Which uses more electricity. Desktop computer or laptop??

[Mark]

Originally Posted by SidewinderINC

My laptop PSU is 85W

My PC's PSU is 850W

I think that's my answer

It's also wrong. If you tried to actually use 850W, your PSU would either turn off (if it's a good one), or just plain die (if it's a Qtek ).

Originally Posted by leowyatt

laptop without a doubt.

Only 95% true. The micro PCs (Mac Mini, the really small Dell stuff, etc.) might beat a laptop, but only when the connected monitor is switched off.

If anyone has seen the macbook adverts it says that uses something like 1/4 of the power of a light bulb

Which is, to put it bluntly, BS. To do that, they'd have had to run it idle, with the screen off, and probably no battery. They'll also be comparing against soon to be illegal to sell incandescent lighting - put it up against an energy saver and it's game over.

Originally Posted by Haly

As my laptop spends half the day running on the battery, I assume it must save a fair bit compared to when I left the PC running all day.

Yup, but more than it would if you left it plugged in (with similar energy saving settings). When you plug your laptop back in, some energy gets wasted making the battery hot.