Team Laptop or Team PC - what is more beneficial to independent writers?

So, I met with my friends from the biz for a cuppa joe the other day and we got into a discussion about whether or not using a PC or laptop was more beneficial to the independent writers. Those on the side of the PC mentioned the lower cost of purchasing the item, the ability to upgrade the PC hardware without breaking the bank, its ability to perform tasks that could done only on a limited scale on a laptop, and the longer lasting system overall when compared to a laptop.

Being a laptop person myself, I reasoned out that the laptop allowed me to work without being tied down to one spot in my house. Additionally, any power interruptions were best addressed by the laptop since I could create a hotspot for it with my mobile phone. If push came to shove, I always had my trusty pocket wifi to fall back on. In other words, I argued that laptops don't allow for work down time specially during a hot season. As for the task performance, there was always a work around available for those sorts of things. In terms of hardware, my laptops always worked until they reached their end of life cycle of about 6 years. During which time I never hard a desire nor need to upgrade the system. If I knew my laptop could not handle an order, I simply refused to accept it. My laptop, in its many incarnations, never failed me when I was still an academic writer.

What I'd like to know is, what do you guys think? Are you Team Laptop or Team PC?

Who relies on just one computer? I have more than one in almost every room of my apartment. I've learned that one of the keys to avoiding overuse injuries to my hands, shoulders, and back from the constant writing is to use as many different working stations as possible. I have a bar converted into a standing desk with a CPU underneath, a laptop in front of my living-room couch and another next to a recliner, two on on the desk in my study for projects that require a second screen, and another one in a room that doubles as a library and lounge. I also have an I-Pad for the balcony and bathroom and sometimes, I'll take a laptop out to the balcony, too. Furthermore, most of those stations allow more than one sitting position: right now, for example, I'm straddling the ottoman in front of my couch with the laptop on the ottoman in front of me. Fifteen years ago, I used to carry around a small Casio hand-computer to write on anytime I was in a waiting room or anywhere else where I didn't want to waste time when I could be writing.

Hi @FreelanceWriter, I wasn't really asking about how many laptops or computers one should have in order to stay abreast of the job or to stay healthy.

I am more interested to find out which type of computer the independent writers prefer as that is what our discussion was all about. That is why I presented all of the considerations we discussed during our selection process. I would like to thank you though.

Your post was enlightening. If you don't mind, I'll share your set up with my friends during our next coffee date. It looks like I'll be bringing and starting the discussion this time around.

I only have one laptop because I cart it with me wherever I go along with my trusty tablet and android phone. If one gadget falls asleep, my clients can still reach me for consultation via the other gadget. I prefer the portability the laptop in particular gives me and I've never had to use more than one because I found it was sufficient for my purposes.

I never had one break on me in all these years. I actually run it into its final stages of life because I am a person who has preferences for everything. So if I like using one laptop, I will keep using that laptop because I feel comfortable using it, wherever I am or wherever I sit.

Different strokes for different folks I guess. Thanks for the tip again. I'm sure my friends will appreciate it too since they refuse to leave the academic writing business even if I keep coaxing them to do so. They have to stay healthy somehow.

I can't write on anything other than my pc. I've tried several times to work from a laptop, didn't sit with me at all. I've modified my workstation so it matches my exact needs - double monitors, mechanical keyboard with two pads for support, a stereo for music while writing and a comfy but sturdy chair. When I'm away from home for longer than a day I'll usually take my laptop with me in case of emergencies, but if I can avoid it, I'll never use it for work.

PC is the way to go (alternatively, a laptop with a regular-size / PC keyboard). Or even better - a laptop with a large monitor and a regular keyboard (but then, other than portability, there's no need using a laptop ;). Plus when something goes wrong with a PC - it's typically easier to repair.

It certainly seems like I am on the opposing team even here at ES. In fact, the discussions coming up remind me of the discussions I had with my friends. The reasons being mentioned are the same and they did tell me that I am the one who should shift to "classic technology" because the classics work better than the new technology. One of the reasons that they mentioned was that the PC is cheaper to purchase than a laptop. I begged to differ and told them that the two items are priced the same provided they contain the most current technology. I guess the way I use my laptop is what spells the difference for me. They are constantly updating their hardware and software, while I just keep updating my software. My hardware works fine all the time. Maybe because I am more into the text of things and I don't make my laptop double as a gaming machine. Which they have a tendency to do with their PC's. Also, I did write within a totally different field from them. They were more into computing, spreadsheets, and other mathematical topics while I was more into the scholarly research of things.

I require my writers to have laptops and remote wi-fi access to do their jobs. I also have them store their drafts in the company server as the priority host for their files. Each writer has an individual account on the company server where they house their work. That way there is no danger of ever losing data. They may lose their hard drive, their external drive, even their thumb drive, but the redundancy that my server offers gives them the ultimate in crash protection. Okay, getting back to the topic. The reason that I require them to have laptops is simple. If my client assistants contact the writer to do a job, complete a job ahead of schedule, or do a revision, the writer should be able to seek out the nearest coffeeshop or comfortable area to work and get the client needs done. There can be no excuses with the company because the client won't accept any excuses from us for our writer. That is the reason why I am on Team Laptop in this instance. It is just the more practical way of doing business for my writers. After all, laptops are just as powerful as PC's these days.

