A laptop. 

Also, know that if I could reach you right now:

Agree with @Krista, laptop. You’re not tied to one location; if you want.

13 minutes ago, Lee Wilson said:

Agree with @Krista, laptop. You’re not tied to one location; if you want.

You mean Steve, can sit in the pub with his laptop watching porn, oops I mean checking emails.

Recommend desktop for the bigger screen.

24 minutes ago, ReaderPaul said:

Recommend desktop for the bigger screen.

You can attach a second screen to a laptop, even as large as a TV. Then have 2 screens, much easier to have two files open at the same time. Unless the desktop’s video board can handle it, no chance for a 2nd screen. I have a separate monitor for both my laptops, work and personal.

26 minutes ago, Lee Wilson said:

You can attach a second screen to a laptop, even as large as a TV. Then have 2 screens, much easier to have two files open at the same time. Unless the desktop’s video board can handle it, no chance for a 2nd screen. I have a separate monitor for both my laptops, work and personal.

Can all modern laptops have a second screen?

21 minutes ago, ReaderPaul said:

Can all modern laptops have a second screen?

Yes. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t have an HDMI port, or an attachment/dock with it, my Dell is like that.

Steve, I'm sorry to hear about your computer problems, but are you sure those pesky otters having been messing with it?  Maybe they left a half-eaten fish in there.  So, take it to a repair shop first, unless you have the money to buy a new one, but I'd try the repair route first.  

In a way, I know what you're dealing with.  My TV went on the fritz last Sunday, so I ordered a new one from Amazon.  When it arrived on Wednesday, when I was unpacking it I noticed it was missing parts, so I called to complain.  They couldn't just sent me the missing parts, so they sent me a new TV, which arrived today, and I have to pack up the other one and ship it back.  I'll have to have them pick it up here, because it's too difficult trying to carry a tv while using a cane for my equilibrium problems, which might be due to a reaction from some of the many medications I'm taking.  The doctors' having figured out what's causing it yet, and I have one doctor's appointment on Monday and another on Wednesday, so I'm hoping for some good news.  Anyway, I'll make it work one way or another. 

My desktop is 17-years-old and I'm afraid the same thing may happen to it, but I hope it lets me finish writing the story first, because it might be a while before I can afford another one.  Anyway, best of luck with your problem.  

3 hours ago, ReaderPaul said:

Recommend desktop for the bigger screen.

Yeah, you don't want to miss anything while you're watching porn.  🤪

I think lady @Laura S. Fox deserves promotion! 

#justsaying

While everyone is suggesting a laptop, there's more to consider than portability. Despite laptops being a common commodity nowadays, you're still paying a premium for that smaller form factor. If you already have a dedicated space for your PC and don't plan on using it for travel (you have an ipad, after all), don't waste your money on a laptop. Yes, as others suggested, you can connect screens, external mice, and keyboards to a laptop, giving you the "desktop experience", but at that point, your laptop is an overpriced tower PC. Finally, keep in mind that despite laptop and desktop CPUs share similar names, desktop CPUs will generally run faster due to better cooling. This is especially true when it comes to GPUs, but I digress.

I question if your current PC is actually dead, though. If smacking it worked, that sounds more like a loose cable than a hardware fault. But if I was to guess, the system sounds pretty old, and unlikely be to eligible for updating to Windows 11. Given Win 10 security updates are ending this October (although there are ways to extend it a year), now might be a good time to get yourself a fresh machine.

If you're looking for more advice, PM me. I've been building PCs for myself, friends, and family since the late 90s, and would be happy to share my knowledge.

P.S. Don't use Norton. 😬 I hope you were joking about that. Nowadays, modern PCs don't need 3rd-party anti-virus software, and even if you felt safer using it, there's much better options out there. Again, hit me up for advice if you're looking for it.

Good luck!

When my desk top goes, I'll buy another one.  First of all, I'm home a lot, since I'm retire and the desk tops are cheaper, but here's another factor.  I've had this desk top for 17 years so far and have gone through countless keyboards with letters, numbers, and symbols wearing off the keys, and well as the length of time I'm on the computer, which also takes a toll, so just think what that would have been like if I had a laptop.  Besides, I don't car for the feel of the laptop keypads, I end up resting my hands on the keys, like I do with the desk top keyboards, and the laptop types all kinds of gobbled gook that I have to delete.  I'm not a fan of the laptop mouse either, so maybe I'm just old, cranky, and set in my ways, but them's my two-cents.  

I am with @mcarss on that one. If you do not need to carry the computer ever, why pay for small and light components, a big battery, a screen, and a keyboard in-one?

At work I am the odd-one-out, because I have a fat desktop and a small surface tablet to remote into it. The others carry heavy developer notebooks which sound like Heathrow airport when starting up or getting hot...

I doubt it's the desktop, though the slow boot time is concerning. Retighten the cables behind the monitor to see if that helps or swap out the cables for new ones. You can also swap it out for a new monitor, AND new cables (which usually come with the new monitor), but make sure to check what plugs you have on the desktop for monitors.

Are they the white head cables, blue head cables, black head cables, hdmi? You'll want to replace the monitor with the cable that connects with the same type. (Why do I say this? Because I hate conversion plugs. Most don't work half as well as they should unless it is a conversion cable that is wired one way on one end and another way out the other.)

As for the slow booting, I suggest starting to transfer things over to an external hard drive (make sure it's not a western digital passport brand, as I had trouble with those in the past). Make sure it is at least 1tb to 2tb big. Make sure it can connect via USB and NOT "USB-C" as I imagine your desktop doesn't have that plug. 

Be sure to boot the PC up first completely before you plug the external hard drive in. Then, start transferring as much of the important files you want to save over to it. After they have been transfered, you can delete the "heavier" files like videos and music and pictures off the desktop to lighten it's load (the files will now live on the external hard drive instead).

This also serves as a back up in case the desktop does die on you, you will still have all your important files (only up to the day you did the transfer, at least. The more you  remember to copy things over regularly to the external hard drive, the less files you have to lose). Remember to only unplug it after 1. Everything has fully transfered over and 2. After you shut the computer down to prevent any files from warping.

There is also a way to do this digitally with a cloud storage like Dropbox, but that gets pricey and they charge every month, I believe. Too rich for my blood. You only have to pay once for an external hard drive and then it's yours until it, too, eventually dies (which won't be for years...for example, if you only plug it in to transfer/swap out things once per month, it could very well last up to 8 or more years).

Edit: As for RAM, it's easy to upgrade and replace, but you have to verify the amount that specific desktop can carry (the exact name and model, which you can find out the next time you turn it on by searching for "computer info" and it will tell you the exact brand and name, then you can google the maximum amount of RAM it can have).

For example, some older desktops can only hold up to 8gb of RAM and not 12gb or 16gb. Some desktops only have one slot instead two slots for the RAM to sit in.

So, if there is only one slot and its max is 12gb, you'll have to hunt down one RAM stick that is 12gb big. If it has 2 slots and its max is 12bg, you can either hunt for one 12gb stick or for the 2 sticks of 6gb each (which is likely cheaper). Even if there are 2 slots there, you can't "double up" with 2 12gb sticks, making it 24gb thinking it will help because the maximum amount for that example is 12gb. The desktop would just not start back up because it becomes confused. It's like trying to shove a double A battery into a triple A battery slot.

As always thanks for the update.  Knew all seven words again this week.   

Don't be like me and wait for it to completely die before making a mov in a rushed and harried fit of rage.