From: Claire Hart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Here's a question that I hope generates some discussion. Would there be a downside to getting a powerbook as your main or only computer? What can you NOT do on a laptop that you CAN do on an eMac, iMac or tower?
I presume, for the purposes of this discussion, that you are talking about a new or otherwise fairly powerful laptop that rivals the speed of the lower-end desktop offerings and has USB 2 rather than the older USB 1.1 ports.
There are several advantages to using a laptop as your main computer, but there are a few disadvantages. In terms of power and capability, a modern Apple laptop can do pretty much anything an eMac or iMac can do. There is a slight disadvantage in that most laptops have fewer FW and USB ports, which means you'll have to go to using hubs faster than a desktop model, which is more stuff to schlub around, which should not be underestimated as a factor. Laptops can get pretty unpleasant when you have to start thinking about where the power converter(s) are, the external drives, the hubs, the spare large LCD, etc (depending on your needs).
In terms of comparing a laptop to a tower, I don't think there's any comparison. Among the many advantages of a tower are the ability to add specialised PCI cards, multiple monitor support, virtually unlimited resolution/screen size support, multiple internal drive support, multiple internal device support (a CDRW and a Superdrive, for example), dual processors, higher speeds and so on.
For the "average" user, a tower is overkill and thus the advantages of portability that a laptop-as-main-computer brings are significant. I know many people who work happily on laptops at bookstores and parks (mostly writing, surfing the net or other "office" level type work), and then come home to plug in to a bigger screen and more storage for consumer-level video/photo/sound work. Pro users are better served by having an uber-powerful machine at home *and* a laptop for field or prep work.
_Chas_
Read the PDB of August 6th, 2001 for yourself: http://www.cnn.com/2004/images/04/10/whitehouse.pdf and then tell me how the President could go on vacation for a month.
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