Portable computing is currently all the rage and now notebooks are beginning to outsell desktops. On Saturday, I was reminded why.
In school I had to sort out the schools pcs properly, and the amount of wiring that I had to plug, unplug, untangle, retangle… was just incredible. Wires for power sockets (still not enough), wires for printer power units, wires for monitors, wires for boxes, telephone wires, USB wires… I hid everything down the back of a table so that I could get the job done. It is not tidy…
But notebook computers coupled with a flash drive to port applications and data back and forth really do possess a lot of advantages over desktops:
1. you only need wires for the power unit and 1 socket, cutting socket use by at least 1/3rd.
2. most notebooks are wireless anyway so that negates a network cable or two!
3. running two notebooks off one power extension is very viable, but running one desktop off one extension is sometimes difficult.
4. notebooks have batteries making powercuts less of a problem AND you don’t have to buy a powersurge protector.
5. the amount of desk space you can save is incredible… no large keyboards, monitors, boxes, speakers… all one nice little bundle.
And when you have to use a desktop or carry data, a simple flash drive means you don’t need to carry that portable as much anyway making it less likely to be dropped or stolen!