I think I have a somewhat different Set up than most. I Prefer my Windows 10 Desktop PC and an iPad. I find laptops don’t make sense for me either I need to work or game and will sit down and get in the zone at my desk or I’m on the go with the portable iPad for travel, on the go streaming, basic photo editing, document editing/creation and much more. What is your set up and Why?
I stumbled onto this as a gamer in college that needed a fast computer and buying a High performance Laptop every few years just wasn’t economical so I built a PC for less than half the price and just mod it as needed. I then found that a portable tablet with pencil tech works for everything else and all my portable needs.
I used a Windows 10 laptop for 3 years, until the start of 2019 (a cool Star Wars model with glowing red keys). I use a fullsize keyboard and mouse hooked to that WIn 10 laptop. I hate track pads, and I always end up touching the track pad as I type, if I don’t use a separate keyboard. I like the laptop over a desktop because I look down on it, and that’s better for my neck.
I discovered the Chrome OS at the end of 2018, and bought a Chromebox in Jan 2019. It is my main PC. I have an old VGA 17" monitor that I have hooked to it (thru an adapter). So, it is basically a desktop. The text is bigger since the resolution is different on one of the old square 17" LCDs
However, I have been working from home for 5-6 weeks now on my WIndows 10 laptop, because I MUST use Windows to work from home. I still prefer Chrome OS, but I must say that I am enjoying working from the laptop again.
I have 2 Chromebooks too… One is a tablet laptop that I only use as a tablet (I never use the attachable keyboard - it sits in a drawer). And, the second is a Dell 14" Chromebook.
I love the Dell with the metal body, but the screen is only 14". I am finding that I am enjoying the 15.6 inch screen on my Windows 10 laptop more. Everything is a little bigger and easier to see (I already zoom the browser a bit on both)
I see now there is a 15.6 inch HP Chromebook with newer specs that recently came out at Bestbuy. I am trying to resist buying it for the larger screen, as I don’t think I really need 4 Chrome devices. And then I would never use the Dell.
I have a Ryzen 7 PC at home, with a 34" ultra-wide display, running openSUSE as my main machine - it was running Windows 10 until recently. It has a Microsoft Surface Ergonomic Bluetooth keyboard and a Logitech MX Master 2S Bluetooth mouse.
I also have an HP Spectre x360 laptop (Skylake series), which still runs Windows 10, which I share with my wife. It gets started up a couple of times a month.
At work, I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T480 laptop as my main PC. I have to cover 4 sites, so having a laptop is a requirement, for when I have to visit the other sites. But it spends 95% of its time attached to a Thunderbolt dock, with 2 24" Dell monitors, a Jabra headset, Microsoft Natural 3000 keyboard and an Anker Vertical Mouse.
I don’t have a tablet, per se. I use an Amazon Fire tablet in bed as a Kindle reader (I also have a Kindle Voyager, but I read mostly German books and need to look up obscure words now and then.
Given that I am a security and privacy “nut”, ChromeOS was never a real option for me as a complete replacement. I’d like to try it, but it isn’t really an option over here - Google itself doesn’t sell any Chromebooks through their store and the normal electronics stores don’t stock them. Amazon sometimes has the odd Chromebook, but they have been way overpriced, in general. The “highlight” was the ARM based Samsung Chromebook a couple of years back for $199, I thought that was worth a try, but that cost around $699 over here, I could get a Core i3 laptop with Windows, SSD and 8GB RAM for the same price!
Ya gotta watch those cheaper Chromebooks. You can DEFINITELY tell the difference in the screen.
I have bought some $600 models for as low as $350 (my son’s HP chromebook). I paid $399 for one that was $600 (HP Chromebook x2 tablet), and $450 for another $600 one (Dell 2-in-1 14". But, they were all on sale - I will watch the Best Buy ads weekly.
I won’t buy a Chromebook that has a regular price less than $500 (before sale price) because the screens are not as good.
My Asus Chromebox 3 was like $242 - but I got a deal because now they are up to around $300. And, they don’t come with monitor, keyboard or mouse. But, I had all of those…
Sorry you can’t get one, though - at least not affordably…
Before I worked from home, I turned on my Win 10 laptop maybe 6-7 times a year… Mostly to update my Ipod, buy music on Itunes and do Turbo Tax (I prefer to buy the program disc instead of doing it online). That’s all I use Windows 10 for now.
I use a large iMac because I am blind as a bat and need the screen real-estate. I also have a 12" iPad AIr that I use to read my books on and occasionally as a sidecar to my main system. I use to be a windows user from 3.1 to 10 but I got too frustrated with the op system and all the darn updates at the least most appropriate times. I don’t miss windows because my family uses me as their own personal geek squad and I have to maintain their windows machines. On a side note, I do miss the time I was in the Linux world. (Ubuntu and Linux Mint) I had to leave when I decided to go back and get my degree. It was easier to switch to Mac. Besides I got a nice pell grant from the government to pay for the iMac.
For my design work, I use my Mac Pro with 2 displays, since I don’t need mobility. Any freehand work I do on my iPad Pro, and the non-work stuff is what my Android tablet is for.
I have 3 laptops. Two thinkpad with Linux as their primary operating system and one mac book Pro.
One of the thinkpad is old so it is now my virtual machine system, and I use the other thinkpad and Mac for work.
Laptop for work stuff. I just don’t need the power as I’m typically connecting to remote resources anyway, and I float between two locations so it’s nice to be able to take it with me. They gave me a Surface Book so Windows 10 on there. I’m itching to replace it with a juicy Thinkpad T495 and run a Linux distro instead.
Ever so often I’ll pop the display off the Surface Book and switch it to tablet mode. Usually if I’m reading a longform piece or burning time getting lost in some social platform. It’s nice when I’m relaxing on the couch or a hammock.
Desktop for personal stuff. Video editing and gaming so I need the power and display configuration that a laptop can’t do. At least not well in my experience.
I have and use a 13" MacBook Pro and a 13" MacBook Air now that I’ve retired…but I find more and more that I’m using my iPad Pro and Magic keyboard for almost everything
I also have a 12" iPad AIr that I use to read my books on and occasionally as a sidecar to my main system. I use to be a windows user from 3.1 to 10 but I got too frustrated with the op system and all the darn updates at the least most appropriate times. I don’t miss windows because my family uses me as their own personal geek squad and I have to maintain their windows machines. On a side note, I do miss the time I was in the Linux world. (Ubuntu and Linux Mint) I had to leave when I decided to go back and get my degree. It was easier to switch to Mac. Besides I got a nice pell grant from the government to pay for the iMac. 