Apart from the physical appearance, desktops and laptops are different from each other in several other aspects too. Laptops are more fashionable, sleek looking and light weight than desktops. Although desktops are not that beautiful, they are more powerful and durable. Now, desktops are also available in slimmer CPUs and LCD monitors, lessening the requirement of space.

The major advantage of laptops over desktops is portability. Because laptops are coming in lighter and smaller designs, they have become very easy to be carried on the go, especially for people who need to travel around often. But you need to remember that laptops are more easily stolen than desktops and with this, you not only loose an expensive item but also important data. Security improvements such as voice recognition and thumbprint recognition are also available now-a-days but these are liable to be hacked easily.
As far as the desktops are concerned, they have better capabilities in terms of audio and graphics and that is why, they are the first choice for gamers and graphic designers. If you need to run your PC for longer periods of time every day, then desktop is the better choice for you.