by jon » Sat Feb 09, 2013 2:31 pm
I suppose that you know this, John, but it is sometimes practical to use a laptop for both portable and desktop usage. In my own case, my wife boosts the height of the new laptop on a hutch that had been used for a CRT monitor 20 years ago, and hooks up a keyboard and mouse to a couple of USB ports.
Previously, with the netbook, she had plugged a larger monitor into the netbook, and plugged in a USB mouse to avoid using the touchpad. Because there was then no need to boost the height of the netbook, she used its keyboard.
In John's case, a lot depends on how large the laptop screen is, and how large he needs, versus the connectivity between laptop and external monitor.
In general, however, the situation is reversed from when radiofan and I bought our current desktop machines 5 years ago now. Then, you could buy a nice dual-core Intel processor-based Dell Desktop for $319, without monitor. But dual-core laptops were at least double that price. Now, laptops are cheaper than desktops.