I view using the laptop as a laptop as a fallback.
When I'm at an office location, I'll setup my mouse and keyboard just like I had a desktop. The laptop just becomes a smaller second screen with a keyboard for some reason. I have the same interface I would if I were to use a desktop, with the added bonus that I can bring a fully functional unit with me wherever I go.
Because, unless I'm going to always be at home, or only leave when I'm on vacation: I will need a portable work station. I could duplicate a setup on a laptop and a desktop, but I much prefer being able to simply fold my work (or gaming!) computer up and take it with me.
A friend just broke his ankle and has had people coming by to hang out and help out. No problem for me - I just packed up my work and my gaming laptops and drove over. Productive during the day, hanging out after work. The next day I went back to my full office setup with no fuss.
For me it's quite situational: I am able to get a beefy laptop that has a higher spec than the standard issue desktop, so I just use the laptop with docking stations at home and in the office. If I have to travel, I fall back to just the laptop.
I have a nice permanent office setup but the past few years I've taken to working on my laptop in various places around the house a lot of the time. Not sure why. I still need my desktop for certain tasks (like photo editing) and sometimes the dual monitors are really useful. But for day-to-day work, I usually just use my laptop.
A laptop is a great substitute for a desktop if you have a dock. I just place my laptop on the dock, it clicks into place and I have a couple of big screens, a full size keyboard and a mouse on my desk. No different than a desktop.
I haven't; i have an office with a screen, physical mouse and keyboard, but it still gets plugged into the laptop.
I can take the laptop to the kitchen, living room or garden if I so please. I can take it out of town or abroad. A desktop... I mean, i could take with me but not so easily.
I suppose I can understand it from the perspective, and that is probably the majority of the time a laptop is in use, but I also associate a laptop with a self contained unit that has all the required input devices and requires no additional setup to be usable. Flip it open on a bed, anywhere, in a second, including your lap.
I have a ton of general purpose computers that can be set up on a desk but are otherwise wildly impractical some place like an airplane, or in any kind of moving vehicle.
It is kind of why I still am married to having a traditional laptop instead of just using my iPad with a keyboard case for example. It just gets more fiddly. I’d take my steam deck with me to somewhere I’d be able to set up with for non-gaming use but I’d never try to use it as a regular computer on a plane or even in a coffee shop killing time between appointments or whatever.
We don’t do portables/luggable as terminology anymore but that is where it breaks for me.
I appreciate you offering that perspective though.
I prefer a powerful laptop + monitor + keyboard for work. Sometimes I like to take my laptop somewhere else and work, like when there's a meeting in a conference room or I want to work from a coffee shop for a little while, etc.
It's a pain to keep to computers in sync with one another, set up exactly how you want, etc.
As someone who shifts between 3 different desks (home, main office, project office) and sometimes as to go and see clients, having a laptop is pretty necessary. However once I plug my laptop into its docking station connected to my monitors, keyboard, mouse etc. I really don't notice much of a difference between a laptop and desktop.
But I agree that working all day on a laptop in laptop mode is right out.
I'm in this camp, if for no other reason than by the time you take a laptop and add a mechanical keyboard, a nice mouth, and an extra monitor, you would have been better off having just bought a desktop.
Unless you want to buy a dock and everything, use the laptop as a desktop 90% of the time and just have it portable for when you need to go to a client or something.
"On a personal note, I'm far more comfortable with a proper keyboard and a big monitor (or two)"
This is how I used my laptop for years (I still use big monitors, but I don't usually use an external keyboard now, although I'm thinking getting another cherry mx blue keyboard). When I'm working, I use the external monitors as the primary and the laptop screen for slack/documentation (since its not at nice eye-height). It works very well.
I even know people who leave their laptops closed when they work, using purely external monitor and external keyboard/mouse.
A laptop is just a portable desktop.
But for programming, I'm much more comfortable in my environment using my tools and configuration (for example, I'm a colemak typist, vim is my preferred editor, etc). I mean, I think a machine should be provided in case the candidate doesn't bring one (or doesn't want to; or like you, prefers to use desktops), but allowing the candidate the option of using their own helps set them up for success as they can use their own familiar environment, while forcing people to use something unfamiliar may be setting them up for failure.
I agree and never do serious work on a laptop, but some require mobility. I simply dock my laptop and use it as my desktop because occasionally I need mobility.
I've changed over time for some reason. I have a nice dual monitor, mechanical keyboard setup in my office at home. But I really got into the habit of working on my laptop--probably because of a lot of travel. These days, I'm more likely to just work on my laptop at home and not even in the office. At work, I have an external monitor and keyboard I could use but I never do.
While the article makes some good points I still prefer having a laptop with a decent desktop setup (docking station with external monitor and wired networking, mouse, keyboard; the laptop sits on a stand and doubles as a second display) my two main reasons are : I only need to manage a single machine (I have little time or patience to look after a flock of computers) and when I do need to travel I just unplug the laptop and off I go.
I've actually stepped away from using laptops in general. My laptop is a 2014 MacBook Air that is now running as a glorified Chromebook. At both work and home I use i7 desktops with multiple monitors. If I need to do something, I remote into a desktop from my laptop.
Obviously not everyone can work like this. I have found, however, that I'm generally more productive when I'm on a desktop. I have better methods for input, no problems with user servicability, and speed is never an issue. I've also found that at home, I spend far less time on a computer.
I have a home workstation because I do a lot of work from home. Working from a laptop is a sub-par experience because of the form factor. Right now, I'm using a Dell XPS 15 laptop at home, but it's docked to a desktop keyboard and mouse, and a 40" 4K TV I use as a monitor. Prior to the laptop (which I almost never move, bit like that I can if needed take with me), I had a desktop at the same desk. So, right how I'msort of hybrid, but prior to that I had a desktop at home (and a separate, older laptop that I almost never used).
As for "most people", it's important to consider different types of situations, such as families in which there might be a shared computer, or a desktop in the room of one or more children because it's sometimes more economical.
I think a lot of people use a laptop throughout the day like in our office - plugged into a large monitor, mouse, keyboard and put up on a desktop stand.
You then have the flexibility to just get up and walk into a meeting with it or walk out at the end of the day with everything just as you left it and carry on working on the train should you need.
That's a valid point, and fortunately you can use a laptop at a desk, too. However, the laptop can also be picked up and taken with you if that's what you need to do, while the desktop is stuck at that desk forever.
When I'm at an office location, I'll setup my mouse and keyboard just like I had a desktop. The laptop just becomes a smaller second screen with a keyboard for some reason. I have the same interface I would if I were to use a desktop, with the added bonus that I can bring a fully functional unit with me wherever I go.
Because, unless I'm going to always be at home, or only leave when I'm on vacation: I will need a portable work station. I could duplicate a setup on a laptop and a desktop, but I much prefer being able to simply fold my work (or gaming!) computer up and take it with me.
A friend just broke his ankle and has had people coming by to hang out and help out. No problem for me - I just packed up my work and my gaming laptops and drove over. Productive during the day, hanging out after work. The next day I went back to my full office setup with no fuss.
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