Laptops or desktops--- which is faster?

will a same configuration laptop work as fast as a desktop?
Will there be any performance difference?

If you have the exact same configuration (CPU model and speed, memory speed, disk drive speed, and video card model and speed) the laptop and desktop should be equally fast.

In the real world this is never the case. Laptop CPUs are low power models designed to give longer battery life at the expense of speed. The choices for video cards are far more limited in laptops and 1.8' and 2.5' laptop hard drives are slower than 3.5' desktop drives.

There is overlap between laptops and desktops though. The laptop my employer bought me is faster than my personal desktop. Then again my work laptop cost 7 times as much as my own desktop. A top of the line laptop can be very fast though you can build a faster desktop for less money.

In theory, like for like, there shouldn't be any performance difference if each part was of exactly the same capacity & rating, but in reality this never happens, and laptops generally are slightly slower. The paramount reason for this mostly is the Hard Drive speed - most laptop drives spin at 5400rpm (sometimes slower), whereas desktop Hard Drive speed is generally 7200rpm - so data off a desktop hard drive can be accessed quicker. Also, laptop processor speeds tend to be a tad slower than their desktop equivalents. But on the whole, those differences aren't so noticeable.

But, to give a quick answer - Desktops are generally faster.

Agreed...

...for me especially because I HATE TOUCH PADS!!