Why do people buy laptops ?

Question

Can only go off my own experience here, but they’re far less durable and difficult to maintain, upgrade or service yourself. I’ve owned 2 which both broke after 6 months. My wife owned an IBM which seriously gave out after 12 months. People always claim they save space & are portable but they seldom actually travel around with them. They take up about the same amount of space as a conventional desktop, so why are they so popular with people who aren’t conglomerate globetrotters but mainstream consumers?

Answer 1

MOBILITY - but yeah they seem to degrade, but remember hardware doesnt degrade, you just need to wipe the system then restore every half a year.

Answer 2

More and more people are using laptops because they are more mobile than traditional desktop computers.  Laptops allow users to get access to them virtually anywhere.  Which do you think is more comfortable, sitting at a desk or lying in bed while working online?  For me, it's easy to say lying in bed while using the laptop.  And because laptops are becoming more popular, they are becoming less expensive than they were years ago.

Answer 3

I have a laptop (12" PowerBook G4) as my primary computer. Personally, I take it *everywhere* except the grocery store. It goes to work with me, on vacation, to friends' houses, on road trips- everywhere! It's effectively an extension of me.

Just as is the case with a tower, durability depends on the quality of the machine. A crappy computer will be more likely to fail, and a well-made one will last much longer. I've had my laptop for several years, and despite the fact that it constantly moves around it's been running great for years.

You mention that people "seldom actually travel around with them." Even if this is true (I'm not convinced), even being able to move around within your own home with the computer is an enormous convenience, especially if you have a wireless network! I have a computer desk that's the default location for my laptop when I'm at home, but I'll frequently take it with me to the living room sofa, my workbench, or even the bathroom (answering e-mail on the toilet FTW! ;-) ). Having a machine that's small enough to easily balance on one hand is just wonderful.

You're right that a laptop is inherently less upgradable than a tower. I've upgraded the memory and the hard drive on my laptop, but that's about the extent of what I can do with it aside from adding external peripherals. However, most people don't upgrade their PCs at all. If they want a better one they simply buy a whole new computer.

I do have a "full" PC at home, but the only thing I use it for is games, and even that is infrequent.

Answer 4

A lot of people need them for business. Sometimes they need all information on one computer and they need it at home and in their office at work. Others just prefer them so they can sit on the couch and watch TV while IMing their friends or so they can take it to Starbucks and relax. Everyone has a different reason for preferring a laptop. If they don't work for you, get a desktop.

Answer 5

I prefer my laptop because it is more mobile. I can move around my house and not be stuck at a desk. I use it for school and can take it to the campus with me and back. I also enjoy not having the hassle of cords that take over my desktop computer. I still use both, but prefer my laptop.

Answer 6

laptops are mainly for people who travel  alot or who use a desk top to move data about .

they are more pricey too and most are just down to styling & fashion

and not all  lap tops you can up grade



me as a person i just sick to my good old pc thay are easy to build and fix and up grade.

Answer 7

I have a laptop and i agree what your saying, they are less durable and they do not compare to desktops in durability one bit.

I regret getting a laptop because i though i will be travelling with it and stuff but i don't.

Desktops are cheaper to repair and get upgrades for, would love a desktop

Answer 8

I don't "travel" with my laptops, but I'd rather not be tied to a desk. I can use mine in any room of my house. I usually lives here on the arm of my couch in the living room. Since getting my first laptop, my desktop sees little use aside from when working from home.

As far as durability and difficulty of maintaining...well, it doesn't matter how durable they are. Just the fact that they don't live on a desk means they're going to banged and dropped. If you kept a laptop on a desk it would be exactly equal to the desktop computer next to it in terms of "durability". Personally, I've never had a problem (knock on wood) with a half dozen laptops I've owned, but those were all Macs, so that's not exactly a surprise.

Maintaining? Nah. Software is software. But if you're talking about upgrading hardware to keep it on the bleeding edge then that's not really "maintenance", but you'd definitely have an argument. If you're a tinkerer and gamer and like to do more than upgrade hard drives and RAM, then a laptop is definitely a poor choice. But of all the computer users I've ever known, maybe 10% of them have bothered even upgrading the RAM they came with. Harddrives? Rarely. Video cards? I think I've got 2 friends that have ever bothered.

My point is simply that just because you care about all these things doesn't mean that anybody else does and the fact that laptop sales have skyrocketed over desktop sales the past couple years kinda proves that MOST people couldn't care less about upgradability.