Laptop or desktop?

[Johnny Best]

You buy a new notebook every year? The stuff you're buying must not be very good or hold up well at all if you're having to replace it that often

Oh wait is that Bobby behind the counter at Radio Shack trying to sell me a Tandy?
Also, since you do not work for yourself you can deduct a computer off your taxes at the end of the year. I either sell the working laptops on Ebay or keep them for other tasks. Apple makes an excellent laptop.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

...

 

[Stacey K]

This would be my choice or close to it
https://www.amazon.com/Newest-Lenov...inkpad+17&qid=1587579879&s=electronics&sr=1-8

Thank you!!! I tend to lean towards Lenovo. There's a lot of info on this post to read...this link gets me started. Appreciate it!

 

[JBurton]

Thank you!!! I tend to lean towards Lenovo. There's a lot of info on this post to read...this link gets me started. Appreciate it!

boo lenovo! I still have nightmares of trying to use the red nub mouse doodad on their laptops...

 

[Pauly]

boo lenovo! I still have nightmares of trying to use the red nub mouse doodad on their laptops...

weirdly, there's a bunch of people who still use the nub. more the older gen who had laptops with no trackpad. i even had one of those!

 

[Baz]

Lenovo was in a scandal back in 2015 with preinstalling Superfish adware on their laptops.

Just sayin' ....

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Lenovo was in a scandal back in 2015 with preinstalling Superfish adware on their laptops.

Just sayin' ....

There were concerns about Superfish even earlier then that being on Windows, Firefox and even Johnny Best's much beloved Apple, not just within the Lenovo ecosystem, if I recall correctly. Usually with it being bundled in with other software. Unfortunately, some of that is actually not surprising when getting off the shelf computers. My workstation Lenovo is from the 2015 era, but I ordered it without an OS (as I don't use Windows), that precludes a lot of those issues. I don't necessarily recall the price point of those lenovos (or from the earlier issues), but typically getting the business versions of off the shelf computers precludes a lot of that bloat/malware as well. I am not saying that they may not be installed on the more expensive ones, but the odds of them being there are not as high as the cheaper units. Just in my experience mind you, "your mileage may vary".

 

[Pauly]

Lenovo was in a scandal back in 2015 with preinstalling Superfish adware on their laptops.

Just sayin' ....

The days of bloatware are behind us... i think.
When i get a new laptop, generally a flagship, there's not much bloatware on it. usually what i find would be an antivirus trial, and some manufacturer software, generally to find updates/drivers for their hardware.

Maybe on the cheaper models, you may find more bloatware as it's a way to keep some costs down.

first thing when i get a laptop is uninstall everything i dont need. then install the software i need.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

When i get a new laptop, generally a flagship, there's not much bloatware on it. usually what i find would be an antivirus trial, and some manufacturer software, generally to find updates/drivers for their hardware.

Maybe on the cheaper models, you may find more bloatware as it's a way to keep some costs down.

This is pretty much still a practice. Only way to get around that is to get your higher end models (shouldn't even have an antivirus/malware on these models, at least not in experience) or load your own OS getting a custom build etc. Otherwise have to give the device some lovin in order to get rid of all that stuff that was already packaged on there before "you" got it (depending on what the specific program was, it might require a bit more then just "some").

 

[funnyb0nz]

I own IT business and used to use desktops. However newer laptops are powerfull. I would recommend and MSI, they are workhorses and come with latest video cards along with SSD drives. What is nice with laptop you can get docking station so when at home you dock laptop and can have multiple screens, wireless keyboard and mouse and you will feel like your working from a desktop, however if you need to go see client you can simply unplug and take laptop with you!

 

[netsol]

wildwest,
to me the difference between a gaming pc & an engineering workstation is that a gaming pc's is optimized to redraw changing video (polygon rate, we used to call it) much like when i wascin the commercial video business.

an autocad or engineering workstation is optimized to prrform flosting point calculations as quickly as possible.

an engineering workstation is more to the point, especially if it is your RIP, since your design just sits there, it doesn't refresh 120 times per second

it's easy to hate dell, but i still recommend them, since i am reasonably sure they will still be aswering the phone in a couple years. hp has blurred the line between them and all the acer/emachine and god knows who else garbage over the years, although the nvidia chipsets they use are responsible for the fact that we all have a room full of junk pc's/notebooks, etc

 

[WildWestDesigns]

wildwest,
to me the difference between a gaming pc & an engineering workstation is that a gaming pc's is optimized to redraw changing video (polygon rate, we used to call it) much like when i wascin the commercial video business.

