People who use their laptop as their daily driver, please share your experience here.

[mrchow19910319]

I am "planning" to use my macbook pro as my daily driver (connected to an external display) and ditch my pc completely since I don't play video games any more. 

I am currently having a quad core i7, rx480 machine that is sitting there doing nothing 95% of the time cos I mostly use my macbook pro to do everyday tasks as well as programming. 

People who use their laptops (preferably macbooks, if not don't worry just share your experience ) as their daily drivers, please share your experiences here. 

there are a few things I would like to know. 

1. Is it really that inconvenient to have a laptop and some external HDDs connected to it 24/7? 
2. What are the pros and cons to ditch desktop completely? 
3. What laptop are you using? Are they gonna age badly if you connect them to an external display 24/7? 
4. Storage wise, how much storage does your laptop contain? How much storage does your external HDD/ server contain? 

Thanks! 

[Gmanliving]

7 minutes ago, mrchow19910319 said:

I am "planning" to use my macbook pro as my daily driver (connected to an external display) and ditch my pc completely since I don't play video games any more. 

I am currently having a quad core i7, rx480 machine that is sitting there doing nothing 95% of the time cos I mostly use my macbook pro to do everyday tasks as well as programming. 

People who use their laptops (preferably macbooks, if not don't worry just share your experience ) as their daily drivers, please share your experiences here. 

there are a few things I would like to know. 

1. Is it really that inconvenient to have a laptop and some external HDDs connected to it 24/7? 
2. What are the pros and cons to ditch desktop completely? 
3. What laptop are you using? Are they gonna age badly if you connect them to an external display 24/7? 
4. Storage wise, how much storage does your laptop contain? How much storage does your external HDD/ server contain? 

Thanks! 

 

I can respond to #3 - I have a 2014 MacBook Pro Retina 15" and whenever I plugged it into my monitor and used it for a few hours, my battery life would decrease in terms of length when I went without power. I checked this by also using a battery capacity monitor app and confirmed that using an external display via HDMI reduces the original capacity of the battery by 8-10% if you do it frequently. It only affects you if you take it outside somewhere without your charger though. So yes, 24/7 connection to an external display would degrade the capacity of your battery, at least on a MacBook Pro. I have a GT 750M in mine btw. 

[79wjd]

I use my rMBP as my daily driver and rarely ever actually use my desktop, but I also rarely, if ever, connect my laptop to a monitor/mouse/keyboard, but I would if I sat at my desk more, but I tend to move around a lot and like the freedom of sticking with just my laptop. 

 

1. I'd get annoyed if I constantly had things plugged into my laptop, but I also like to get up and move a lot (sit on my bed, on the couch, in a chair, etc...). 

2. It wastes space on my desk and I could get money from selling it. 

3. Late 2013 15" rMBP with Iris Pro 5200 (so, no).

4. 256gb, but I have a NAS (13tb) to handle everything else -- although I rarely access data on my server other than through Plex for media streaming).

 

2 minutes ago, Gmanliving said:

confirmed that using an external display via HDMI reduces the original capacity of the battery by 8-10% if you do it frequently.

Ummmm, wtf....that makes no sense. Are you sure it isn't caused by constantly having the battery at 100%? Or just wearing down the battery in general? The battery only supports a finite amount of time and cycles.

[OtisCorporation]

I now use an MacBookPro for almost 5 years and i´m very happy. I have one of those lacie HDDs connected almost all the time. I have an external mouse, an keyboard and an laptop cooler. 

Pros:

• your mobile, you can go anywhere when you have an laptop 
• you can watch Netflix when you are ill in bed 
• if you need more space than you can move it around
• less power consumption 

cons:

• you can't really game, but you already said you don't do that anymore 
• smaller screen but you can use an external one if you have one
• it gets loud and hot sometimes e.g. if you use Photoshop or something else

If you want to build a work station as i did, there is no problem with connecting an HDD and an external display 24/7. I do that all the time and for office work or general browsing it is perfect. In Germany it is not uncommon, that instead of tower pc´s at your office you get an "workstation" laptop with external HDD and so on. And if you decide on going home you can take the work laptop home and have an home office. I had no problems what so ever with connecting HDDs and an display since i decided to work with an laptop. 

My laptop has an 500GB SSD and sometimes thats not enough so i just have an HDD connected all the time. I bought the Lacie 4TB HDD for best performance and compatibility with an Mac. And i still have an Appel TimeCapusle for backups. 

 

I hope my experience helps you. 

 

 

 

 

 

[porina]

I use a laptop at work 99% of the time as if it were a desktop.

 

On the specific questions:

1, I don't use external HDs, but do use network storage, so it is available over wifi even when undocked.

