{"id":4793,"date":"2020-04-17T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T11:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4793"},"modified":"2020-04-24T14:16:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T18:16:20","slug":"do-you-need-a-laptop-if-you-dont-often-take-it-with-you-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/17\/do-you-need-a-laptop-if-you-dont-often-take-it-with-you-places\/","title":{"rendered":"“Do you need a laptop if you don’t often take it with you places?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Benjamin Woods)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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<\/em>. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4793<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"[seperator]\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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(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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-1fj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2337,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/14\/a-reader-asks-what-is-your-favorite-laptop-that-you-have-ever-had-or-used-and-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-14","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Jenni Wieter asks; \"What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?\" Hmmm. Two top contenders come to mind: Model 100: This was my first portable computer: a TRS-100. Back in the day when PC's were usually bulky, desktop units with several separate components,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/thinkpad-butterfly.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1624,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/10\/a-reader-asks-some-of-the-keys-of-my-laptop-wont-trigger-is-my-keyboard-broken\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: “Some of the keys of my laptop won\u2019t trigger. Is my keyboard broken?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-10","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, by definition: It\u2019s not working, so it\u2019s broken! :) I think you\u2019re really asking if it can be repaired. If you can remove the keyboard, it\u2019s quite possible that you can indeed correct what\u2019s wrong. You\u2019ll have to poke around your laptop, carefully removing fasteners, to see how it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3467,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/24\/my-laptop-mouse-keyboard-is-not-working-in-windows7-after-an-update-but-they-still-work-fine-in-safe-mode-what-should-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":2},"title":"“My laptop mouse\/keyboard is not working in Windows7 after an update; but they still work fine in Safe Mode. What should I do?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-09-24","format":false,"excerpt":"Sounds like driver trouble. Something in your regular Win7 drivers isn\u2019t working with the new update; but when your PC falls back to generic drivers (as in Safe Mode), things apparently work OK again. Option 1) Go to your laptop maker\u2019s support site; download (but don\u2019t yet install) the correct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/driver-location-and-name.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/driver-location-and-name.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/driver-location-and-name.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/driver-location-and-name.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2228,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/06\/a-reader-asks-will-my-water-spilled-laptop-be-ok\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: “Will my water-spilled laptop be OK?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-06","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Emily Long sent in this urgent note --- from her smartphone, I presume! \"A couple of hours ago I spilled water on my laptop, I've turned it off, dried the keyboard and it is currently sitting keyboard down while I wait for any possible water to drain out. Will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2422,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/20\/a-reader-asks-my-laptop-isnt-working-how-can-i-recover-my-data-from-the-hard-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: “My laptop isn’t working. How can I recover my data from the hard drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-03-20","format":false,"excerpt":"If the actual laptop is broken --- destroyed screen, liquid on the keyboard, or some such --- there's a good chance the drive itself is OK. If that's the case, you can physically salvage the drive and use another PC to recover the drive's data. First, unplug the laptop and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ide-to-usb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ide-to-usb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/ide-to-usb.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2661,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/25\/if-you-could-only-have-a-smartphone-or-a-laptop-for-the-next-5-years-which-would-you-choose-why\/","url_meta":{"origin":4793,"position":5},"title":"“If you could only have a smartphone or a laptop for the next 5 years, which would you choose? Why?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-25","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm glad I don't have to choose! 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