Using a Laptop as Your Main Work Machine

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Using a Laptop as Your Main Work Machine

by Chris (vile_is_dead)

Last update 28 Apr 2024

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Laptops have become quite fast and have the advantage of being portable. While a laptop will not be able to match a spec-for-spec PC it is still entirely possible to work and game without any issues. There are however certain aspects that need to be tackled when discussing a laptop as your main machine.

Pricing

Laptops often cost quite a bit and the prices go crazy the higher you go on the spec list. It is worth investing in a portable machine that you can work from but where do you draw the lines between daylight robbery and buying a decent piece of hardware?

The biggest thing to remember is that besides RAM and storage, you cannot modify these devices meaning you get what you pay for and it stays that way – no way to somehow upgrade. This means you need to make sure this machine can cover at least a couple of years of usage to make it worth it.

Cables

If you are lucky or choose well you can plug everything you need into your laptop, if not be prepared to spend even more cash on docks and extensions. My laptop has enough I/O for what I need it to do but that creates a cable monster on the side of it no matter what.

This is especially true if you want to connect more than one monitor to the laptop since you need to look for adapters and HDMI splitters/extenders, etc. Just the process of figuring out a way to connect 2 external monitors to my laptop took me a couple of days, and you need to be careful because not every notebook will be able to pull it off (no multiple display out ports/USB-C does not support video out, etc)

Noise

The better your parts are in a laptop the louder it gets under load since they need to be cooled. In an office environment, where you are trying to be quiet while working, having a vacuum cleaner on your desk is not an appealing outcome.

You can tone down the fans, but then your workflow might be impacted by thermal throttling components (depending on what you do). In my case, there is always background noise so I do not care much about the fans spinning up when 30 extra Chrome tabs get opened.

Conclusions

Having multiple machines dedicated for office work and home entertainment would be optimal, but if you have only the option to opt for a singular device a laptop can work if you do not care about cables and noise (under load). This might be a pretty expensive investment but if you choose well this notebook can serve you many years.

About The Author

Chris (vile_is_dead)

Custom Windows ISO enjoyer, FPS optimizer, and aim improvement enthusiast. Will disassemble all of his peripherals (and sometimes PC parts) to mod them even if all of them work perfectly fine. Discord/Twitter: vile_is_dead

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