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Does anyone just use/own laptops? Have you sold off your desktop?

M

maf2k8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2009
316
0
Ok so I bought my first mbp a few months ago ( late 2009 c2d 15" ) and I love it!

I also own a pretty high end i7 desktop pc that runs windows 7. The desktop itself is huge and sits under my desk.

Now i have always been about power....the more you have, the better you are...but if one doesn't use all the power what's the point? Yeah it's nice to drive a corvette to the corner store but you'll never really get to enjoy it until you hit the open roads or highways.

So with that said ever since i got my mbp i have not touched my desktop except for streaming movies to my tv with my xbox 360 and to use 2-3 programs for my music setup that are not out for osx. My wife always uses the desktop for Facebook games and watching movies, she never really uses my laptop i guess because i am always on it.

Well i was thinking about giving my wife my 15 mbp and picking up a new i5 or i7 mbp for myself and selling off my desktop.

I would keep my 28" monitor i have so that i can connect my mbp to it at times.

I really see no cons in doing this at the moments, just curious if anyone else just uses laptops or has sold off there desktop.

Life span i think might be the only con for ME really since desktops normally outlive laptops, but other then that i don't see any other cons....

I hardly ever take my laptop out of the house, though having that option would be nice if it was my main rig.

Was curious what others think about this?

I have a 3.0 ghz i7 desktop with 8gb ram and to be honest.....all i do on it is
Surf the net
Stream movies
Listen to music
Sync iPod, iPad, zune, etc
Import HD movies from my HD camcorder
Play online games pogo and Facebook as i do not game....
 
Keep the desktop, keep your macbook pro, buy your wife a macbook.

That's the exact same scenario I have at my house, with the exception of a Dell laptop that got handed down to the kids.

You won't realize how much you want a desktop until it's gone.
 
I had a solid PC but I had to buy a MBP for school. After I got familiar with Mac I stopped using my PC for the most part and I wanted the desk space for peripherals. I eventually sold off my PC, my two monitors and replaced it with a 24" monitor, apple keyboard and bookarc.

The only things that remain from my PC setup is the mouse and speakers.

If you have an i7 rig however, I would keep that unless you're strapped for cash.

If I ever get some more money I would love to bring back a PC rig though so in some sense I kind of regret selling it off.
 
I haven't used a desktop in years, probably because I'm a high school student who had to work all summer to buy my macbook! However, if I had the money I would love to get a MBP, custom desktop with a monitor to use with the MBP as well, then a hackintosh netbook for on the go lol.
 
If one doesn't need the power of a real work station for work (or games), I guess one can survive with only a laptop. :)

I need a work station with a large screen to get my 3D modeling plus rendering done - a laptop could never replace that.
 
I've been using nothing but laptops for over 10 years. I've never missed having a desktop.
 
I had a heavily OC'ed 4ghz C2D rig a few years back with crossfired 4890's for gaming and video/photo editing purposes. While it was amazing and all that, I found it to be a hassle to move whatever work I did on that machine over to my MBP and take it to show anyone. In the end I sold that machine and just stuck to using my MBP as my primary machine. Yes it's quite a lot slower but to be honest with myself, I could deal with the extra seconds, or even a minute in processing time since I usually just leave the computer on to do the compiling work by itself anyways. If you aren't on time crunches and need that enormous amount of processing power to get your work compiled and handed in all the time, there's honestly no need for an insane amount of processing power. If a MBP works for you, then it'll probably still work for you as your primary machine even if you've sold your i7 desktop rig.
 
Since you're keeping the 28" monitor, I don't think you'll miss having a desktop too much. What about your Zune, though?
 
I have the fire breather desktop running Windows and a 24" monitor. I keep a film scanner and a video dub device connected. Plus nice speakers, TV tuner, etc. I don't want to hook all that crap to a laptop, then unhook for portability. I have a 07 15" C2D MBP I use around the house most. Kitchen, couch, bed etc for surfing, some photo editing, etc.
 
In answer to the titular question, yes: every student residing in a developed nation. Considering some of the laptops on the market today, there aren't many reasons to keep a desktop. As a student I have never owned a desktop and never touch my parents'. Desktops are harder to steal but thats about it as far as the bog-standard mac user is concerned haha.
 
I had both a desktop and a laptop, but a year and a half ago my desktop died. I've used only my laptop since and it's worked out great. The screen is still big enough to use Photoshop and watch movies, I use Microsoft Office and quite a few other programs, listen to music, etc. and it works fine for my needs. I'm in the market for a desktop cause my lappy is on the verge. I'd get another laptop if I needed the portability more but I'm going to go with the desktop for more power and space.

All in all, if you can afford to keep both, keep em, if not, I think the laptop will suit your needs just fine :D.
 