An essay company doesn't have any more right to demand that its independent contractors "complete a job ahead of schedule" than its writers have a right to demand extra time to complete a project with a set deadline. At most, you could ask the writer whether he or she still wants a project whose deadline a client has changed since the writer agreed to take the order. Independent writers accept company projects based on the information and deadlines presented to them at the time they accept those projects. If any of that changes, they have a right to ask for extra payment from the company or to give the project back to the company to find a different writer. Frankly, whether or not a writer uses a laptop or where and when he does his writing is none of a company's business, because the writer's only obligation to the company is to complete projects according to their specs and general company standards and policies, and by their agreed deadlines.

The moment someone from a company ordered me to do something I was not willing to do would also be the last moment I would be inclined to work for that company. The entire point of freelancing is freedom to work when you want, how much you want, and with whom you want. Maybe that works for underpaid writers from who knows where, but I doubt any respectable writer would respond to that kind of treatment well. Being a freelancer is a lifestyle, mainly, and it revolves around not giving a **** about what other people want from you, unless its worth your time, effort, and it fits in your time table.

I hire people to work for me. I've achieved that level of success in this business. Which is something you two obviously have failed to reach regardless of all the time you have both spent pounding away at the PC keyboard, working for students. These writers apply, I consider them for the job. If they cannot comply with the company requirements, as this is information given to applicants beforehand, then they are welcome to not apply. Working for a company with specific requirements, if they choose to do so, means they can comply with the work demands. Something that you two, as supposed freelance writers, do not have to comply with because you work for yourselves.

They are freelance writers incapable of getting clients for themselves or, they don't want to have to bother with marketing themselves to gain business. That makes them freelance-to-a-certain-extent. The company and the clients control their schedules. They know that and they have never complained about it. Why should they when they are amply rewarded for their efforts?

Freelancing means they don't have to report to an office, it is not a lifestyle. It is merely the method by which one opts to complete his work on a professional basis. My writers have that freedom working for me. However, deadlines and meeting client requirements on a spur of the moment requirement are par for the course. They are writers who are not truly "freelance" or "independent" because of the nature by which they choose to do their jobs.

My writers understand that the demands of the job are based on client needs and requirements. They are conscious of the fact that work requirements may change from time to time. My writers have no problems complying with my company policies so you have no business sticking your nose into a business model that works for me. How I run my business is none of your concern, neither is my relationship with my writers who get paid handsomely in the process. That's the bottom-line in this business anyway. Work demands met = Proper compensation & Client Rewards. My workers never work on an adjusted schedule without proper adjustments to their final pay. I am not a slave driver.

Don't come after me to gain business. The two of you are too obvious. Don't change the reference topic for the discussion in this thread as both of you regularly do in other threads. Stick with the original discussion points and stop making enemies when you don't have to. Viewing me as a competitor simply means you have to up your game, not try to edge me out. It's never going to happen, no matter how hard you try. Stop trying. Don't you notice anything? Don't be N***S****S. Nuff said. Topic closed.

@Write Review
Lol. I don't really care about you all that much, other than the obvious shilling you do on the forum - although it's kind of funny at times. Did you ever stop to consider that there are some of us who don't actually want to hire people? I toyed with the idea once my business picked up, and decided not to go in that direction. Not because I'm not able to, but because I prefer writing over managing. Simple as that. Besides, I want my clients to know exactly what they get when they order, which is why I only do as much work as I can handle, and turn away the rest (there's a couple of people here that can actually confirm what I'm saying, are there any that can confirm yours?). Besides, it is you who is digging up years old threads for no other reason than to promote yourself, so don't be calling us for your actions, eh? Finally, freelancing is a lifestyle, at least for those of us who are good enough to live comfortably from it and not forced to take crap from people. My point is simple, if you don't have a contract with your writers saying they have to clock in at 9, you have no right to pressure them to take any work, it's their choice. That's what freelancing IS.........

That's quite a high level of personal nastiness in response to one person who did absolutely nothing but express an impersonal, totally objective disagreement, on principle, with something you said you do with your writers and in response to another person who simply said that he wouldn't work for a company that subscribed to that policy. Nobody "attacked" you personally or disparaged your business. For the record, on the topic of our being "failures" for actually producing the kind of work for which you only relatively recently began increasingly admitting to being a broker or middleman, I'd like to note that you've spent so much time pounding away at the keyboard (mostly reviving irrelevant and obsolete ancient threads to boost your post count and establish credibility here), to have bombarded this forum with 100 more posts than one of us who has been here for 5.5 years and with more than one-quarter as many posts in merely 8 months as I have contributed here in 10.5 years.. We each post maybe once or twice a day and we skip many days, whereas you're here pounding away as often as 10 or 20 times daily. I'm not criticizing you for it, just pointing out that glaring contradiction.


That would be fine if you're an employer.


