Are laptop computers better than desktop computers? I don't think so, but today I was reminded of one the reasons why most Filipinos buy one form of laptop or another. It's because a laptop battery is included and can usually last up to three hours or more, depending on what applications are being run. A backup power supply for a desktop computer has to be purchased separately.

Laptop Computers versus Desktop Computers

This is more prevalent in under developed countries like the Philippines, but brownouts can seriously cramp your computing style. It makes sense to have a battery backup of some kind and laptops, including netbooks, come with the batter backups as part of the basic equipment.

A laptop also takes up less space than a desktop computer because everything is integrated into a notebook-style shell. When you live in a small apartment, space is at a premium and some people like having more space to use for other things.

Desktop computers have become smaller over the years as people switch from the old CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors to LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors. Although OLED (organic light emitting diode) technology is slowly making its way into laptops (and consumes even less electricity than the LCD), it may never make its way into desktop computer monitors. I think the reason is because laptop computers will eventually be the only types of full-scale computers that can be obtained. No, the e-book readers and specialized tablets like the iPad are not full-scale computers and will never replace them.

Other Considerations

I'm currently using a netbook as a backup computer and a desktop computer as my primary computer. I prefer working at a desktop computer for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is that I hate the touchpad (or trackpad) on a laptop computer. I always plug in a cordless optical mouse, an item that I think every laptop road warrior should have in possession at all times.

I also like the ability to get keyboards big enough for my fat fingers. I learned how to type on a manual typewriter in 1975 (yes, I'm old, so shut up) long before the word keyboard became prominently used. Even a wide screen notebook computer has keys that seem too close together for comfortable typing (and I type 60+ words per minute on a bad day). The final reason I prefer desktop computers over laptop computers is because components can be changed as they break, or at least most of them. I haven't seen a laptop yet where anything can be changed easily.

A laptop computer would be much more enticing to me and to other people who prefer desktop computers if the main components could be easily replaced without taking the laptop computer to a service center. Even the mainboard (also called motherboard) should be easy to replace.

Oh, you're looking for that reason, right?

I experienced a three and a half hour brownout which shut down my computer while I was doing some other work. It was unannounced and unexpected — we have good weather. No, I haven't bought the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) I mentioned about eight months ago.

I'm retired and living on a pension. I have a fixed budget that covers more than I want it to, but that's a different story. I won't even be able to afford a coffee maker (and I'm getting real tired of instant coffee) until after I pay my income tax (or maybe not, it all depends on how badly the current administration has mucked up the tax laws) and my son's next semester of college.

Give me a break. At least I managed to buy a netbook as a backup and that was a financial feat in itself.

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I live in an area where we have frequent, unannounced brownouts. They can range from a few minutes to a few hours and there's no way to tell which is which until after the fact. The most frustrating part about not having electricity for more than a few minutes is that I no longer have an Internet connection for obvious reasons.

I had already planned to buy a diesel-powered backup generator for the house, and that plan still stands, but I've now added a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) to my backup plans, way ahead of anything else.

Affordable Power Supplies

I have found a couple of places in Olongapo City where I can buy a UPS and I consider the prices affordable. They're not APC products, but they'll suffice if I can't find anything made by APC.

The prices range from 5000 to 10,000 pesos (or somewhere between $100 and $250 US dollars) depending on how much power I want for the backup power supply. Since I only plan to power a DSL modem and a netbook, I should be well off with the cheaper models.

Netbook Batteries and UPS Batteries

I've read in various places that a netbook battery can last anywhere from 3 to 6 hours depending on how you use the netbook (what applications you're running). Since I would only be using a web browser and a spreadsheet during that time (for my online business), I'm sure the netbook battery would last at least 3 hours. That is, provided I don't end up with a netbook that has one of those super cheap laptop batteries in it. I certainly hope not.

My plan is to have only the DSL modem and the desktop computer attached to the UPS. When a brownout occurs, I can properly shut down the desktop computer, move the Ethernet cable from the desktop to the netbook and plug the netbook into the UPS. When the UPS battery starts getting low, I can unplug the netbook from the UPS and continue until the netbook battery is near-dead.

Total Power Supply Backup Time

Based on my past experiences with UPS units and notebook computers, I'm making a conservative estimate that I would probably have at least 9 hours of backup power time using the netbook/UPS combination. The reality, considering breaks and other reasons not to be using a computer at all, is that it would probably be more than 12 hours. That just happens to be the average long brown out here due to being a scheduled brownout that I never get told about.

Plans change and I may end up doing something slightly different, or include other things in the backup plan, but that's where it stands right now.

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