<p>With a desktop…dont actually keep in on your desk. keep the tower hidden away (nobody sells many true desktops these days) and use an LCD since dell and such are practically giving them away with purchases. Hell you can even wall mount the LCD on an arm and use a keyboard tray to have full deskspace all of the time.</p>
<p>I really think that the key here is that whichever choice you make, you will be fine. Choose whatever you are more comfortable with or base it on what you can afford. I’m bringing both (windows desktop, linux laptop) because I definately prefer working with a real desktop (both general use and what happens when I open up the case) but the laptop will be nice (and I dont have to dual boot for linux). Cost isnt an issue because I have both of these systems, I’ll give them a nice upgrade before I go and be done.</p>