Haven't had a desktop for about 10 years, always had a laptop with a dock station/screen/keyboard for serious work and now wireless to use it around the house or wired at work.
It's a more expensive solution, cost of ownership higher, risk of failures higher, but get it auto-backed-up somehow and it's far better than a desktop.
Unless, of course, you want to play PC games or do high-performance stuff (which I don't).
If you buy one brand and stick with it, the peripherals you add-on tend to be able to be used with your 3-yearly upgrade. IBM T-series come with 3 year warranty, which I have used several times - they are well worth the dosh.
BW