If you just need a computer for the basic stuff, internet, office,... a basic laptop will go long ways. You can hook a big screen and a keyboard to it any time and it feels like a desktop.

If you are looking for something powerful for gaming or special tasks, a desktop will save money.

I'm writing this on a 2011 Asus laptop I got given in 2016, replaced the missing HDD with a SSD, fixed the broken hinges, did a clean install of Win7 and here we go.