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Best Laptop Solutions For Consultants

By crooky | July 25, 2008

The modern consultant cannot afford to have sub-par technology at their disposal. In a previous article, I ran down the merits of different smart phone platforms. While having the right phone is important, having the right computer is equally important. This post talks about the different laptop platforms that are available to you and how they compare to one another.

1. The Desktop Replacement

The Dell M2010

The Dell M2010

As the prices and size of components shrank, there was a big movement (pardon the pun) amongst laptop manufacturers to start making laptops that could truly accomplish any task that a desktop computer could. Most laptops in this category feature the following specifications:

- 17″ or bigger screens
- full power processors
- Weight over 10 lbs
- Full sized keyboard
- Negligible battery life
- Prices over $1,500

Some of these machines stretch the definition of “lap”top in the sense that they’re too big and unwieldy to actually put on your lap. In some cases, the high performance CPUs throw off enough heat to cook your sperm, making you infertile. The niche that these machines really fill is “PC that you can move around your house”. You wouldn’t want to stuff one of these beasts in your briefcase and ride the subway for an hour.

No machine takes the concept of “desktop replacement” to its ridiculous extreme more than the Dell M2010. This 20 lb monstrosity features a 20 inch screen, a full size wireless keyboard and mouse, dual CPUs, dual hard drives and an 8 speaker stereo system (including sub-woofer). For a mere $4,500, this amazing “laptop” can be yours. In my opinion, this thing is more like a full-size iMac with a handle.

Pros: There’s nothing a desktop PC can do that this machine cannot. Some people effectively use these as desktops because they result in less cables and in some cases, can take up less desk space than a desktop.

Cons: These machines stretch the definition of portable. They also cost disproportionately more than mid-range options.

Conclusion: These machines are cool but if you need to take your computer on the road regularly, I’d pass on them. If you aren’t going to take your computer on the road, I don’t see many advantages of these machines over a desktop. My new desktop, for example, has better features than the Dell M2010 and cost more than $3,000 less.

2. The Industry Standard

Over the years, laptop manufacturers have gravitated towards a pretty standard format. The majority of the laptops available on the market (mac and PC alike) conform to the following specifications:

- 14-15″ screen
- energy efficient processors
- Weight between 5 and 8 lbs
- Close to a full-sized keyboard
- Mediocre battery life
- Prices between $800 and $1,100

These computers pack an appropriate amount of technology into a reasonably portable package that you can actually use on your lap or lug around in your briefcase. You can’t expect these machines to do everything that a desktop computer will do and if you are a power user (doing more than e-mail, web surfing and word processing), you will notice the shortcomings of these machines quite quickly.

Pros: These machines balance price, performance and portability very well. You can get cheaper computers (like the Asus Eee PC) but they’re not typically a reasonable substitute for a desktop computer in the field.

Cons: They struggle to manage more CPU and memory-intensive programs like Adobe Photoshop. They’re not super-light. You’ll feel the weight of these at the end of a long day. The battery life in these machines is rarely more than a few hours.

Conclusions: If you’re only going to use your laptop on the road a few times per week and you’re just using basic office applications, this kind of laptop is probably the best bet for you. They’re affordable and do the job.

3. The Ultraportable

There are a small number of laptops on the market that target users who need power and portability but aren’t overly concerned about price. These systems typically feature:

- 10-13″ screen
- energy efficient processors
- Weight between 3 and 5 lbs
- Miniaturized keyboards
- Good battery life
- Prices between $1,200 and $2,400

These machines are light. They look cool and you can use them on transit or a plane. My current laptop is an ultraportable and while the screen is small (12″), it has similar specs to most mid-sized laptops in terms of RAM, processor power and hard drives. Occasionally, laptops in this category (like the Macbook Air) forgo CD/DVD drives to keep the size and weight low.

Some laptops in this category focus on really low-powered components to maximize battery life. The consumer-grade Panasonic Toughbooks (which I used to own) aren’t very speedy machines but can get up to eight hours of working time off one battery charge.

Pros: These machines can tuck into almost any briefcase. They pack enough power into a small package to work effectively from any location.

Cons: These machines sometimes have power systems that cut processor speed in half while on battery power to maximize battery life. The screens are small enough that if you have weak eyes, you’re going to have trouble reading text on these screens.

Conclusions: If you’re taking your laptop with you on the road on a daily basis, these machines are the only way to go. In my case, I have an ultraportable laptop and a high-powered desktop computer. I don’t try to do Photoshop projects on my laptop - for that kind of thing, I use my quad-core, dual screen desktop computer.

4. Subnotebooks

There is a category of laptop (if you can call them that) that are even smaller than ultraportables. Examples of these are the Asus Eee PC and UMPCs (which never really took off). I’ll be frank in that I don’t consider these to be in the same category as the other three kinds of laptops I’ve discussed but I know someone is going to call me out if I don’t at least talk about them. Mini-laptops and UMPCs usually feature the following specs:

- 7 - 10″ screen
- super-energy efficient processors (not comparable in any way to desktop processors)
- Weight between 1 and 3 lbs
- Miniaturized keyboards or a touch interface instead of a keyboard
- Amazing battery life
- Prices between $500 and $1,000

Here’s why I don’t like these things - you have to make a lot of compromises in capabilities to make these things ultraportable. Sure, you can tuck it into your purse but you can only run one application at the same time and often run oddball operating systems like Linux (sorry fanboys).

The price point is problematic for me as well. They don’t do that much more than a good smartphone and they cost a little more than a good smartphone… but they don’t make phonecalls. What the hell good are these things?

Pros: Really small.

Cons: Really kind of useless for most business applications.

Conclusions: These things are the awkward, bastard child of the PC industry. If you’re rich and you want to buy one of these things to show off at meetings, go for it. If you want to do real work on the road with us grownups, get a real computer.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for over ten years.

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Topics: Business of Consulting, Technology |

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