The Differences Between Laptops and Desktops

Laptops have become much more popular in recent years, and have progressed so much that students, businessmen and many other are now using them as their one and only computer. There are several reasons for this: they're more portable than in years past, they take up less power than desktop computers, and they're much quieter. Unfortunately there's also a few downsides to laptops, namely the fact that they're normally slower than desktops, have less graphics card options, and their processing power isn't quite so...well, powerful. As laptop technology progresses, however, a lot of these differences won't even be that noticeable to the everyday user.

In general, laptops cost more than desktop computers, but this once cold hard fact may soon be changing. The prices for both laptops and desktops have been falling constantly, with the price of laptops falling even faster. For this reason, in recent years more laptops have been sold in the US than desktop computers.

Desktops and laptops are very similar in design, each containing the same basic hardware and operating systems (usually either Windows or Mac.) The main difference between the two computer types is found in the way such components are put together. Laptops, because of their small size and portability, obviously need more compact components. Desktop computers have everything housed in a (usually) large CPU tower: a motherboard, a hard drive or two, audio/video cards and other necessary hardware elements gathered together. Components like the keyboard and mouse connect to the computer itself via wires or infrared wireless technology. Most CPU towers have a lot of extra space for more cards, cables and cooling fans.

A laptop, for obvious reasons, is much smaller and lighter than the smallest desktop tower. The mouse and keyboard are an integrated part of the laptop unit itself rather than connecting to it with a wire. There's usually only a single cooling fan, since there isn't much space for more than that, and space for only a couple of cards. For this reason alone most laptop components have to be both compact and have hardware that produces a lower level of heat than their counterpart desktop components, along with providing much more power. This is why laptops have consistently cost more than desktops.

The computer's CPU is its core, its very essence. In a desktop, a CPU creates quite a bit of heat as it operates, so it requires a bare minimum of a cooling fan and a heat sink; the sink is composed of various plates and channels that work together to constantly draw heat away out of the CPU and away from the processor to prevent meltdown. Because of the heat issue, laptops have CPUs that run with a lower speed and voltage. In this manner heat is reduced and less power is consumed; the trade-off is a processor that operates at a slower speed. Many laptops will run faster when plugged into an outlet than when they have to rely on their batteries-a fact that can hinder the "portability" factor that attracts so many people.

Instead of being mounted to the motherboard with pins, as they are in desktops, laptop processors either mount directly onto the motherboard, or they use a micro-"Flip-Chip-Ball-Grid-Array" (try saying that five times fast, or use the well-known acronym FCBGA.) With an FCBGA, the processor is mounted with balls instead of pins. The main problem with this choice is that the processor can't be replaced or upgraded-you're forced to buy a new laptop.

Both desktops and laptops have various shut-down stages, but their function is more critical in laptops. They help to reduce the CPU speed when you aren't using the laptop. Macintosh actually prides itself on the fact its processor prioritizes the computer's files and data to greatly reduce the battery usage. Other laptops utilize desktop CPUs, but with modifications that allow the laptop to run more slowly. While the computer's performance is admittedly improved, they also tend to run much hotter than other laptops, their battery depletes faster, and the potential for meltdown is higher.

Those are the main differences between laptops and desktops. Within a few years, however, these differences will become less noticeable, and as technology advances, may disappear entirely.