Laptop or Desktop? I Can’t Decide

Think about peripherals

You mentioned another motivating factor for sticking with a desktop, Donna: your desire to continue using a regular keyboard. I get that, though I can tell you that once you get used to a decent keyboard on even a middling laptop, you may not notice much of a difference. I advise potential laptop buyers to bang away on keyboards in a store whenever possible, though it may take more than a few minutes to determine what you do or don’t like. Consider the “travel”: that is, how hard you have to press down before the keys register the keystroke. And do you like the trackpad’s placement, which you can’t even see on some models anymore? In those cases, you get used to the feel of where it is hidden below the keyboard, letting you perform scrolls and clicks as on any other trackpad. 

Of course, with any laptop, you can always buy a full-size wireless Bluetooth keyboard as an accessory to use when you’re at home, although that’s an added expense for sure. There’s a pretty big price range; you might spend between $50 and $100 on a keyboard, give or take.

For that matter, you can also buy an external Bluetooth mouse or trackpad if you prefer either to the built-in pointing devices on the laptop.

While we’re discussing accessories, an external monitor is also an obvious option to use in conjunction with, or instead of, the laptop screen at home. Here again, that may require recalibrating your budget.

Prices are all over the map for a large 27-inch monitor, but you can count on several hundred dollars for top-notch resolution and picture quality. 4K displays, similar to the screen tech on most TVs nowadays, are considered the state of the art.

To save money, consider a 24-inch monitor with 1080p resolution, which can typically be found for under $150 and may be perfectly satisfactory for rudimentary tasks.

Desktop designs

If after weighing all the factors you are indeed firm in wanting to stay with a desktop, think about the physical “footprint” of the computer. How big is the desk where you plan to park it? Do you want a desktop tower design or an all-in-one computer with an attached monitor? Towers allow you to pick your own monitor and other components, which, depending on how you mix and match, can work out cheaper. You can also upgrade the memory more easily if that ever becomes an issue.

A mini PC is another option, especially if you don’t have a ton of space. In some cases, they’re cheaper. But these small boxes may lack the ports found on full-size desktops. Keep in mind you must also add a monitor, keyboard, mouse and, in some instances, the cables to connect everything up.

Some decisions you have to make go across any type of computer you ultimately choose: the machine’s processor, memory, number and type of ports, and storage capacity for what will almost certainly be an SSD, or solid-state drive. I’m guessing you won't need top-of-the-line specs since you’ve had your old machine for more than a decade. You’re likely to be pleased with even a budget computer, given the progress made in chips and other components during that time. But a lot depends on what you intend to do with the computer. The requirements are certainly higher for someone with designs on video editing or even robust gaming compared to someone who will mostly browse the web, exchange emails and do some word processing.

One last thing to think about: Since the computer you will be retiring is from HP, it is obviously a Windows PC. Thus, I’m going to guess that you plan to stick with Microsoft’s operating system, since you didn’t mention Apple or a Mac. I’ll leave it at this: These rival platforms have more in common than ever before, since so much of our computing these days is done on the internet. Many people take advantage of online or cloud storage, too, and with rare exceptions, both PCs and Macs can handle versions of the same programs. To be sure, you will still find diehards ranting that theirs is the superior computing system. And all other things being relatively equal, Macs are still more expensive than Windows PCs.

Bonus tip: Do not press “1” to “block” a spam call

Within a few minutes the other day, I got back-to-back-to-back calls my smartphone identified as “Spam Likely.” So I was already on alert. ​​The voicemails left by what turned out to be a robocaller instructed me to “press 1 immediately so that we can block this attempt.”

I knew better than to fall for what is a fairly common robocall scam. Pressing 1 or any other key would alert whoever was behind these calls that mine is an active line with a real person — me — behind it, thus a potential target for further mischief. Instead, I blocked the caller not by pressing a key but by using the capabilities within my phone.

That’s precisely what you should do if you get a similar call. If you have an iPhone, tap the circled i next to the number in the Recents log and then Block Contact. The operation is similar on a Samsung Galaxy; tap Recents | (the objectionable number or caller) | Block this number. You can also block calls on other Android devices.