Depends what I’m doing.

Working on a document? Sending emails? I can take my laptop wherever, do it in the park and make a nice day out of mundane tasks.

Gaming? Video editing? Nah I want my desktop. I’m fairly tall and hunching over a computer at a table isn’t very nice. I have it set up so I don’t fuck up my body sitting for hours at a time. I also have a 7 button ergonomic mouse that’s not very transportable.

I suppose docking a laptop is an option, but I typically buy laptops second hand so I can’t lose my more expensive hardware because I got stoned at the park and forgot it.

100% desktop, the ergonomics and economics are just way better. I still own a laptop, but it’s decidedly a secondary device - most real work is getting done on my desktop.

I suspect that nowadays, a majority of people are getting most or even all of their computing done on a phone. Probably doesn’t apply to the average Lemmy user, though.

I want this but its so expensive 😭

these days increasingly a pocket computer person

Desktop.

I like laptops but if I’m using them for ‘serious’ work, they don’t have enough ports, docking stations can get funky, 95% get way too toasty to keep your hands on, and the keyboard ergonomics usually suck. They’re also harder to repair.

At work I use a laptop because I change work locations multiple times a day.

At home I use a desktop because I like the bigger screen, better keyboard and more power for less than the cost of a laptop.

I’m on a laptop, since I don’t need the power of a desktop, and I like being able to use the same computer at home and on the go (e.g. school, and soon university!). I’m running EndeavourOS with KDE Plasma, and it’s fantastic! My specific device is also one of those 2-in-1s (with a touchscreen OLED with amazing colours!) that can flip into a tablet, which is very handy. No plans to upgrade it any time soon, but the battery has degraded a lot (58% health), so it might need to be replaced soon.

Desktops make more sense for people who do more graphically intensive stuff (gaming, video editing, 3D modelling, etc.), and if you don’t need the portability of a laptop, desktops are great since they are upgradeable, quieter, and full of I/O.

Desktop at home, laptop away from home.

Your post comes up at the most convenient time possible. I was using laptops for many years but recently the battery, the display, the power connector and the keyboard of my device got all partially defunct.

In total it is a mess now, so I think about buying a modern desktop again (the first one after 20 years). Are their parts still replaceable like in the past where it was easy? Or is enshittification a thing there aswell?

Even I was able to upgrade memory, the hard disc, drives, add new interfaces, a fan or the like. And for the inside cleaning with air pressure I just needed to loosen around four screws and everything was accessible.

I don’t have a desk job, but the past few days I’ve been inputting data on my laptop for a few hours a day, and my neck/shoulders hate it.

I would much prefer a desktop computer for ergonomic reasons, in this situation.

desktops all the way.

When my workplace switched from workstation desktops to lap tops was not a good day.

8 grand worth of fucking dell laptop with less ability than a 4 grand desktop. Doing something serious? Thermals say no.

The dell docks are a symphony of issues with multi monitors, network cable drop outs etc.

Oh you plugged another USB device in? Allow me to remind you that you are out of USB resources. Sorry, how would you like both mouse and track pad to cease functioning until you restart?

It is of course no lightweight either so actually taking it anywhere is a joke. Battery barely lasts 2h if you aren’t plugged in. Also don’t be thinking you can plug it in to just any dock, if it’s a generic one, then it ain’t getting enough power and it will tell you all about that, before doing weird shit if you try to share your screen in a teams meeting.

Plus taking it out of the office means connecting via a VPN which is slow as fuck and you can’t do any real work over it anyway.

Also, using a laptop actually as a laptop? The ergonomics of that are not to my taste. Horrid keyboard right next to the screen. I can’t stand it.

Old man here. Desktop only. Phone is for phone calls, GPS, and camera. Tablet for reading in bed, and light browsing.

I was a graphic designer, I used beast machines, packed with RAM and two big monitors. When I worked on 15GB Photoshop files under deadlines I needed a machine that could push pixels and a color corrected monitor. Never a laptop, obviously.

Also the laptop format is bad for me, because of my vision. I see best with glasses when the monitor is about four feet away, but of course I need the keyboard and mouse closer.

Midtier Laptop. Dock to a hub for dual monitors. Works good enough for gaming, just stick to retro and indie.

Work? Give me a laptop because I’m not always working from the same spot. External mouse, keyboard, monitor, and it’s fine.

Personal? Desktop is better for games. Most things work on the phone. The remainder fan largely wait until I’m home.

My dream device is a 2-in-1 10-to-13-inch, fanless, RISC-based tablet with a magnetic keyboard and touchpad add on, running Linux.

I absolutely love portable, flexible, energy efficient devices. And I love not worrying about dirt getting inside. I’m perfectly fine with potential thermal throttling.

The closest I’ve ever gotten was Microsoft’s Surface Pro X (SQ2). It was pretty much perfect, but couldn’t run Linux. What a waste of a wonderful device.

Until then I guess it’ll just be plain laptops. Would love to at least find a fanless laptop with decent performance.

So far the only things I came across are MacBooks Air (no, thanks), the PineBook Pro (which I owned, but performance is abysmal), and some Intel N-based Chromebooks, but most of the fanless ones use the older N100, or even worse, Celerons like the N4500, both of which offer even worse performance than the PineBook Pro.