Why Laptops are More Expensive than Desktops

Laptops have been the coolest gadgets of the last few decades. They’re portable, fast, and they’re even more powerful than they appear from the outside. In fact, modern laptops are being used to perform hardware-intensive tasks.

The components inside a laptop are similar to those inside a desktop computer but if you compare them, you will find that the desktop computer is much faster than the laptop. But still, laptops are decidedly more expensive than desktops, despite appearing to have much less power.

So why are laptops more expensive than desktops? Is it just a rip-off?

Well, there are so many reasons that make laptops more expensive than desktops. In order to ensure a thorough understanding, I will try to cover the question in great detail below. Hopefully, when you are done reading this article, you will have gained deeper insight into how laptops are priced.

Table of Contents

why are laptops more expensive than desktops?

Here are some of the reasons that make a laptop more expensive than a desktop.

1. Portability

Thanks to the compact and slim design of laptops, they are highly portable. You can easily carry a laptop in your backpack anywhere and do your works without requiring a desk or table as desktops do. No matter where you are, you don’t have to worry about being late with your work reports.

Read: Top 7 Best Laptop Backpack

Also, it is no secret that the portability of laptops is one of the reasons why PC users tend to choose them over desktops. Even laptop manufacturers like HP, ASUS, Dell, etc, coming up with new technologies and hardware to make their laptops more lightweight, easy to carry, and compact to help you get all your work done from anywhere at any time.

On the other hand, since desktop computers are built with many joined parts, it is next to impossible for a person to carry them everywhere. They are designed to stay in a single location rather than sifting them constantly.

And since making a product portable is complicated and even costs extra money, laptops are more expensive than desktops.

Turn your normal laptop into a gaming laptop

2. Power efficiency

Power efficiency is another key factor that makes laptops more expensive than desktops. Laptops are designed with a large battery that can keep them alive even without keeping them constantly plugged in, which allows you to move around freely without carrying the charging cable everywhere.

Also, laptops are built with compact-sized components that use less power. Even most of the laptops don’t have a dedicated graphics card and often use integrated graphics instead, making them much more power-efficient. In addition, power consumption also depends on the screen size. And since the screen of a laptop is much smaller than a desktop computer’s, it requires less electricity.

Thanks to the powerful battery of laptops, they allow you to work from anywhere without looking for a power source. However, it is estimated that the average power consumption rate of laptops when plugged in is about 50-60 watts.

Read: How Long can a Car Battery Power a Laptop?

Desktops, on the other hand, are less power efficient. They require a constant power supply to run. Besides, they consume more power since the components of desktops are bigger and power-demanded. You will lose access to your desktop computer in the event of a power outage.

Therefore, power efficiency is a great advantage of laptops that makes them more expensive than desktops. However, it is true that gaming laptops have bad battery life. Check where here.

3. Expensive components

If you compare the hardware of laptops with desktop computers, you would notice that the components in both types of machines are the same.

However, the components of a laptop such as the RAM, GPU, motherboard, hard drive, touchpad, keyboard, everything is fitted in a single compact unit. This means components must be crammed into a much smaller space since the space is so tight. Therefore, laptop manufacturers have to come up with a smaller version of each component to fit them properly. And these smaller parts are more expensive than the traditional computer components that are sold everywhere.

On the other side of the coin, desktop components are quite bigger, and manufacturing those parts doesn’t require any extra hard work. Also, desktop components can be found very easily.

Furthermore, when purchasing a desktop, you have to purchase a keyboard, mouse, and other extras such as a webcam separately. But when you purchase a laptop, it comes equipped with all of these components, so you don’t have to purchase them separately. If you consider these facts then you will understand why laptops are more expensive than desktops.

4. Higher demand

If you have attended your classes on supply and demand in high school and college then you will get the point easily. It is no secret that laptops tend to be more popular among PC users than desktop computers. Over the past few years, the importance of desktop computers has fallen.

Read: Best Laptop without Bloatware

People are rapidly switching from desktop to laptop because of its portability and on-the-go benefits. Even a budget laptop can be carried anywhere and help you get your work done in no time. Due to this portability and flexibility, people are buying more laptops than desktops which influences the price of laptops.

So, higher people demand is one of the main factors that makes laptops cost more than desktops. Because, according to the law of supply and demand, the greater the demand, the higher the price. Even manufacturers take advantage of these situations and increase the price because they know that people will still purchase them even if they realize the price is higher.

Read: Best Router for College Dorm Room

5. Screen is included

Another obvious reason that makes laptops more expensive than desktops is the screen. But while comparing the price of laptops and desktops, people often ignore this point. All laptops come with a screen.

However, with a desktop, you get no screen. And buying a screen or monitor separately can add anywhere from $100 to more to new computer purchases. Of course, you can get a complete desktop package that includes a monitor, but most of the time these are budget monitors and don’t feature the high-quality visibility like most laptops.

But when you buy a laptop, you get a high-quality screen with your purchase. All this is part of a package deal. And this one little and ignored factor is enough to make laptops more expensive than desktops.

Conclusion

It is true that laptops are pricier than laptops. In this article, I have tried to mention few reasons that make laptops more expensive than desktops. The features modern laptops provide and the effort, technology, time companies put into to develop worth the price. Even customer support, marketing cost, and brand value increase the total price of laptops.

However, at the end of the day, it is totally up to you. We are not stopping you from purchasing laptops. If you have enough money in your pocket, then you should invest in a laptop. To help you find out the best one, I have reviewed some of the best laptops that can handle hardware-intensive tasks like video editing. You should check that out.

We hope that you found this article helpful. Let me know your opinion in the comments below. Also, don’t forget to check out our other articles on laptops.

Thanks for being with us 🙂

5 Reasons Why Laptops are More Expensive than Desktops