“Do you need a laptop if you don’t often take it with you places?”

Posted on by Fred Langa

(Answer requested by Benjamin Woods)

Laptops and notebooks don’t have to travel at all to be useful. I use a laptop as my main PC, and it’s never been out of the house.

I like a laptop because it’s smaller, quieter, and uses less energy than a desktop PC. I like that I can close the cover to protect both the screen and keyboard from accidental damage, especially when we have young guests in the house. I like that I could, if I needed to, pick it up and be out the door in a in a flash during a sudden emergency, such as fire or earthquake. Or, in a more deliberate move, instantly pack up my office — everything important is in the laptop — relocate, plug in, and pick up where I left off, just like that.

I like that it has a keyboard, camera, microphone, and speakers built in. I like that its battery serves as a kind of UPS, carrying the system through minor electrical grid glitches. (I do use an external power conditioner and surge protector to protect the laptop.)

And although its never (yet) been out of the house, my laptop does move around to other rooms for things like movie-watching, videochat sessions, and so on. That’d be a lot tougher with a desktop system

But those are preferences and conveniences, not needs. So, if you meant your question literally, then no: If you have no need for real portability, you don’t need a really portable device.

But the compact size and all-in-one nature still are very useful — even if they don’t rise to the level of true need. 🙂

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6 Replies to ““Do you need a laptop if you don’t often take it with you places?””

  1. Your comment on laptop use as a preference resonates with me. I used desktops for over 4 decades before I concluded a laptop for home use was the best compromise for the reasons you cite. These days their reliability and function is amazingly good, and Windows 10 options accommodate my physical needs so well.

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  2. The travel/non-travel also is part of the divide between business-grade and consumer-grade laptops. Despite the form factor, consumer-grade machines are often not sturdy enough to handle a lot of abuse from travel. If a machine spends very much time in a carrying case, the sturdiness and better build quality of a business-grade machine is significant. If a machine doesn’t travel, then a consumer-grade machine is much less of a problem

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  3. I agree with you. I also use a high grade Asus laptop for daily use and i am completly satisfied with that.
    An alternative for people, who do not want a laptop, is a compact minisystem, hidden in the back of a monitor.
    I for instance use for other purposes a Lenovo Tiny system which has powerfull laptop hardware and a Tiny-in-one monitor. The system sits neatly on the back of the monitor. The Tiny system can always be replaced,
    So it’s an easy upgrade then and the better alternative for an all-in-one PC.

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