Yep, FPS is very important in gaming rigs. Bare in mind as well, they tend to also deal with low poly count assets (when talking about modern games, not so much the platformer games that I grew up with and dabble in creating), while someone doing even a still image might have to render using a high poly count asset.

The wife has a Dell that she likes for her work. She had a Dell as well, back when she was in college. The Statler Stitcher that my mom has is hooked up to a Dell. Like with anything, when most people complain, they tend to be complaining about the low end of the spectrum. Not all the time, some do have their issues on the expensive end, no brand is immune.

 

[garyroy]

When StaceyK asks a question, StaceyK gets some answers.

 

[Geneva Olson]

I was told to be very careful with remote access on a computer.

we have a vpn and a cloud so we can access stuff from home

 

[Scotchbrite]

So I wonder what Stacey K ended up getting?

 

[Retro Graphics]

Thinking of buying a laptop so I can do some design work from home. I also need a new desktop at home so can bring my work one home. I currently have a desktop at the shop and use LXI and Corel. Looking to bring the laptop home so I have all my fonts, and files at my fingertips. It's been a while since I bought a computer, much less a laptop. Are laptops as good as desktops these days? I really don't know much about RAM, etc so forgive me to being dumb LOL. In my past life I used Lenovo laptops and really like them.

I have a Graphtec cutter, LXI desktop version which I will have to update soon, Corel Draw, Microsoft Office and a couple desktop printers. No vinyl printer yet. Thank you!

you could copy your Fonts folder to your OneDrive if you are using WIndows.... As for desktop or laptop. I'm old school and like desktops, I also use 4 monitors b/c I like to have my email always open in one monitor, my browser on another monitor. my flexi on another and my adobe stuff on the other monitor. MY OCD and ADHD are harmonious in this way.

 

[Boudica]

When StaceyK asks a question, StaceyK gets some answers.

And she asked Two years ago. People are still weighing in.

 

[Stacey K]

To my surprise my desktop is still running! It runs a bit slow if I save too much on it so I have an external hard drive now that I save everything to. I just save some customer jpegs to the desktop for email purposes then delete. I deleted anything I wasn't using to free up space. I also bought a Lenovo Yoga at Christmas so I can work from the couch or outside when I'm home. I ended up getting RemoteDesktop but didn't use it enough to justify paying so I stopped using it. I changed the way I work a bit so I can do all the design and production at work but then all the paperwork, ordering from home in the morning - if I don't get it done during the day while I'm working.

Not a very exciting update, sorry!

 

[caribmike]

Thinking of buying a laptop so I can do some design work from home. I also need a new desktop at home so can bring my work one home. I currently have a desktop at the shop and use LXI and Corel. Looking to bring the laptop home so I have all my fonts, and files at my fingertips. It's been a while since I bought a computer, much less a laptop. Are laptops as good as desktops these days? I really don't know much about RAM, etc so forgive me to being dumb LOL. In my past life I used Lenovo laptops and really like them.

I have a Graphtec cutter, LXI desktop version which I will have to update soon, Corel Draw, Microsoft Office and a couple desktop printers. No vinyl printer yet. Thank you!

I use a laptop from time to time when I'm working remotely. I dislike it mostly because I prefer to use a full size keyboard and a mouse but I make do when I need to. But, the thing I found most helpful was using remote login software like LogMeIn so I can utilize my desktop computer at the office as if I was sitting right in front of it. Using LogMeIn or similar, I don't need to a laptop with all the bells and whistles nor have to have two sets of fonts, Adobe software, etc. It really is super convenient for working remotely.

 

[garyroy]

We finally order 2 Wireless Mice for our home business laptops.
Incredible!, makes working on the laptop 75% easier.
They were $10 each on Amazon. What in the world took us so long I'll never know.