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Do YOU use your MacBook as a "desktop"??

Do YOU use your MacBook as a "desktop"??

  • Yes, use it in desktop mode

    Votes: 65 36.3%

  • (Kinda) Yes, use both an external monitor/MacBook screen

    Votes: 55 30.7%

  • No, though i would like to

    Votes: 18 10.1%

  • No way! Its a portable!

    Votes: 41 22.9%
  • Total voters
    179
I don't know if I do or not, really - it's my main computer, so... yes? I have a laptop as opposed to a desktop because when I was in University I moved between cities a lot (home to visit the parents, etc). Now that I'm done school I'm still moving around between my school city, parents' city and my contract job city... so it's much easier to have a laptop. I would call it my... portable desktop??
 
ki2594 said:
1. im pretty sure they solved that once a battery is fully charged, nothing else will be taken in, keeping the battery health as it is. And ive done this for 5 months...im over 100% health? So im pretty sure it doesn't matter.

2. Plus you lose your performance without the battery. Like if you have a 2.0GHZ machine, it goes down to 1.0GH with the battery out (read it somewhere on Apple.com)
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1. ok well thats good for you, discharging your battery on every cycle does the same thing so i wouldnt put it down to you just leaving the battery in (because im pretty sure about 99% of all users in the world would leave their battery in, and they all dont have 100% health do they??).

2. yes you get clocked down, thats a reason why i do it. save heat, save components. i dont need the full power for safari, mail, adium, itunes, folding and word... if i was going to run parallels or something then yes i would need the battery.
 
DoFoT9 said:
1. ok well thats good for you, discharging your battery on every cycle does the same thing so i wouldnt put it down to you just leaving the battery in (because im pretty sure about 99% of all users in the world would leave their battery in, and they all dont have 100% health do they??).

2. yes you get clocked down, thats a reason why i do it. save heat, save components. i dont need the full power for safari, mail, adium, itunes, folding and word... if i was going to run parallels or something then yes i would need the battery.
Click to expand...

1. I can post a picture of my current health? I have went through 53 cycles which was when i went on a business tour, but aside from that its just been plugged in.

2. I understand that and all, and that is true, you don't have to have that. But why go through the hassle of taking the battery in and out if it WONT affect it if you always leave the charger and the battery in.
 
ki2594 said:
1. I can post a picture of my current health? I have went through 53 cycles which was when i went on a business tour, but aside from that its just been plugged in.

2. I understand that and all, and that is true, you don't have to have that. But why go through the hassle of taking the battery in and out if it WONT affect it if you always leave the charger and the battery in.
Click to expand...

1. no i believe you, i dont need a SS of your health, im running at 90% health after 100 cycles (im gonna celebrate the anniversary tonight :p).

when you use your battery, do you ALWAYS discharge?? the main reason why my battery is down a bit is because i have to recharge it every now and then when its not completely flat so that I can still use it for lectures.

2. from my expereince it has effected my battery, thus why i take it out. besides, the fans are too noisy at night :p . its not that much of a hassle taking the battery out.. flip it over and press the two buttons.. easy as.
 
I'm in the small group who would like to use my MB as a desktop but have other more important things to spend my money on right now.

Will do it first chance I get.
 
My MacBook is soo fast i don't need a desktop, it out performs all of my mates desktop computers. Okay they might have slightly bigger harddrives, but mine is packing a 250GB one, which is adequate and usb externals completely transform a macbook into a desktop when at home!

Don't think i would buy a desktop again, when the notebooks are this good!
 
I dont have my iMac anymore so I am using this whenever I am at home, not on the desk though too much
 
I use it as a desktop too. I do have a monster rig of a PC, but i like OSX sooo much better. Now my PC's are just collectin' dust and my mac gets used alot. Very good purchase i might say :D
 
I've got my MacBook sat on a raindesign mStand, Apple wireless keyboard and mouse and I've got a 19" Samsung LCD TV/Monitor sat beside it. I don't generally use the monitor as the main screen unless I'm watching video on my MacBook (This way I can watch TV or play on my 360 whilst keeping my MacBook going :D)

At the moment it's much more of a desktop than a laptop simply because it's my only real machine at the moment (apart from my EEE, but that doesn't count really)
 
I sometimes use the MB as a desktop when I'm too lazy to go upstairs after a tiring day :D Just prop it on the dining table and start haunting MacRumors lol.
 
