Desktop vs Laptop

[chk071]

"Portability" makes sense only if you travel around and do gigs with your laptop. After you plug an audio interface and USB hub with several devices to a laptop, it's no longer portable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Besides, ergonomics. Laptop is always tiring, and potentially harmful to your eyes and wrists. It is very different with PC, which you can configure to your needs and keep a screen and ketyboard at right position.

But when you travel around, portability is mandatory and a desktop makes no sense whatsoever. You cant take it even to another room in your home. And the laptop itself remains portable, you dont need all the externals with you all the time.

It rather makes it a necessity that the computer has to be portable. Like, then you have no other choice. If you have the choice, meaning that your computer stays stationary, there's really very little which speaks for laptops.

[Michael L]

you need to worry about ergonomics...to play instruments or make any music?

Its the ergonomics of playing the midi controllers & pedals & iPad etc while listening to a metronome or watching for cues too. But YMMV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62piHzob4q0

[Heartfeltdawn]

Hi all,

Was looking to buy a new computer for music production and was thinking of getting a laptop for the portability but then after researching found you can get a desktop with more power/features for the same price or cheaper. Wanted to know what you think the pros and cons of using a desktop vs a laptop with your DAW are (other than portability of course). Any help would be appreciated.

It all depends on the place or places you are going to use it. If you're travelling, laptop. If you're in a place with limited space, then laptop would be good but you could get away with a small ITX PC build.

During the 2020 lockdowns, space was at a premium in my place thanks to working from home and home schooling. A laptop was the only conceivable route. Now I'm living somewhere different, I have the space for a desktop and have three builds on the go for different things.

[Heartfeltdawn]

the other thing i wanted to ask you about was if the small form factor desktops are viable for music production. didn't know if they even come with a sound source as some of them are the size of a box of chocolates.

The really small ones do suffer with fan noise issues. But something like my Fractal Core 500 build is not big by any stretch of the imagination. It's pictured here next to the PC Specialist 15.6" laptop I used during 2020.

https://i.imgur.com/UDnh4mF.png

Currently I'm refitting it to the following spec:

EVGA 500 watt PSU
MSI B450I Gaming Plus AC motherboard
Ryzen 7 5700G or Ryzen 5 5600G
16GB RAM
1tb Adata NVME
Noctua NH-U14S fan

That is plenty powerful enough for me and it's so nearly silent. Need to test it next week with the Noctua fan off to see if the heatsink can handle the temperature under stress.

[kritikon]

Some issues that have been brought up.

Ergonomics: desktops certainly don't automatically win. Using a mouse is horrible for me and others. I tried a trackball...no better. You can buy trackpads etc but they're still not cheap. Screens at the right height etc...no difference. I doubt many who use laptops for serious music don't also have a proper screen set up in their studio...was the first thing I did and all laptops have hdmi ports. Right height for the keyboard...no difference at all. Pedals etc... never used one in my life and controllers are so small and also portable nowadays it's no biggie to travel with laptop + controller...I've done music with only a laptop.

Portability: of course you can make music out of the studio. No, we don't have to be stuck at a studio desk to have access to quality music-making. And if you want portability then desktops don't even enter into the question. And some of us specifically want a laptop for other things...eg I use it mostly for playing TV into the big screen telly upstairs. Specifically cos at the time I bought it casting via a VPN would not work over Chromecast and my TV is not bang up to date internet able...so hdmi from my laptop. Also found it useful at uni.

Cost: definitely an issue. I don't struggle for money nowadays but even I am not going to spend 4 or 5 grand having more than one computer for music...someone said said buy both...really? Real world here. The cost of 2 computers would buy me a whole set of hw synths and I know which I'd choose.

Small form pcs...definitely possible. I looked into it before I chose laptop. You can get 32 GB RAM into them and it appears you can choose what CPU to put in them...limited but the top end they allow are fine for music. It looked limited for storage but I remember seeing one that had options for 500GB SSD...I'm actually happy with only 250 in my laptop. A smallform desktop was a very close run thing for me...and at a stretch it's also portable...not as easy as a laptop but doable.

[audiojunkie]

Hi all,

Was looking to buy a new computer for music production and was thinking of getting a laptop for the portability but then after researching found you can get a desktop with more power/features for the same price or cheaper. Wanted to know what you think the pros and cons of using a desktop vs a laptop with your DAW are (other than portability of course). Any help would be appreciated.

Most of the pros/cons have been listed already by everyone else before me. What really matters, is you. What works for you? How are you going to use your system? Both desktop and laptop form factors work great for their target consumers. You need to now use the information given by others and choose what works best for you.

[Sweaty Ear]

thank you for all your input. you've given me a lot of points to consider. will do a bit more research and figure that out.

[ztrauq]

One other point if you're looking for something not quite in the middle: consider picking up a gaming laptop. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but a lot of them now have specs that rival desktops, and most proper gaming laptops have good-sized screens with at least full-HD resolution if not better. They also tend to have a good amount of actual ports (the one I have has I think 4 USB, plus a USB-C, actual ethernet port, external display port, etc.). They usually are more expandable than your typical "ultralight" laptop, albeit not as much as a full tower.

It wasn't something I considered at first, but when I upgraded to a newer laptop for gaming I took the older one and turned it into a music workstation, and it performs surprisingly well, with plenty of power to spare. Mind you they do weigh a substantial amount and are less "portable" in that sense, but they do give you something with near full-PC specs that is easy enough to carry around the house or around town (although you might not want to go on a long hike with it). The other tradeoff is that they burn through battery like mad, so don't plan for more than an hour or two of heavy DAW use before needing to plug them back in.

