Driver Lifestyles

Finding the Best Computer to Take on the Road

To put it simply, shopping for a computer can be a giant pain.  There are seeming endless options, features, and specifications to sift through, and if you've listened to the Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux vs. "The next big thing" debates out there, it doesn't get any easier.  In the face of all this, there's actually a fairly simple way to find a computer you'll love and it's been under your nose the whole time: prioritization.

Specifically, you'll want to know what you want in your computer.  How important is portability?  How important is processing power, operating system, hard drive size, or the number of available USB ports?  Perhaps most importantly, you'll want to set up a budget for your computer based on what's out there.  How much are you willing to spend, and how important is it to you to have the latest and greatest?

Assuming you'll be taking your new computer on the road, we'll look at the more mobile types of computers and their advantages/disadvantages: laptops, netbooks, tablets, and mobile phones.

Laptops

Notebook computers are the most commonplace type of computer we're covering here; they're typically as powerful and have memory capacity similar to desktop computers.  If you're looking to do all the same things that you'd do with your desktop, this might be the route for you.

The prices for notebooks are truly all over the map; you can find new ones that might be a little out-of-date for around $350, while high-end laptops can go for $2000 north.  Along with that range in prices, you'll find a full compliment of features that range in prices.

Netbooks

A netbook is essentially a small version of a laptop designed for working in a web browser.  The processors in netbooks are generally less powerful in these computers because they're designed for the primary use of web browsing, and the extension of this is that they tend to have fewer USB ports, no optical drives, and significantly smaller hard drives (a large hard drive in a netbook will clock in at about 30 GB of space).  The screen sizes for netbooks range from seven to 11 inches, but the market seems to have settled on a 10.1-inch display--to put this into perspective, this is roughly 2/3 the size of a typical laptop.  The main complaint I've seen about netbooks, though, is that the keyboard is a bit too small to comfortably type with for many folks.

The tradeoff of this disadvantage, however, is that a netbooks are much more portable, they're much lighter than a traditional laptop, and they'll tend to be much better about power consumption.  If you mostly work in a web browser, something like this might work really well for you, provided you don't mind looking at a small display.

Because of the reduction in size, features, and components, you'll typically be able to find a netbook for between $150 to $450.  Know, however, that manufacturers are beginning to move back in to the laptop, tablet or mobile markets--primarily because that's what consumers are beginning to gravitate towards.  You can find out more about this move here: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/05/06/how-the-ipad-gobbles-up-netbook-sales/

Tablets

Early tablet PCs were essentially standard laptops with displays that swiveled and closed so that only the screen was visible; the advent of the iPad and other similar products that are being planned (a Google tablet is rumored to be in the works, for example).  The advantage that you'll get with a tablet is increased portability and ease of use; the operating systems in tablets are typically designed to be more conducive to touch applications, multimedia functions, and gaming.  The downside of this, and if you're using a computer for work and/or productivity functions, is that typing on a touchscreen, for example, can be something of a pain.

Too, tablet PCs haven't quite caught up yet to the durability that, say, a high-end laptop might offer.  Sure, they're light and highly portable, but if you're going to be stuffing a load into close quarters with your computer, do you really want to worry about whether something's going to break it?  I'm thinking not.

At the same time, though, tablets are a currently-developing market and they're squarely on the cutting edge of computing and it's generally accepted that they'll be around for quite some time. To boot, many of the upcoming tablets will have 3G functionality built-in, so you'll even be able to get signals in the middle of nowhere.  It's a step up from having to hunt down a wi-fi signal, in a lot of ways.

Mobile Phones/Smartphones

Smartphones have been around for quite some time; over the last few years, we've seen numerous advancements that make them more than just phone call/email machines--if you can manage the difference in size from the laptop you're probably used to, you can likely get the same amount of work done that you'd otherwise be able to on any other computer--and do so anywhere you want.  The advantages of using a smartphone are fairly easy to see: you've got to have a phone anyway, and why not combine computing power with that?  There are applications available, in multiple OS configurations, that will allow you to replace whatever productivity and/or office suites you'd use.  Add to that the aforementioned 3G capabilities (and, if you're looking into the future, potential 4G capabilities), and you might just be cooking with gas, as they say.

Of course, the downside of using a smartphone as your "road" computer is one of size.  If you're used to looking at a larger screen to, you know, actually be able to see what you're looking at or what document you're editing, it'll be a definite question of comfort.  But the possibilities are there.

In the End...

As I noted earlier, there's an awful lot to consider about choosing a road computer, and the question isn't necessarily simply "What's the best computer?" But rather, "What computer meets my needs and what will I be most comfortable with?"  If an iPod Touch meets those needs as opposed to a $3000 computer built to be able to be dropped from two stories without blinking an eye, you're probably going to go with the iPod Touch every single time--and you should.  What it all comes down to is figuring out what you need, and finding the computer that best addresses those needs, or at least comes the closest to meeting them within the budget that you've set for yourself.

Other resources:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7602_7-1016082-2.html
http://travelhappy.info/travel-tips/seven-tips-for-taking-a-laptop-travelling/
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/05/06/how-the-ipad-gobbles-up-netbook-sales/