First off I have 2 computers that I use. A laptop Acer Aspire 7730Z. It's processor is an Intel Pentium dual core processor T3400. Graphics is up to 1244 MB Mobile intel graphics Media accelerator 4500M, 3GB DDR2 ram. Vista Home Premium. Acer Nplify 802.1/gDraft-N WLAN.

ISP is Comcast, highest speed cable I can get.

2nd Computer is Pentium 3.2GHz Hyperthreading technology. 2.5 GB Ram. Nearly 1TB hard disk space spread out over 2 internal and 1 external HD. ATI Radeon X-1950 pro PCIe graphics card. Linux Mint OS latest version.

Which computer is best for bit torrent? Does it matter?
Is the laptop suitable for gaming? Would I be better off going back to a MS OS on my desktop? I also have a PS3.

Okay so for bit torrenting it doesn't matter, both should have a gigabit lan adapter which you aren't likely using at that speed, connected to the same ISP so both should have the same true throughput hardware wise. the Linux box will prolly be faster just due to the fact that linux handles hardware and packet managing better so I'd say go with that one just with that single core don't try to multitask too much while downloading a large torrent. I've seen issues myself where big torrents can cause the BT client to slow everything else up and a P4 HT isn't exactly a monster proc these days.

as for gaming, out of the three your PS3 is your best bet, though the x1950 pro is a pretty good card and can still run most games out there so if PC gaming is your bandwagon, like it is mine, then jump back to MS and game away and user the laptop for torrenting. As for the Laptop for gaming, if the graphics says intel plan on it sucking. choppy graphics due to poor frame rates, slow response of the machine thanks to that and don't even try an mmo, first big city you get into and game over your system will lock, crash, or go so slow you'll wish it had done one of the other two.

Just my two cents.

This has been a Respect Me In The Morning production.

Yeah the previous poster is right.

For a bittorrent box, spec hardly matters (to a degree).
The important thing is that you have a fast connection and that you tweak your bitorrent connection well: Check here Bittorrent optimal settings calculator or here Explanation about BT settings/

Laptops are convenient, but it's better and cheaper if you build your own machine at home. It sounds more difficult than it is. This way you can get the best spec of each component that you can afford. You can gradually upgrade different components as and when you need and can afford it.

Linux requires far less resources to run than Windows, and once you know what you're doing its much more stable.

I've had issues the the new EXT4 filesystem when downloading a lot of date so if you try Linux you may want to stick to the more stable EXT3 system.

As for gaming, stick to Windows or a console.