Are there any laptops out there that are as fast as a desktop? I always thought of laptops as slow, but sleek, but nonetheless slow. I haven't seen a laptop go as fast as the XP that I use, but I'm sure there are some really expensive laptops out there that are as fast as the best desktop. But how can something so small be as fast and something so big? That's what I want to know.

Dell and Alienware and a few other companies make some high end laptops that are pretty fast, but laptops are still slower for the money than desktops. The only reason you wouldnt be able to use a laptop is if you are doing very high graphic intensive gaming. I like laptops cause they are nice and light and mobile. The only problem is they overheat quickly.

-C

There is no point in buying a laptop as a desktop replacement. Sure, some laptops can rival certain desktops in performance, but the battery life during those intense usage periods are so horrible that you almost always have to have them plugged into the wall socket.

Yep exactly, Laptops are not Desktop replacements. They certainly cant match the speed and robustness of Desktop especially for the gamers out here. Yeah, they are good, when you are on some frequent flying job or own a business, but then that brings an altogether different perspective!

I think u can get a laptop that is as fast and good as a normal desktop, but it will probably cost a fortune.

In the long run is it cheaper to get a laptop, or a desktop computer?

I just recently purchase a HP dv8135n from Bestbuy. It has the AMD Turion 64 cpu, 1g ram, dual 100g hard drives and Light Scribe DVD and a full size keyboard. I also have a HP desktop. This laptop replaces my HP ze5700 laptop which was a good machine, just not big enough for the graphics I run. When purchasing a laptop you should always beef up the ram if you want to get the speed and 512 is just not enough. I purchase my ram thru http://www.crucial.com/ and save over half of what the retail stores or computer companies charge. I also purchased my support with Bestbuy Geeks, since HP support sucks. BTW, depending on what time you call any big company support, that outsources, makes a difference on what country your calling. I wrote the pres. of HP and complained about not talking with an English speaking tech and he answered thru another tech that they have support in all the major cities thru- out the world and if I call after early in the day I probably will get the USA or Canada.
Trisha

There are a lot of things that determine how fast a laptop is and how fast a desktop is, and it all depends on how fast you want your computer to be. Generally desktops are more cheaper (it is easier to upgrade and the parts are cheaper, and they are cheaper to buy) and laptops are more expensive (and are more prone to damages).

However desktops still tend to be faster than laptops because of a few key reasons, such as they have faster hard drives (up to 10000 RPM) and you can probably pack more memory into a desktop than a laptop. But there are laptops (with faster and bigger HD's and more RAM) that are as good as desktops but, they are really high end (so you'll end up paying more...).

So chances are that if you want a computer it is going to be a desktop and if you want a portable computer (i.e. not a desktop replacement as mentioned above) then you are most likely going to prefer a laptop.

(BTW Trisha, who needs HP support or best buy geeks when you've got SysChat !)

I know some people who have tried to get some of the high-end laptops for gaming and they are just not viable. The top of the line alienware my friend tested basically would start anything on fire because of how hot it was. You could not touch the laptop case when it was running at full bore.

There are some concessions you give up for the size. The good thing is there are not many applications that really need all that power. The average user can probably get by on a fairly tame laptop/desktop far from top-of-the-line.

I was going to say that cooling is the major problem with high end laptops today.

Remember that story about some guy in Sweden whose laptop battery literally melted in his lap?

Anyway, desktops will continue beating laptops for a long time.