Used to use just a laptop, until last year when I bought an iMac. Ended up selling my old Macbook and was using my iMac exclusively... until I came to the realization this week that I hate that it's not portable, and am now in the process of selling my iMac to buy a new Macbook lol
 
We do not have a desktop in out house. There is the old Bondy Blue iMac in the attic, but nothing in current use. There are 3 MacBooks and a MBP and we are all quite happy with our 'books.
 
I would get an external monitor, apple's wireless keyboard and mouse for the moments that you miss sitting on a desk.
 
In my house, we have only 1 desktop, which my dad uses for financial stuff. Otherwise, we have 3 laptops, and use those 90% of the time. I got rid of my desktop about 2 years ago when I first bought my MacBook, and now with my new i7 MacBook Pro I have even less reason to need a desktop.
 
I've been using a laptop only for all my work the past five years or so, and I'm planning on getting a desktop for my next computer. I've found that like you my laptop rarely leaves the house, and when looking at pricing you get such a higher performance/price ratio out of a desktop than a laptop. You give up the mobility, but I've also found the iPad replaces most of the scenarios I would normally take my laptop with me.

YMMV but unless you need Photoshop-like programs on the road I'd make a case for getting a higher powered desktop to do the heavy lifting and marry it with an iPad for email, browsing, and content display on the road. Also the syncing with an online service like MobileMe really keeps things up-to-date.
 
mox358 said:
I've been using a laptop only for all my work the past five years or so, and I'm planning on getting a desktop for my next computer. I've found that like you my laptop rarely leaves the house, and when looking at pricing you get such a higher performance/price ratio out of a desktop than a laptop. You give up the mobility, but I've also found the iPad replaces most of the scenarios I would normally take my laptop with me.

YMMV but unless you need Photoshop-like programs on the road I'd make a case for getting a higher powered desktop to do the heavy lifting and marry it with an iPad for email, browsing, and content display on the road. Also the syncing with an online service like MobileMe really keeps things up-to-date.
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I totally agree! I use my iMac 24" every day for all my needs. I also have a MacBookAir for when I travel. I bought the MBA way before the iPad came out. I would most definitely keep my desktop and pair it with the iPad for travel and use it also as a reader etc around the house. It's a good, inexpensive mix.
 
haven't had a desktop pc since.. 2003? with the exception of one or two gaming boxes that i just felt like building/getting rid of shortly thereafter.

before i got turned onto macs (july 2009) i had a real problem settling into a machine... jan-july 2009 i went through.. 6? laptops, in 2008 i went through 18, 2007 was something like 10, 2003-2007 was 3-4/year. now it's just macbook pro refreshes.

although, i'm kind of considering a imac for my next machine (at work), depending what the @ home capabilities of the new appletv+ipad are.
 
I am not too keen on the idea of desktop and an iPad only scenario. Sometimes I like to do photoshop/imovie work in front of the tv, or at someone elses house or while on a trip.

External Monitor + Macbook Pro + iPad makes more sense
 
I've never owned a desktop, only laptops. I have external hard drives for excess media and for backups. To be honest, I would HATE having a desktop as it's just sooo convenient for me to take my UMB everywhere I need it.
 
I just sold my laptop

here's my scenario, your household may vary:

I just sold my 2006 MBP with the caveat that my BF got a new MBP in November 09.

We just bought a 27" i7 quad core iMac. Both the iMac and the laptop run both of our user accounts, with shared storage / media drives over our home network.

we got the desktop for photo processing. Both of us needed a more ergonomic workspace and a better display for editing work.

I may get an iPad for light surfing. Because of the limitations of my old MBP (15" screen, processor was having a hard time running Aperture 3, etc...), that's the only thing I'd really been doing with it over the past year or so (i.e. using it as a netbook). Surfing on the couch was also destroying my back, neck and shoulders.

The combo of iMac + iPad is probably the way for me to go. I don't need any more power than that on a mobile computing platform because I find that when I'm untethered, I'm basically just screwing around in email or net surfing. I read a lot (Kindle app) on my iPhone, which I can do more easily on an iPad.

When I need power, I also really do need the screen real estate that the iMac provides.

I rarely even login to BFs laptop anymore.
 
In early '06 I sold my P4 desktop and replaced it with a new intel MBP. That was my sole computer for over 3 years. I use my laptop every day at work, and used it for all kinds of freelance work. The only thing that got me was having to pull it out and set it up everyday at home and at work. I finally got sick of it and last year bought a mac mini for a home computer. I also replaced the MBP, but I really like having the two computer set up. I'm not to good at keeping the two systems in sync but its not imperative as one handles my professional life and the other personal.
 
I have not used a desktop since dad bought me my first computer in say...1996? Maybe 1997? Exclusively Laptops. I don't see the reason to have a desktop at all, especially in today's world where the specs are usually pretty close.
 
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