Ok as we all know most of lowyat members are students or college students, so for me going for laptop is necessary when you must, but if you really don't need mobility, I have to say you will pay a high price sacrificing your gaming and some performance juices. In other words, unless laptop is really a necessity for you, then you have to go with whatever you have for your budget. If not, please stick to desktop cause you will have alot more gaming power and processing power for your designing class that you mention (is it graphic design or web design ? web design won't need that much power perhaps).