2, a desktop of similar cost would be higher spec, but obviously not as portable! I'd say lack of meaningful upgradability, short of replacing the whole laptop, is the biggest drawback to long term use. To save on the plugging in of various items when moving laptop, I do have a USB3 hub which also deals with the external displays, so I only have to plug two cables (USB+power) to switch between laptop and desktop configurations.

3, It is a dell... something or other. Dual core i5, 240GB SSD, iGPU. As others have hinted at, battery condition might be a problem depending on how the manufacturer deals with it. Apart from that, I wouldn't worry about it.

4, 240GB ssd, practically unlimited storage on network.

[TLDR]

I'm currently using a MacBook Air late 2014. Yep. That old thing.

On a daily basis I'm having to put up with only 4GB of DDR3 RAM and onboard graphics which is really limiting for me as I'm a hobbyist filmmaker and developer. I also only have 120GB Storage. I used to use Final Cut Pro x without any problems and recently switched to premiere which to my surprise is running ok.

I currently game on Xbox, I'm a big FORZA fan. I am looking to build a PC in the near future as I am looking to get more power for editing and I also have a good steam library sitting there waiting for me (I get sent lots of keys).

 

As for the external hard drives, I don't really think it's convenient to have external Hard drives connected 24/7, especially if your traveling a lot. For me I film a lot of footage and I am regularly dumping it on a external drive, it's fine for casual use but not to be running alongside your Mac as a main source.

 

To have laptops connected to a display can be convenient however having it on a display 24/7 is debatable. I like however being able to use a display at home then disconnect easily and take my laptop anywhere and continue where I left off. They shouldn't really age much faster than normal if you give it proper treatment.

 

To wrap up:

PROS: 

• Portability
• Most are lightweight
• Quiet under average workloads.
• Can handle tasks such as video editing and light gaming depending on the laptop.

CONS

• Can get pricey depending on brand and model.
• I/O can sometimes be limiting 
• Storage can be limiting depending on laptop

At the end of the day it all depends on personal preference when it comes to PC and Laptops. While I haven't had bad experiences using displays with laptops and external drives it really depends on what you plan to do.

 

Hope this helps

[Gmanliving]

1 hour ago, djdwosk97 said:

Ummmm, wtf....that makes no sense. Are you sure it isn't caused by constantly having the battery at 100%? Or just wearing down the battery in general? The battery only supports a finite amount of time and cycles.

Please read these threads to be more informed about this issue. 

 

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/238453/battery-life-while-using-external-monitor-on-rmbp-is-less

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/question/answers/readonly/tag/mac/impact-on-battery-of-using-external-monitor/QUPPU9Y9APCY4P2TH

 

In short: If your MacBook has two video cards, like the Retina MacBook Pro, then yes it will use a lot more battery to have an external display. The reason is because when you connect an external display, even if you close the laptop and use it in clamshell mode, the laptop automatically switches from an integrated video card (this uses much less power) to a more powerful, discrete video card (this uses a lot of power). The laptop does this because the integrated video card isn't very powerful and can't process video for the 3K Retina display AND an external display smoothly. 

 

 

[79wjd]

12 minutes ago, Gmanliving said:

Please read these threads to be more informed about this issue. 

 

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/238453/battery-life-while-using-external-monitor-on-rmbp-is-less

 

https://www.apple.com/shop/question/answers/readonly/tag/mac/impact-on-battery-of-using-external-monitor/QUPPU9Y9APCY4P2TH

 

In short: If your MacBook has two video cards, like the Retina MacBook Pro, then yes it will use a lot more battery to have an external display. The reason is because when you connect an external display, even if you close the laptop and use it in clamshell mode, the laptop automatically switches from an integrated video card (this uses much less power) to a more powerful, discrete video card (this uses a lot of power). The laptop does this because the integrated video card isn't very powerful and can't process video for the 3K Retina display AND an external display smoothly. 

 

 

Yes....I understand that it will use more power, but that shouldn't cause the battery life to deteriorate when you're not using the external display. The only impact running an external display would have, as I said, is putting more load on the battery -- the battery capacity doesn't drop because you used an HDMI monitor, it may decrease because you put more cycles on the battery, but otherwise it will have no long-term effects on battery life. 

[Gmanliving]

2 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

Yes....I understand that it will use more power, but that shouldn't cause the battery life to deteriorate when you're not using the external display. The only impact running an external display would have, as I said, is putting more load on the battery -- the battery capacity doesn't drop because you used an HDMI monitor, it decreases because you put more cycles on the battery. 

I speak from experience. After few months of using an external display while charging only when required, my battery health decreased from 98% to 88-90%. My original capacity reduced by 10 percent after docking my Macbook Pro for everyday use. When disconnected from the display, the battery life is shorter as a consequence of this. 

[79wjd]

Just now, Gmanliving said:

I speak from experience. After few months of using an external display while charging only when required, my battery health decreased from 98% to 88-90%. My original capacity reduced by 10 percent after docking my Macbook Pro for everyday use. 

