What is the difference between Thin and Thick client (with examples)? Should I use thick or thin Client Devices?

Thin vs Thick client devices

Thin clients

Designed for a single purpose such as browsing the internet, displaying a web page for entering data into database server,online ticketing system.

Low memory, storage and less processing.

Lots of people call it Chromebook, as they’re designed to be just a web browser.

It becomes useless if you lost a network connection to the server.

Usually has HDMI and USB ports.

thin-clients

  • Examples
  • Point Of Sale (POS) Terminals.
  • School student devices for YouTube videos or browsing the internet.
  • Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), provides individual desktop instances for each user.

Thick clients

it always Thick client device for home users,

Full computer system with most resources installed locally.

Runs full operating system (OS) like Windows or macOS.

Runs applications on top of that OS. 

It can operate without a network connection.

thick-clients

  • Examples
  • Desktop PCs.
  • Laptops.
  • Tablets and Smartphones