Traveling with a desktop vs a laptop.

[ingeborgdot]

I don't know if this would be the right section but it does have to do with a case of some sort I guess so this is where I am putting this thread. We are starting a program in our school where we go around to different events and stream live. It will be several times a week and all year long. The computer we use will need to be powerful with many connection possibilities. That is what brings me to this question. A laptop is easy to transport. It is made fairly tough and can be pretty fast if you are willing to put the money into it. On the other hand you don't have a lot of input capabilities. I was wondering if a desktop would be the best solution. It is going to be faster than a laptop (ex. a $1000 desktop will cost about $2000 for the same speed and power is what I have found out). So you can get a lot more for you money with a desktop. Then you also get a multitude of connection possibilities with a desktop and it is so much more upgrade friendly than a laptop. The problem with desktop is it's portability. I don't really know what I am looking for. Are there travel cases for desktop computers? What do you suggest we use? Does anyone have a link or something to lead me in the right direction? Thanks.

[krokodil]

Sorry for chiming in late (I'm retiring and currently moving out of my office with lots of paperwork etc. so I'm not online as often as I would like). If you haven't solved your problem yet have a look at what Shuttle has to offer. I have an old SB75 from 2004 for this type of lugging around and am quite happy with it. Build quality is very good and if they haven't changed during recent years should be worth a look. An alternative could be buying the components you like (I have several ITX boards from Zotac with GF9300 or ION chip-sets with Celeron or Atom CPUs built into Lian-Li PC-Q07 cases) and build a system yourself. For a small and easy to handle system absolute highest performance isn't usually a requirement. OTOH, the PC-Q07 can be a PITA because it is very small and low power PSUs are normally not modular. HTH. Here's a link: Shuttle Europe: Mini-PC workstations with high-performance Intel processors

[najiro]

If a good transportation is provided, i'd still go with desktops. try lan-party sized setups just like those of krokodil's suggestion. Desktops are still more capable and cheaper to buy as well as repair.