Has anyone switched from a laptop to a desktop for scrapping?

[Txcorey]

I'm getting ready to buy a new computer and I'm kind of torn. You can get so much more for your money with a desktop, but then you lose your portability. I currently have a laptop and I do travel around the house on it-couch, kitchen table, etc. I also have a desk in our playroom where I do a lot of scrapping too, and If I bought a desktop it would probably live in there. Just wondering if I should buy the better desktop to do most of my scrapping on and then I'd still have this laptop if I want to take it to another part of the house. Any thoughts? Has anyone done this and regretted it?

[DogwoodMama]

Great question... but I would also love to know for those of you who do scrap on a laptop, how do you stand it? LOL I have software on my laptop but the screen is too small for me to see a 12x12 page at any decent size. So what size screen do most have on laptops? I stopped using mine and now scrap on our more powerful desktop with a huge screen... but it is the family computer so I get less time.

I find generally that with our desktop, scrapping goes more smoothly in general, too. It's more powerful, has a better graphics card, bigger screen. Those are the big advantages with our current computers. I do wish I could comfortably scrap on a laptop, though, that would be fun, so I could get together with a friend. :)

[lingovise]

i switched from a laptop to a desktop [for scrapping] about a year ago and am much happier. i do miss the portability of the laptop... like sitting on the sofa to scrap instead of in a chair... but for me, the pros FAR outweigh the cons.

[YepBrook]

I am on a desktop and I LOVE it. I have dual monitors and so much more space to work.

[NeverendingJen]

I'm on a desktop and love it. I still have my laptop so I can scrap on the go, but all my pages get double checked on the desktop before printing. I thought I'd hate not being able to scrap wherever, but I realized I did 95% of my computer time in one location lol

[hollyxann]

I switched from laptop to desktop and I love it!! But I do miss the mobility of my laptop. :(

[Nettio]

I could never give up the portability of a laptop so when I need more space, I hook it up to our big monitor. It's the best of both worlds.

[dailydwellin]

I usually scrap on my desktop...it's much more comfortable for me. I do have a laptop that I can use when we're traveling or I just really want to sit on the couch and scrap while DH is watching TV, but I prefer the desktop for most of my scrapping.

[Stacey42]

I have a laptop but as it only leaves my desk once a year when we go to Florida, it is a desktop for all intents & purposes. I have a dual monitor set up because I find the laptop screen too small for scrapping & photo editing. A few years ago when I first got a laptop I tried taking it around the house with me & doing things but ergonomically it never worked for me. My next computer will be whichever gives me the very best graphics card for however much I am willing to spend, laptop or desktop.

[Beth Swann]

Why give one up? I use both! :thumbup:

[KateD]

I have both a laptop and desktop that I can use. I found that I never used the desktop, so I moved all my files onto the laptop hard drive and have never looked back! I do miss the larger screen sometimes, but not enough to hook my laptop up to the desktop monitor. I don't have a huge screen, either. I have the 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 750GB solid state drive & 16GB RAM. It's a pretty rocking laptop. My old PC laptop was fine for scrapping, too, although it was a bit slower. I'm not sure if it was slower because there was all sorts of junk installed that needed to be cleaned up, though.

[lorigaud]

I was forced to make the switch because my school laptop was reimaged, and I lost my PSE10 that was on there. Well, I didn't lose it, but the CD drive in the laptop isn't working, so I can't reinstall it. Bummer. I LOVE the portability of my laptop and had been scrapping on it exclusively for the past year or so. Now I'm using the family desktop PC and while I do love the bigger screen, etc.... I miss the fact that I can't take it to a friend's house for scrapbook night, etc.

[Keely~B]

I don't ever want to go back to scrapping on a desktop. I know it's probably smarter to go for the desktop and big monitors are sweet but the benefits do not outweigh the cons for me. I'm all about the laptop.

[mariewilcox]

When I'm at home I only use my desktop. I love it because of the huge screen and the mouse. My desk is also right in the living room and I can watch TV and chat with DD while I scrap, so it's nice in that way.

I do have a laptop that I use on the very rare occasion that I can scrap on the go (that doesn't happen much anymore now that DD is older and I don't stay for her practices - I used to always scrap during her 2-hour practice sessions for basketball or swim when she was younger. Now I just drop her off and go home.)

[webseitler]

I moved from a laptop to a desktop... I needed the monitor space! I don't know how I ever designed on such a small monitor... but I did! o_O

Anyway, I love it. I love having ONE place to go and I know that it's MY space. :D

[Nixenkind]

I far prefer portability over the larger screen size! I mostly scrap in the evenings, when my husband watches TV, and I love to be in the living room with him so we can talk when we want to... I would feel alone in the office. And: I'm a total "couch-worker", I simply get more stuff done on my couch, because I'm a lot more relaxed there.
Another problem: the only desktop we own is the family PC, and there's a constant battle going on about who gets to use it next... I totally don't need to participate, so I'm glad about my little laptop. It has all my stuff, and it doesn't really bother me that the screen is small.