[Sweaty Ear]

thanks again for your help.

[sQeetz]

My laptop is my desktop computer. I have a docking station with everything attached to it (monitor, MIDI controllers, audio interface, ethernet, etc.). When needed I just place the notebook on its dedicated spot, connect one cable and presto: desktop computing can start.
For mobile mode I have small CME Xkey Air which works nicely over bluetooth. Since with Core Audio you don't really need an audio interface for low latency, I just plug the headphones in and am good to go.
Best of both worlds

[Spring Goose]

my old laptop has become a powerful studio that means I can record vocals in the car

I hope you keep both hands on the wheel!

[BONES]

Desktop is more power but using Linux means my old laptop has become a powerful studio that means I can record vocals in the car or program drums on the sofa with headphones while the baby is asleep etc etc.

Oh, please, I can do that on my 8 year old Atom powered tablet running Windows 8.1. Only I have a lot more choice when it comes to what applications I use to do it.

"Portability" makes sense only if you travel around and do gigs with your laptop. After you plug an audio interface and USB hub with several devices to a laptop, it's no longer portable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Of course it is, all that stuff breaks down easily, will fit in even a small laptop bag and can be reassembled in seconds. And the thing is, you don't need to bring the whole lot with you if you don't need to. You can run perfectly well with ASIO-4-all or even just your computer's native audio if you aren't using a MIDI controller. Hook it up to your UE Boom via BlueTooth and you're away.

Besides, ergonomics. Laptop is always tiring, and potentially harmful to your eyes and wrists. It is very different with PC, which you can configure to your needs and keep a screen and keyboard at right position.

There is nothing preventing you form using your laptop with an external keyboard and screen. I did it for a couple of years when I had an 11" Asus Zenbook but since going back to slightly larger screens, I've been perfectly happy with the laptop displays I've had. A 14" screen at FullHD is perfectly usable for my 63 year-old eyes and the ergonomics of my home set-up are probably better than my workstation at the office, in that I often have a bit of shoulder soreness at the end of the day at work but I can spend 12 hours in front of my laptop on Saturday or Sunday and feel no ill-effects at all.

Also, plugin GUIs are larger on a desktop screen, put multiple items on your screen at once, mount screen at eye level, add multiple drives with no hassles, plug in and configure all your peripherals just once and after that just turn it all on with one button. Bliss.

Also easily achieved with a laptop, although I would personally prefer that most plugin GUIs were smaller, not larger. Plus, of course, if you have an external monitor, it can be your primary screen and you still have your laptop screen to use as a second screen. Here in the office, for example, all the office workers hook their laptops up to 32" monitors, provided on every desk. Most of them seem to work on their big display and use the laptop display to keep an eye on email and/or Slack. OTOH, if you want two screens with your desktop, you have to buy two monitors, you have to have two HDMI outs or a splitter or something, it's all very messy.

Was looking to buy a new computer for music production and was thinking of getting a laptop for the portability but then after researching found you can get a desktop with more power/features for the same price or cheaper.

Maybe if you pay retail but if you wait for the right bargain to come along, you can get a laptop for way, way less than you think. e.g. My laptop is a current model with a 10th gen Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB NVM.e SSD, nVidia GeForce graphics plus two screens and it only cost me US$800. My previous one was a Dell G7 gaming laptop that cost me about a grand up-front - brand new with a full Dell warranty. because it's a gaming laptop, I was able to double the RAM and swap out the second HDD for an SSD with twice the capacity for just a few hundred extra, without voiding the warranty. All up, I spent around US$1400 for a beast of a machine that would rival desktops in a similar price range.

[BONES]

Yes, I think desktop has loads of thing going for it in terms of audio production. As has been said, the only advantage of a laptop (portability) is soon void when you connect your devices.

Well, as is so very often the case, you could not be more wrong. The bottom line is that a laptop can do everything a desktop can, plus it's portable.

It rather makes it a necessity that the computer has to be portable. Like, then you have no other choice. If you have the choice, meaning that your computer stays stationary, there's really very little which speaks for laptops.

You've said some monumentally stupid things over the years but this one, I think, takes the cake. A laptop can be a desktop and do the job at least as well, possibly better (smaller footprint). They can have all the same CPUs, as much RAM as you're likely to need, high-end discrete graphics and room for two, even three drives for storage. And they can be augmented with external storage and even external graphics cards.

With the incredible range of choices available today, everyone can find a laptop that will fulfill their needs. Will you pay more for it than you would for an equivalent desktop computer? Yes, probably, although some of the more niche desktop solutions can cost a lot. Will it be worth the extra coin? Almost certainly, even if you never, ever unplug it from the mains. Honestly, in this day and age I can't believe anyone still has a desktop computer. To me it seems so last Century.

[Michael L]

Honestly, in this day and age I can't believe anyone still has a desktop computer. To me it seems so last Century.

Yes it certainly does.
Last century was great!
If you miss it like I do,
just sit down at a desktop

[BONES]

I spend 8 hours every weekday sat at a desktop workstation, it evokes no nostalgia whatsoever. If anything, it makes me yearn for my laptop. But there is absolutely no technology I miss from last century. Nothing at all. Computers were worse, cars were worse, synthesisers and effects (hardware and software) were worse. Everything was comparatively terrible compared to what we have today. Everything.