If they're freelancers, they're not your employees and you don't get to exercise the degree of control that you're allowed to exercise over employees.


There is no such thing, at least as it relates to the issue of whether you're liable for health insurance and unemployment insurance. Technically, either you contract with independent subcontractors (freelancers) subject to the laws that apply to that relationship or you "employ" employees, in which case you're subject to a lot more laws and liabilities than what kinds of computers anybody uses. I've seen exactly this happen to someone who operated for years with independent contractors installing high speed cable for him. Eventually, he got sued by and had to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars to them because a few of them who got fired or hurt got an employment lawyer together and established in court that the totality of the control he had over them (just for making their schedules and keeping track of their jobs, essentially) made him an employer who owed some of them retroactive overtime and others unemployment and health insurance. Immediately after that case, NYS came after him for unpaid health insurance on all of his current employees and various other claims to money he never paid because he thought he was operating as a contractor with independent subcontractors for many years. The court ruled that he was an employer based on a degree of control that was roughly comparable to what you've described. (And yes, they'd all signed paperwork identifying them strictly as independent subcontractors and, specifically, not as employees.) He still lost the case.

When you exercise that level of control over how they do their work and over deadlines on pending projects, you might find yourself having to pay unemployment to writers you fire (depending on why and when they got fired) and health insurance to all of your other writers. If they're freelancers, they can pick and choose (only) whatever projects they want, and you don't have any right to require them to complete projects on which you change the deadline after they accept them or to require them to own laptops. That's not an attack or an accusation; it's a very brief outline of the distinction between freelance independent contractors and employees. If you consider them employees, you can impose whatever requirements you want on both issues; you just can't have it both ways. If they're freelancers, you can only require that their computers meet certain specs that relate to ensuring they can produce the full range of work they do for you. Backup capabilities and procedures are also reasonable for your freelancers; but not the rest of it.


You, who just announced that you're not a freelancer and simultaneously belittled us for only being freelance writers are explaining what freelancing means to those two freelancers, one of whom is widely known here (and elsewhere) as "FreelanceWriter" and both of whom have explained that we do it precisely because of the lifestyle it allows. Your apparent focus on the distinction between "office" and "home" is largely irrelevant in the legal analysis of whether your writers are employees or independent contractors.


That just isn't either of our styles. If it were, we'd have "come after" one another in the last 5 years instead of sometimes referring clients to one another when that seems like a good idea for the client and for us. Please. We were here for 10 years and 5 years, respectively, before you ever showed up to start bombarding the forum with 10 or 15 or 20 posts nearly every day. I accumulated ~1600 posts in 10.5 years whereas you've furiously banged out ~1450 in just 8 months.


Excuse me. This is a forum for industry-related conversations. The thread topic was originally about the computer choices of freelancers. You decided to change that topic (according to your apparent standards and definitions about forum etiquette) to why an essay company requires laptops of its writers. Nobody objected to that, much less attacked or insulted you about it; however, your cramming in your strict policies for your writers in this thread is what changed it's direction. It wasn't our honest responses directly to those points you introduced, either; and none of it was phrased accusatorily, much less nastily. On the issue of being "obvious," most experienced users here recognize a very high percentage of your posts (regardless of thread topic) manage to mention something about how you deal with your writers and your clients. If we were looking to make an enemy of you, we wouldn't have avoided pointing that out whenever you do it (or avoided pointing out other obvious contradictions in some the things you've said about yourself in the last 8 months that haven't gone unnoticed), because with the exception of one recent thread for which you actually still owe both of us an apology, you don't ordinarily picks fights with us, either. And nobody picked a fight with you here: You chimed into the laptop thread with a detailed outline of how strictly you control your supposedly "freelance" writers; and two freelance writers who became freelance writers largely because we're not willing to allow anybody to exert that degree of control over how (or when or on what) we work provided our view of your policies. That's a conversation, and one that's precisely on a point raised in an immediately prior post, not "changing" the topic one iota. Your nasty insults in response to that were totally out of line.


Excuse me. You volunteered two of your very strict requirements here in a thread whose topic was about which type of computer is more beneficial to independent writers, not which type is more beneficial to people who hire independent writers. Two independent writers who have also written extensively for companies in the past responded with mature, appropriate, and totally objective bases for disagreeing with your policies from the perspective of independent writers. That's not "sticking your nose in" anything; it's contributing in a meaningful adult way to a conversation.

You mean the ole' "I'm out of the freelance writing business but still want to spew my immense knowledge because I'm such a nice person" shtick that was played out at the start? No, nobody noticed..............Funny how that all changed in just a couple of months.

Well, I think that this discussion needs to be updated. It is no longer just Team Laptop or Team PC these days. I have writers who complete their work assignments on tablets and some, can complete short turn around time papers on their mobile phones. With Windows software available for use across various devices and platforms, there is no need for a writer to be tied down to one specific type of hardware anymore. Almost all of the gadgets available today will allow writers to complete their tasks. Granted the screen and keyboard size could sometimes be an issues, but the point is that writers are free to work from any available equipment, not just the traditional ones anymore.