[Txcorey]

Thanks for the feedback ladies. I decided to go ahead and spend more to get a nicer laptop. I don't have anywhere in the living room to put a desktop and I like to be in the living room when the rest of the family is in there. I think I'd be isolated in the playroom when they are home. We shall see. It's definitely a trade off between portability and bigger screen/ memory, etc.

[Sherri Tierney]

I can see how the portability of laptops entice people. :) I'm a desktop girl ALL the way! We have 4 desktops in our house. Three of them are in the office. The 4th is just a spare that isn't really set up right now. We have 1 laptop. The desktops are almost always in use by someone but the laptop rarely gets any action. DH bought it for me to scrap/design on but I never could get used to it.

I love desktops for so many reasons. I love having a dedicated space. I love my 24" monitor. I love the power of my system. I love my desk chair even. LOL I don't like sitting on the couch or at the kitchen table with a laptop. It drives me crazy. I feel restricted.

[DogwoodMama]

What is the best size screen for a laptop to scrapbook? I am not sure what size my current screen is, but it's too small, I know that. I just have a dell inspiron.

[SweetMelissa]

No I just went the other way. For $750 I got a laptop with more then what my desktop has and I get the benefits of a laptop. :) For me it was a better way to go. I like that I can now scrap in between my classes (I have a 4 hour break on Mondays and a 3 and a half hour break on Wednesdays). Plus now all of my class notes are on my laptop and I don't have to transfer them from my laptop to my desktop to have them when I'm working on an assignment.

[nun69]

I have an amazing desktop and I switched well over a year ago, but honestly I would LOVE to have my laptop back.....even though I like the big montior, more space, etc.....I figure I have glasses to see the monitor and I have a 1 TB EHD that I can plug right in to my laptop if needed.....so I don't necessarily regret it, but I do really really want to go back to having a laptop

[britaneejean]

Thanks for the feedback ladies. I decided to go ahead and spend more to get a nicer laptop. I don't have anywhere in the living room to put a desktop and I like to be in the living room when the rest of the family is in there. I think I'd be isolated in the playroom when they are home. We shall see. It's definitely a trade off between portability and bigger screen/ memory, etc.

this is exactly why we have a laptop. we decided to spend more on the laptop then invest in a desktop because i don't sit in one space. i move wherever my family is. our living room doesn't have the space either. i also help teach classes & go to quite a bit "digi night outs" so a laptop is pretty much a must for me.

[SeattleSheri]

You can always hook up your laptop to an external monitor and keyboard, so IMO, you get the best of both worlds with a laptop. Good luck with your decision!

[purple_colourz]

I scrap using a desktop and I'm happy with it. I love the big screen, makes scrapping so much easier for me. I do use our laptop once in a while and I find the screen too small for me to scrap comfortably. I do like that I have a laptop as a backup when my computer is not working.

[joelsgirl]

I just keep thinking, "What would I do in the bathroom without a laptop?"...

Haha, just kidding. I actually think it'd be nice to have a desktop in ONE PLACE and not suffer the obsession of dragging my computer everywhere I went. I *try* not to be on my computer till the kids are in bed anyway, so if we weren't so darn mobile and moving {again} at the end of the year, I'd totally invest in a desktop as a way of developing self-discipline.

But I hope you enjoy your new laptop!

[Darcy Baldwin]

I'm a desktop girl, too - I can't scrap with the cacophony of noise and sound that goes on in the living room, and I need the bigger screen, my tablet (I hate the mouse or button or pad on the laptop), and quiet. I use my laptop to surf and watch movies on, but that's about it.

[maryinaz]

I work from home and have a home office with a desktop computer. I use that for scrapping. But honestly, I'm in that room SO much that I hate going back in there to scrap. I have done scrapping on a laptop and it's awkward for me, but I do like getting out of my office.

If I had a desktop in the family room, I would scrap much more, but we have no place to put it and I really don't want that kind of clutter in there. I keep thinking maybe I could get used to scrapping on a laptop (and we do have a couple that I've taken over to friends' houses for scrapping) if I did it more.

But yeah, it's a dilemma. :glare:

Glad to hear you made your decision!

[staciahall]

I just had this same dilemma myself when my laptop got too slow. I got a screamin' fast desktop with all kinds of storage, solid state drives, etc. I also moved it to the family room with a desk so I can see the tv. Huge monitor, SO MUCH FASTER, I'm glad I made the switch.

I'm glad you made your decision.

[mrshobbes]

Well, my desktop was 9 years old when we retired it, and I was working on a 15-inch CRT monitor (remember those??), haha. I inherited the hubs's middle-aged laptop in 2011, which already had a 15-inch screen. Then I got my current MBP, which also has a 15-inch screen. So I can't compare screen sizes because I've never had anything bigger. Once upon a time I dreamt of having a 27-inch iMac, but now I'm perfectly happy with the portability of my laptop.

I suppose if I really needed extra screen size I could opt to make Photoshop full-screen, but I've never had the need to. I only zoom into my layouts to write my journaling, but for the most part I scrap zoomed out.

[lilusmom]

I scrap on a desktop too. I just can't get the hang of the little laptops and that little tappy pad thing that is suppose to be a mouse is just too much for me!