Why are laptops worse than desktops?

By Aaron Smith

The way we interact with computers is evolving constantly, and if youre a small business owner, theres a tendency to just go with the flow while deciding whether your employees should use a laptop or desktop computer at work.

While laptops remain a popular computing solution for many, especially companies with team members who are in the field a lot, the reality is that desktop computers offer numerous advantages over laptops, for professional applications. Whether your business trades in words, numbers, images, or some combination of the three, the power, durability, and flexibility that desktops provide make them the best choices to deliver the specs your day to day operations demand.

Not convinced? Consider these six reasons why desktops are the superior alternative to laptops for your business computer needs.

1. Power

Simply put, desktops are more powerful than laptops. This is due mainly to the computers size, heat output, and power consumption. Additionally, desktops simply have better specs and run faster and smoother than laptops. Industry research shows that desktop computers are equipped with more impressive processors and a better overall speed. Even with similar model numbers, laptops are not as powerful as desktops.

While laptops offer the convenience of portability, only desktops provide the adequate computing power required for more substantial tasks, like running complex healthcare applications, managing enterprise data storage solutions, or running powerful design programs.

2. Size

Just as desktop computers are more powerful, they also come with full-size parts that work better than their miniaturized components designed for laptops. Your laptop may be outfitted with a top-of-the-line mobile processor, but it will not compare favorably to its desktop counterpart. In this particular case, bigger does actually mean better. Even a small incremental increase in size lends itself to better functionality, therefore guaranteeing that your desktop will outperform a laptop. The full-size parts ensure a faster and slicker experience that puts desktop computers several steps ahead of a laptop and maybe ahead of your competition.

In recent years, NUCs, or Next Unit of Computing, have started to change the way consumers and businesses think about the traditional desktop computer. A NUC, designed by Intel, is a small form factor computer case that provides programmers the opportunity to create customized computing systems for various applications. The small footprint of these systems, combined with their powerful processing abilities and customization options, make these an increasingly appealing alternative to not only laptops but traditional desktops as well.

Whether you choose a traditional desktop or a NUC, its size not only matters from a functionality standpoint but on a user experience level, too. Desktop computers offer higher quality screens and more powerful audio capabilities; with a laptop, your staff is limited by the smaller size of the screen and often subpar speakers. With a larger, higher-quality screen and more powerful sound system, a desktop enhances your experience by providing clearer, crisper picture and higher quality, more defined sound. These advantages make desktops ideal for consuming media, yes, but they also make desktops necessary for professional applications like web design or video editing.

3. Durability

Since desktops are larger and easier to cool, thermal damage is much less of a threat to their components than it is for laptops. Superior temperature control means computer parts last longer. Also, solid-state drives [SSDs] fight the effects of time much longer than conventional spinning platter hard drives. Fewer moving parts mean significantly lower chance of mechanical failure. For these reasons and more, desktop computers win over laptops by presenting components that can better withstand the test of time. Your hardware investments will east up less of your bottom line.

4. Portability Factor

Even though the case for mobile computing is compelling, a laptops portability is actually detrimental to its performance. Not considering the fact that laptops are more susceptible to theft, just the added physical wear alone is enough to bring down the value of a computer. Aside from broken screens, when laptops are carried and bumped around a lot, they are more susceptible to damage and failure.

5. Upgrades & Repairs

Laptops generally need to be replaced more frequently than desktops, especially if youre looking to upgrade. And the cost of replacement units comes straight out of your companys bottom line. Because it is much easier to upgrade desktops, the full-size machines provide a better option once again. You have the option of upgrading unique parts in a desktop, while you would have to buy a whole new laptop for the same performance, as most laptops limit their upgrade options to just memory and storage.

If you run a business that requires multiple computers for your employees, the ability to upgrade desktops makes them a far more cost-effective IT solution compared to laptops. This frees up resources that can be invested in additional office tech to make your workplace more productive.

Just like with upgrades, desktops make it possible to conduct a few repairs and increase the lifespan of your machine much more tangibly. You can replace virtually any part of the desktop and still keep the entire unit. This option is severely limited, if not impossible, in the laptop counterparts.

6. More Cost-Effective

Overall, desktops provide a better option for the reasons cited above, but another crucial advantage is the fact that they tend to be significantly less expensive out-of-the-box. While retailers often sell laptops at a premium [often due to their portability, which, as weve noted, has pros and cons], desktops that offer more power, durability, and flexibility are available at a relatively lower price-point. Consider this in conjunction with the increased longevity and the opportunity to upgrade and repair a desktop far more easily than a laptop, and its easy to see why a desktop is a more cost-effective choice when it comes to professional computing.

Small and slim desktop options, including NUCs, are available that do not take up too much space in your work area. A large variety of options is available to upgrade your companys workstations and attain maximum productivity for each of your employees individually and for your company as a whole.