I don't use mine with the lid closed, because I am worried about heat first and foremost. My uncle worked as an engineer at Compaq, and he said that notebooks let some heat escape through the keyboard. Secondly, I like using the extra screen real estate. I have Mail.app and Activity monitor running all the time on the MacBook screen, while working on other stuffs on the other screen.

As for removing the battery, everyone has his/her opinion. However, Lithium-based batteries, tend to be adversely affected when not being used for a long period of time. I tend to use mine on power adapter, but will use it to 50% every two weeks or so. I did that with my previous MacBook, and the battery health was still 100% after a year and half. The battery won't be overcharged if left in. If it does, then it's time to move away from Apple laptops: it would be a design flaw. In any case, replacing a battery is "nothing" compared to the cost of the MacBook itself.

Please note, how I use my MacBook is based on my opinion on how it works. Others have their own opinion and use their MacBook accordingly. The bottom line: whatever your belief, enjoy your computer and don't worry too much about it. You'll replace it after 3 years or so anyway.
 
If having a MBP (rather than MB, which I know is the thread starter's question) counts, then, yes, I do. Actually, I'm a recent switcher and love it. It is my every day working computer, and sits on my desk, but I love the fact that I can pack it up and travel with it whenever I need to. I also love that I can pack it away easily if the room I work in is needed for anything else at short notice.

My first computer was a desktop, back in the mid 1990s; it was extraordinarily restricting and took up a lot of space. Since the late 1990s, laptops have been my main machines. Nowadays, the power and speed difference between desktop and laptop models is not the sort of issue, or the huge and inevitably compromising difference in the endless trade off between speed/power and portability, that it was as recently as a few years ago.

Cheers and good luck.
:apple: MBP 15.4", 2.4 ghz. 2GB RAM, 160 HDD
:apple: iPod classic, black, 30 GB
 
I use mine as a desktop, although find it limiting, Laptop's just aren't as powerful. Storage is also limiting, however i'm thinking of getting a 320GB 7200RPM harddrive.

Currently I'm setup with a keyboard, mouse, printer and 20" Dell monitor.
 
Until I got my Mac Pro, I had mine connected to a Cinema Display, mouse and keyboard as a full-fledged desktop for a year. I never used it as a laptop.

Now that I have the Mac Pro, I finally use the laptop as a portable.
 
Used to, but I got my Mac Pro a couple of weeks ago and now it just goes on trips with me or around the house or in bed.
 
I use it in desktop mode with an external monitor, but I keep the Macbook lid open (to help with cooling).

I connect the monitor and wake from sleep with the lid closed to set the external as the primary screen, and then open the Macbook (and the screen stays off). I just prefer working off one larger screen, instead of two different sized screens.
 
I'm too poor to have enough hardware to use my MacBook as a desktop as described by the choices available to me in the poll. I use my MacBook as a "desktop" as I'm almost always at home, but I'm lacking an external screen (I have everything else).
 
as for the heat through the keyboard...i'm sure thats true but at the same time, these machines are made to be able to run in desktop mode. I actually do a lot more now and most of the time i actually use the MacBook's display along side it. Which is great especially since i have the Griffin elevator. Makes it a lot easier to see the screen and stuff. Interesting to see though how many people actually use the MacBooks as there only computer or as a desktop.
 
Wait a minute...Are you telling me I can use my Macbook with say a wireless mouse and keyboard while my macbook itself is closed?!

I ask now cause I just hooked up my Macbook to my 37in. HDTV and looks amazing. I have the Macbook connected to the TV using an audio cable and also a mini dvi to dvi cable + dvi to hdmi cable.

I think it looks amazing and wouldn't mind using my HDTV as my computer...but I can do this with the Macbook closed?

Like I mentioned, I've just hooked up the Mac to the TV and last night watched a movie from Hulu.com and looked awesome. I tried surfing the web too but if I'm using the Mac's keyboard and trackpad might as well only use the Macbook...but....

!!!!!

?????
 
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