You can connect an external display to your laptop. That's what I'm doing right now. Similarly for 2 through 6.
> 7. The desktop has lots of USB ports and they're all in use.
The external monitor will give you more.
I think reasons 8, 9, and 10 are all legit. I don't think there are any intrinsic benefits to going one way or the other. It all boils down whether you feel the time you spend building your rig is worth the money you save.
> the time you spend building your rig is worth the money you save.
It takes less than an hour. I enjoy it, and it keeps me familiar with the guts.
Most of the hour is just being careful I'm hooking up the wires correctly. In college I worked as an electronics technician, and one job was putting together a stack of Heathkit serial interface cards. I don't recall the exact times, but the first one took me an hour and the 5th one maybe 10 minutes.
It's also like taking the cylinder heads off my old Mustang V8. The first time took me 2 hours. The third time - 20 minutes. It's all in being familiar with just what to do, and having all the right tools ready.
You can connect an external display to your laptop. That's what I'm doing right now. Similarly for 2 through 6.
> 7. The desktop has lots of USB ports and they're all in use.
The external monitor will give you more.
I think reasons 8, 9, and 10 are all legit. I don't think there are any intrinsic benefits to going one way or the other. It all boils down whether you feel the time you spend building your rig is worth the money you save.