Tech Upgrade At Work

kaliyama

Hi Guys,
We're getting new machines. I have a choice between

1) Having a desktop at work + either
1a) a dell mini 10 (memo called it a 1010, but I don't see any such thing as a model spec. on the website).
1b) an inspiron 1545

2) A laptop, either
2a) e6400
2b) e4300

The road warrior in me likes the idea of flying, etc. with a mini, but I have no perf. data. Has anyone had experiences with any of these laptops? I'm a lawyer, so i'm more interested in battery life and comfort than performance- the mini's presumed ease of use on a plane is nice.

Invisible

I have a mini that I use for work. It's fairly decent for doing minor paperwork, checking email, reading the internet, etc. I've even used it for conference meetings without any problems.

The biggest drawback is the keyboard size. The biggest I've seen is 92% (which I have) and even then the keys are quite close together and it takes a while to get used to it. I also couldn't stand the mouse, so I had to get a wireless one with a usb mini-receiver.

I'd suggest stopping by Best Buy, Staples or another retail electronics place and testing one out for yourself and see if you think you can get used to it.

Inquisitor77

I travel about once a month for work, and have a Dell Inspiron laptop. We are also provided docking stations, so for the most part the laptop simply functions as a second monitor when people are at their desks (regular keyboard/mouse setup with the docking station). I brought a second monitor from home to use the DVI input, so I end up with a desktop-equivalent setup at work. It sounds like you don't do anything too intense at work, so I'd go with the highest-end laptop available. If you travel a lot, smaller is easier to carry, but also harder to work on due to the screen size.