There's one more angle to the desktop versus laptop debate that's rarely discussed, but should be. And that's ergonomics. You want the keyboard and mouse at a comfortable height and the monitor high enough that you can sit up straight and look straight ahead. Otherwise you're going to wind up slouching over and looking down, and that's a pain in the back and neck. No laptop in the world will let you do this by itself, and probably never will. There is only one solution to these problems when using a laptop as your primary home computer, and that is effectivly turning it into a mini-desktop. If you really want to go this route, consider getting an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Also, to do this you need to know how to swap the laptop display from built in, to external, and both at once. It should be pretty easy by hitting a function key.
You'll also want to be able to close the lid when you're using the external monitor. In Vista click on Control Panel/ System and Maintenance/ Power Options. Then select the profile you want to change. I use Balanced when the laptop is standalone, so I modified Performance when used as a mini-desktop. Select the one you want to use and click on "change plan settings" then "change advanced power settings", scroll down to "power buttons and lid", expand, then expand "lid close action" and change "plugged in" to "do nothing". Then click on apply.
Then just use the balanced profile when using the laptop standalone and High Performance when using the external monitor.
Albert