Opening the debate about which is Greener Desktop vs Laptop

I bet you thought this was one of those political debate posts about election 2011 didn't you?  Despite how much I would love to comment on that I will refrain at the moment.  Today, as the resident techno expert, I want to follow up to the article posted earlier on making your home office greener (see article).  There has been quite a bit in the news lately comparing desktops to laptops and the energy they use.  To make a fair comparison, I think it is important to consider a few facts:

Desktops are no longer the power hungry beasts they were 5 years ago.  The new i3, i5, & i7 Intel Processors desktops now use much less electrical power than their predecessors while delivering far more computing power.  These same chips also power many laptop computers.  Since the advent of LCD displays the power usage of desktop computers has significantly decreased - just a note:  After looking at many of the ECO comparisons, they compare desktops with CRT (tube monitor) displays against current laptops.  This just isn't a fair comparison since CRT monitors haven't been sold for over 4 years.  The biggest fault, I find, in many of the comparisons is that they do not take into account the environmental impact in the manufacturing and disposal of both units.  Desktops have a significant advantage being that they are upgradeable which allows the user to extend the life of their computer several years.  In comparison, laptops do not have many parts which can be upgraded other than the memory and hard drive making their overall lifespan no more than 2-3 years.  In the event of a component failure this lifespan is significantly reduced further for laptops.  If you take this into account a far greater amount of energy and resources goes into producing and disposing of 2 laptops in comparison to 1 desktop. 

In short, my recommendation is that if your computer is going to be a permanent fixture in your office and not going mobile a desktop may be your best option for you and the environment.  Don't get me wrong laptops are great and I use one myself extensively while on the road but they do have their place in the workplace.  So make sure to do your research before making your next purchase for the office.