthehoseover

thefusebox.If it hadn’tbeenforthe

laptop’sbatterysavingmywork,I’d

havesixfewerteethnow,having

failedtostopmytemperboilingover

intoa confrontationwithfellaswith

tattooedtreetrunks forarms.

E

venif thebuilders’threathas

passed, powercuts seem to be

morecommonagain,perhaps

duetomorefrequentstorms. And

whilewe’reonenvironmentalissues,

laptopswillgenerally consumeless

electricitythandesktops,wreaking

lessharmtoboththeclimateand

yourelectricitybills.

Inconclusion,then,evenwithout

thetravel-killingconsequencesof

Covid,I’mnotconvinceda desktop

PCisbetterfor office-onlycomputing

thana laptop.I’mstillincrediblytorn

overwhethertostickwitha portable

orswitch to a desktop.

Luckily,I’vestill gota year to

makemymindup,untilthecompany

policydictates thata decision must

bemade.Bywhichtimewe’llbeonto

(atleast)the secondgenerationof

AppleSilicon,allmanneroftempting

Windows 1 1 machineswillbeonthe

market,andmyindecisionlevels

willbeoffthecharts.Iknowthis

isn’ttheconcretebuying advice

youcometoPCProfor.Luckilythe

A-Listismerepagesaway.

[email protected]

Eveniftheworldbouncesback

tonormalinthenextyearorso,

thelaptopisnolongerguaranteed

aticketonmybusinesstrips

Ifitwasn’tforthelaptop,I’dhave

sixfewerteethnow,havingfailedto

stopmytemperboilingoverintoa

confrontationwiththebuilders