With all the hype about tablets, smartphones and ultrabooks, it’s tempting to think that the humble desktop has gone the way of the dodo, consigned to the dustbin of history as a bulky, unwieldy anachronism. In fact, desktop sales have stayed strong over the past few years, and not just due to high volume professional purchases. Without further ado, here are five reasons why you still need a desktop.
1) Power
No matter how much laptops evolve and manufacturers such as Lenovo and IBM strive to make batteries become slimmer, hard drives get bigger and processors get faster – laptops will never be able to match the raw power that high-end desktops, free of the burden of portability, can offer. What this means is you’ll be free to multitask with ease, with your technological behemoth able to juggle video editing, web browsing and HD video with little more than an effortless shrug. To see what a modern high-end PC can really do, you’ll need a desktop.
2) Gaming
While the contemporary gaming landscape has been refashioned dramatically by the almost contagious spread of touchscreen diversions and a new focus on accessibility, the spectacular AAA interactive experience still has its place. And, despite the advances that have been made in consoles, it is on a desktop PC that these experiences are at their best, with a mouse and keyboard still a great control method for games and the raw technical power meaning development studios can instantly showcase what the next generation of console games will look and play like.
3) Upgradability
The average laptop will work fairly well for a few years, but it has a limited lifespan – it will either burn out and stop working or need to be replaced as it will become outdated and unable to cope with the latest programs. Upgrading is complicated and expensive due to the intricacy with which the components are arranged, and you therefore need to fork out another substantial sum for a new laptop. With a desktop though, almost any part – from the processor to the graphics card – can be upgraded relatively cheaply and simply. Your PC is therefore a much wiser investment than the average laptop. Another bonus: with a desktop, you can do most hardware upgrades yourself without much prior knowledge.
4) Value for Money
There is one simple fact that makes a compelling argument for buying a desktop – they are better value for money. Put simply, for the same amount of money, a desktop will be more powerful, faster and more capable than a laptop. In the face of this, perhaps you’ll reconsider whether you’re willing to pay a substantial premium to lug your computer around.
5) Durability
This aspect is simple to understand – desktops last longer than laptops (in part due to not being bashed and jiggled around in bags). As well as being less likely to break, they are also much cheaper to fix if they do go wrong, due to the aforementioned relative simplicity of their construction.