Posted on 06/29/2011 7:01:55 PM PDT by decimon
As a contractor I provide my own equipment and a laptop
is easy to transport. Just plug in decent monitors and mice
and its good to go. It boots off the corp network and all tools live on shares.
All laptops here, past seven years, never one disk failure. Two system board failures out of six rebuilt Thinkpads used over that time. Easy to swap harddrives from one to the other as the hardware is compatible. I use a docking station with a bigger monitor, keyboard and mouse at my desk. Pop one button to release the laptop, and then use as laptop.
All the thinkpads we use are bought rebuilt by pros. I’m too cheap for new stuff, but my desktops were all new. Good riddance.
In my experience Thinkpads more reliable than average desktops. Also same for Toughbooks.
Mine run much lower than that, under 100 degF typically, very quiet.
Because they are smaller drives, they tend to have to spin more. It doesn’t matter whether you are moving it from place to place, they just tend to break more often.
That said, I’ve used laptops for years and years. The only downsides I’ve had are the disk space and the small monitors.
Now that I am not on the road that much, I love my 27 in monitor.
If you need sound out of your notebook check out USB-powered speakers; they are cheap and quite effective.
*************
Next year I’m getting a new laptop and giving this one to my son for college. When I do, I’ll be getting some awesome wireless speakers!
The only thing I’ll be doing differently with the new laptop is getting more USB ports than I have now. The 17” screen is great and the keyboard is comfortable. My HP has sold me on the laptop vs the desktop.
And I also have a separate monitor hooked up so I can use both it and the laptop screen.
Allows me to work on one and FReep on the other.
And then when I get an email order, I can open it on one screen and enter it into Quickbooks on the other.
GASP! Does that mean I am a tree-hugging Greenie for not printing out the order?
I just put another lumberjack/sawmill operator/paper mill employee out of work by doing that.
“as others have mentioned, the laptop can be moved within the house.”
If you choose a laptop over desktop, you might want to consider something like one of these...
http://www.airdesks.com/CarDesk.asp
I’ve used one and found it helpful. Feel free to ask some questions about it’s mechanical adjustments.
Is why God made 1U horsey blade servers and the X11 mafia created remote screens.
Yep, that is how I communicate with everything that isn't my notebook.
Sure would've been, if I had noticed them (sigh...)
Impressive. You’ve obviously been at it longer than I have. I’ve been licensed since Jan. 2008.
ping
Yeah, I’m an old phart. Licensed in 1976. Been disabled for 10 years now so I have a LOT of time to chase’em. Never thought I would be an extra but passed the 20wpm after 15 years trying. Couple years later they dropped the hi speed code :( requirement. Just my luck.
I haven’t, but I’ve often thought that my next computer (the next one bought new, that is) will be a laptop. The screen will be as large as is available, because my eyes have been with me this long, and I owe them that much. And the laptop will have internal support for a wireless mouse as well, btw. Those scratch pad things are an abomination. Regular backups are more important because the machine is moved around so much, and as someone noted, SSDs are no different in their need to be backed up. SLC SSDs are better than MLC SSDs. Either one uses far less power than a conventional hard drive, which (all other things being equal) means longer battery life.
Having said all that, I was actually looking at a tiny little Dell netbook at Sam’s, the price had dropped nearly $60 overnight, now in the lower $200s. It has a VGA out which means I could have the wireless where I’m at, and if there’s a screen available to plug into, I’m golden. The keyboard is 92 percent of full size, and I think I could live with that. Still need a mouse though. :’)
From what you wrote, I suspect you’ll put off this purchase cuz you won’t be crazy about what’s available and you know there’s better coming real soon. ;-)
If I had money to burn, I’d get a laptop tomorrow. :’) When I got a different position, I considered rolling right out and getting something actually made in this century, and had I done so, I’d still be paying it off, no doubt about it. If I get an under $300 (probably a netbook, although I’ve seen a cheap standard sized laptop for not much more, maybe I should look for that link) I won’t owe on it, and will only use it when I go somewhere.
Then I think, if I ever do go back to one of western Michigan’s fine selection of beaches ever again, the last thing I should be doing is surfing the web.
Mobile phones with web have zero appeal, and it’s not just the dinky screens. All of them just plain suck. I want a mobile phone because it’s a phone and it’s mobile. And that’s it. My ancestors got here via horseback, horsedrawn, and boats on the river, before telephones, and around here, before telegraphs I suppose.
I’m not promoting this laptop or any but here’s one for $350 that’s better than a netbook: http://www.staples.com/HP-g6-1b60us-15.6-Laptop/product_332976
It can’t have the 6480G graphics, as per the specs. 6480G is with the new Llano APU.
With all the new CPUs and APUs coming out, there should soon be some good sales on the old stuff. Maybe.
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