Windows 7: Notebook, better investment than a desktop

So looks like I will be replacing my 1-year-old notebook already. I have even thought of a desktop but wouldn't a notebook be considered more efficient nowadays since everything's going portable? I know I can't just base my choice on that and blahdy-blah, but I need more time to determine the pros and cons of both.



While I'm no serious gamer, there are a two or three games that I can not live without playing: Rulers of Nations and SimCity, both coming with new versions in 2012 and 2013.

I can't really advice but I think a lot will depend on how you use a computer. Do you travel a lot or are you mainly stuck at home, I know you can usually do more customising with a desktop like adding more drives changing out the internal cards, graphics etc.

I don't think what games you play would make much difference if you got a powerful enough laptop you could still play them.

As I said I can't really tell you much you'd want one of the experts here who know more about the differences but those are my thoughts, good luck with whatever you decide to get and don't forget we're here to help with anything you need to know about your system.

It's dependent what you use your computer for really, if you travel around and need to lots of serious office work, and then I would go with a notebook as it's portable and you doesn't take much space when in use.

However, if you just use your computer at home and tend mainly just casually play games and maybe do some work, then a good laptop (may need to be careful with heating issues) or desktop would be a better option due to the generally more powerful hardware components and the ease of being able to customize and upgrade hardware to suit your needs (desktop).

As has been pointed out it depends on what you want to do. I'd never give up my laptop! Its pretty powerful so I can play just about ANY game and while a bit hefty I can take it anywhere. (see my spec.'s)

One other quick question: what about Windows 8 OS? I heard mixed reviews about it and need to know what its really like.

I couldn't stand it....... lasted about a week and a half on my system and will never be back on it. Having said that......... you will find those who like it. Just speaking for "me".

That's a difficult one to answer, Windows 8 is a 'acquired taste', personally I wouldn't go with Windows 8 as I find the new UI rather difficult to use and not suited for a desktop environment.

My first impression: I disliked the metro look. And, can I downgrade from Win8 back to Windows 7 in the case my new PC comes with it? I know I need a copy of Windows 7 though, do retailers still sell them? I'm actually surprised Microsoft didn't subscribe to the online distribution model.

I think retailers aren't going to sell computers preinstalled with Windows 7 anymore, but they may still sell Windows 7 DVDs, it's still worth having a look, also you may have some difficulty downgrading back to Windows 7 due to some Secure Boot feature some OEMs have placed in the BIOS chip.

Read More: Secure Boot Arrives

Ah, what are the alternatives? That also sounds like the same thing that happened once when I tried downgrading to XP from 7.