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Honestly, it all depends on what you are wanting the computer for.

Since you are going to be mainly using it for school work, graphic art work, and general surfing, a desktop wouldn't be a bad thing along with a tablet. It does limit what you can do portably however in that tablets are generally more limited in what programs they can run. The bonus to the desktop is that you can get better overall operating power for less than it would take to get the same in a laptop. The big plus to the laptop however, as you have said and others have as well, is portability.