Your battery life decreased because you put cycles on your battery, not because you used a monitor. Using a monitor might have increased the cycles because your laptop is using more power, but using the monitor isn't what caused the battery capacity to deteriorate. 

 

My Mac's battery is rated for about 8000mah, yet its full capacity is now only about 6000mah, and yet I've never used an external monitor. The reason it dropped is because I'm sitting at 2047 charge cycles on the battery. 

[mrchow19910319]

1 hour ago, Gmanliving said:

It only affects you if you take it outside somewhere without your charger though.

So if I keep the charger connected I will be fine? 99% of the time my charger is connected when I am at home. My battery is at 483th cycle and it's at 95% capacity. I have yet noticed any sort of battery capacity decrease... But I will pay more attention to it. 

 

2 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

I have a NAS (13tb)

Need more info about this. Did you build it yourself? Or purchased one online? If so, which brand and model? At the other post I mentioned I wanna build my own NAS using my desktop pc. Is it gonna be stable enough? Or I should just sell everything and buy a NAS. 

2 hours ago, OtisCorporation said:

I hope my experience helps you.

Those info definitely helped me. Thanks. Also what do you think? You think I should convert my desktop to a NAS? Or sell it and buy a new one. My desktop's specs are these: 

• i7-4770 
• 16GB of ram (DDR3)
• Gigabyte H87 D3H motherboard
• Corsair GTX H100 all in one water cooling
• Sapphire RX480 Nitro 4GB vram
• 1 1TB HDD , 2 3TB HDD
• 128GB of SSD (samsung 850 evo)
• Corsair 780t full tower case
• Corsair RM650 powersupply

Which method is more stable? DIY one or buying a new one. If so, do I need to be concerned about NAS's compatibility to macbook pro? a.k.a is there a certain type of NAS that does not work with macOS? 

40 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

2047 charge cycles

holymoly thats a lot

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, mrchow19910319 said:

Need more info about this. Did you build it yourself? Or purchased one online? If so, which brand and model? At the other post I mentioned I wanna build my own NAS using my desktop pc. Is it gonna be stable enough? Or I should just sell everything and buy a NAS. 

 

holymoly thats a lot

I built it myself (build is in my sig). It would be plenty stable, I'd lose the AIO though (and of course, sell the 480, and the case).

 

Yes, yes it is. Especially since it's only 3.5 years old (it's only rated for 1000). But only a 25% decrease in capacity is pretty impressive.

[mrchow19910319]

14 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

I'd lose the AIO though (and of course, sell the 480, and the case).

Let's say I swap the AIO with an air cooler, can I keep the 480 and the case? 

Is the GPU gonna interfere with my NAS build? 

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, mrchow19910319 said:

Let's say I swap the AIO with an air cooler, can I keep the 480 and the case? 

Is the GPU gonna interfere with my NAS build? 

You can keep the 480 it just won't offer anything (and it will waste power) and the case is just big/bulky/expensive for a NAS.

[mrchow19910319]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

You can keep the 480 it just won't offer anything (and it will waste power) and the case is just big/bulky/expensive for a NAS.

I see... I just tried to not touch anything, and just build a nas out of it.. Will look into how to build one. 

Also my internet speed is 50M/s (at least that's what my ISP told me) and my maximum download speed is 10M/s upload speed I am not sure. 

And I am using an apple airport extreme. 

Do you think that I can stream 1080p video from my server to my notebook?

 

Also does vpn interfere video streaming? Or I have to disable vpn and make sure that my router , server, laptop all under the same wifi? 

[79wjd]

Just now, mrchow19910319 said:

I see... I just tried to not touch anything, and just build a nas out of it.. Will look into how to build one. 

 

Also my internet speed is 50M/s (at least that's what my ISP told me) and my maximum download speed is 10M/s upload speed I am not sure. 

And I am using an apple airport extreme. 

Do you think that I can stream 1080p video from my server to my notebook?

 

Also does vpn interfere video streaming? Or I have to disable vpn and make sure that my router , server, laptop all under the same wifi? 

Building a NAS is the same as any PC. You could also potentially lose the SSD and use flash drives depending on the OS. 

 

That's plenty, and if you use something like Plex then you can change the bitrate if you need to satisfy more external streams. Streaming internally isn't affected by your ISP speeds. 

 

Where is the VPN running? You can very easily stream externally -- I can watch anything on Plex at full 1080p from anywhere in the world (assuming I have a decent internet connection wherever I am).

[mrchow19910319]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

 

Most of the time I connect to the japan and hong kong server when using vpn. I see what you mean. Now it is just that how to build it. 

I will post more questions regarding to building a server, might tag you then. 

 

Thanks! 

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, mrchow19910319 said:

Most of the time I connect to the japan and hong kong server when using vpn. I see what you mean. Now it is just that how to build it. 

I will post more questions regarding to building a server, might tag you then. 

 

Thanks! 

mkay, well, as I said, there's nothing inherently special about building a NAS. 

[exercutor5]

3 hours ago, mrchow19910319 said:

• Is it really that inconvenient to have a laptop and some external HDDs connected to it 24/7? 
• What are the pros and cons to ditch desktop completely? 
• What laptop are you using? Are they gonna age badly if you connect them to an external display 24/7? 
• Storage wise, how much storage does your laptop contain? How much storage does your external HDD/ server contain? 

1. Yes, especially when you run out of USB ports.

2. Pros mainly is just that you can now take this machine everywhere with you, cons mainly just that you don't have the same amount of horsepower any more.

3. I used to do this in the past when I did not have a desktop, so I did it with my Clevo P650SG. I don't understand the second part of your question lol.

4. My laptop has a 1TB SSD. My external HDD is 1TB.

[Gmanliving]

2 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

Your battery life decreased because you put cycles on your battery, not because you used a monitor. Using a monitor might have increased the cycles because your laptop is using more power, but using the monitor isn't what caused the battery capacity to deteriorate. 

 

My Mac's battery is rated for about 8000mah, yet its full capacity is now only about 6000mah, and yet I've never used an external monitor. The reason it dropped is because I'm sitting at 2047 charge cycles on the battery. 

You are at 75% health after 2000+ cycles. I am at 86% as we speak after 194 cycles. The use of the monitor led to a faster deterioration of the battery life and this is also the case with my 12" MacBook and same with my brother's 2015 rMBP which runs on Iris Pro graphics.  

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, Gmanliving said:

You are at 75% health after 2000+ cycles. I am at 86% as we speak after 194 cycles. The use of the monitor led to a faster deterioration of the battery life and this is also the case with my 12" MacBook and same with my brother's 2015 rMBP which runs on Iris Pro graphics.  

It's not because of the display, that literally doesn't make any sense. In no way are the two related. 

[linkboy]

I made the mistake of letting my ex talk me into buying this computer back in 2013.

 

It's been nothing but a huge PITA. The trackpad is god-awful, making it pretty much useless without a mouse. 

 

Thankfully, my new laptop will be arriving on Monday

[exercutor5]

1 hour ago, linkboy said:

I made the mistake of letting my ex talk me into buying this computer back in 2013.

 

It's been nothing but a huge PITA. The trackpad is god-awful, making it pretty much useless without a mouse. 

Press F to pay respects.

[ChuckMaurice]

6 hours ago, mrchow19910319 said:

I am "planning" to use my macbook pro as my daily driver (connected to an external display) and ditch my pc completely since I don't play video games any more. 

I am currently having a quad core i7, rx480 machine that is sitting there doing nothing 95% of the time cos I mostly use my macbook pro to do everyday tasks as well as programming. 

People who use their laptops (preferably macbooks, if not don't worry just share your experience ) as their daily drivers, please share your experiences here. 

there are a few things I would like to know. 

1. Is it really that inconvenient to have a laptop and some external HDDs connected to it 24/7? 
2. What are the pros and cons to ditch desktop completely? 
3. What laptop are you using? Are they gonna age badly if you connect them to an external display 24/7? 
4. Storage wise, how much storage does your laptop contain? How much storage does your external HDD/ server contain? 

Thanks! 

I've been using my Macbook Pro 15" (2013 Retina model, check signature) as my daily driver for a while now. It is basically with me everytime, as it only weight about 2 kg I carry it everywhere and I never turn it off so it is immediately available when I open it.

I'd say I use my desktop only to game and do heavy 3D or video-editing tasks, three things my laptop GPU struggles with (mostly After Effects because both Premiere and Final Cut Pro works well even with small 4K projects). So if you don't do any of that, a Macbook Pro or light laptop equivalent will be fine.

 

About external peripherals/docks:

- A Thunderbolt dock is fine, but awfully pricey. I find it great for external monitors and mouse/keyboard, but not for storage. Hard drives prevent you to disconnect the Macbook at will, so I recommand having network-attached drives.

- I had problems with the standard Apple wired keyboard which is really fragile. Don't buy it. Get a nice Logitech set or something comparable in terms of lifespan

 

On the other hand I'm probably not gonna go with Apple when I upgrade the MBP (somewhere in 2017-2018) because Apple's price became very high, the competition is finally there for thin, powerful laptops. Also, the removal of USB ports (damn you Apple). His replacement is probably gonna be the Dell XPS 15.

 

 

[mrchow19910319]

14 hours ago, linkboy said:

I made the mistake of letting my ex talk me into buying this computer back in 2013.

 

It's been nothing but a huge PITA. The trackpad is god-awful, making it pretty much useless without a mouse. 

 

Thankfully, my new laptop will be arriving on Monday

What's your new laptop?