Notebook computer part

Laptop computers have come a long way in a short time, but byte for byte, do they measure up to PCs? The answer is yes and no, depending on the user and the purpose for which the computer is being used. According to Mike McGuire, principal analyst for mobile computing for the Gartner Group in San Jose, Calif., laptops have advanced technologically to the point where they've become reasonable alternatives to PCs. Ironically, however, the primary benefit of a laptop may also be its greatest liability -- portability.

"One of the key issues at stake is security," McGuire says. "Many laptops are now equipped with up to 20-gigabyte hard drives, which leaves room for a great deal of sensitive information, including network access IDs and passwords. We've all heard stories about high-ranking U.S. State Department employees who misplace notebooks or have them ripped off. The founders of multimillion-dollar companies also lose their notebooks, and the same is true of their employees."

At the moment, laptops are still "cool," a characteristic with points both good and bad. Many people are starstruck by the notion of portable computing. But while the concept may be glamorous, its true role in the workplace has yet to be decided. Salespeople, journalists, and other mobile professionals clearly profit from the portable part of portable computing, but what about accountants, office managers, and executive vice presidents? Smitten by the technology, some companies push notebooks on people who may not need them, encouraging those employees to work from home or to take work home with them after hours. Although flextime and work at home have already proven themselves viable concepts, the tools required probably depend on the job.

"Some employees are notebook people, including journalists, salespeople, and anyone else whose job entails a lot of travel," says Bill Founier, PC analyst for Evans Research Corp., an information, technology, and market research firm based in Toronto, Canada. "For people in that situation, having a desktop makes no sense whatsoever. Corporate nomads and even people who travel occasionally or sometimes work at home can also benefit from a laptop. But they are expensive, and a company should carefully calculate the dollar return before investing in them. Frankly, there are plenty of employees who simply have no need for laptops at all."

Computer versus computer

Salespeople and laptops were made for each other. Every sales manager knows that a rep's success or failure is directly attributable to the number of prospects he or she visits each day. Armed with a portable computer, a salesperson can dramatically increase efficiency, check credit, and process orders more quickly and painlessly thanks to the easy Internet access afforded by the technology. The benefits of laptops to journalists are also obvious, just as they are to field engineers and contractors who must regularly consult a database of information to perform their jobs.

But what is true of some professions isn't necessarily gospel for all others. Desk-bound professionals in need of a fast, sophisticated computing tool would probably do better to chose a PC, since the components going into them are almost always several notches more powerful than those found in laptops and notebooks. This handicap is attributable once again to a notebook's compact size. The faster processors common to most PCs generate too much heat for them to be safely installed in laptops.

This and other inhibiting factors have kept mobile computing a couple of paces behind traditional computing technology. Some believe it could lag there indefinitely both technologically and in terms of application. According to business technology analysts like George Bulat, manager of PC research for IDC Canada in Toronto, laptops are not likely to beat PCs for workplace supremacy any time soon, due largely to price issues and their technical and ergonomic limitations. There's also a trend among businesses to become less technologically crazed rather than more so, he says. In the future, computers equipped with bells, whistles, and other mostly unnecessary baggage may lose their luster in favor of simpler systems that do the jobs for which they were designed and little more. This development could conceivably slow the pace of laptop deployment as well.

"There's a school of thought going around that two cheap PCs may be a better use of a company's resources than a PC for work and a laptop for working at home," agrees McGuire. "One of the pros of portable computers is that they basically duplicate the work of PCs. But since they also cost a lot more, the question arises--why not just stick with desktops? Unless an employee has a component of travel in his or her job, a laptop probably isn't a good investment. If you must supply your employees with home computers, it's probably more practical to provide them with inexpensive PCs. This also makes good sense efficiency-wise since even the fastest performing mobile processor is slower than the ones found in most desktops. Laptops are still expensive. Before investing in them, a company should make sure the technology's full potential will be maximized by applying them to the right job types."

The merits of mobile computing

Gary-Paul Prince is a laptop devotee. Prince is senior publicist for Peachpit Press Inc. in Berkeley, Calif., a publisher of how-to books on graphics, Web design, and desktop publishing. Until recently, he spent much of his working life seated in front of a desktop. Over time, however, Prince slowly segued to laptop only, his interest increasing as the technology improved. Nowadays, Prince does everything on his laptop, including video editing. Such a feat would not be possible if not for the quantum leap in quality the technology has enjoyed in recent years, he says.

"Powerbooks have larger screens now, which are great for doing heavy-duty production," Prince continues. "Laptops are no longer as limited as they used to be; in fact, as far as I'm concerned, they work just as well as most desk-bound PCs. The sheer capacity of mobile computing has exceeded even the wildest expectations of the people who depend on it to make a living. My laptop has over 200 gigs of RAM and 20 gigabytes of hard drive. I use it at work, take it on business trips, and use it to work at home or on the beach where anyone who needs to can reach me by cell phone. Our employees benefit tenfold from their laptops because they use them at home to get up to speed on various aspects of computer usage, such as HTML."

But even Prince acknowledges the ergonomic drawbacks of laptops. People who know how to type have difficulty getting used to the downsized keyboard, he admits, and the stationary mouse can be difficult to master. On top of that, the resolution quality of most laptop screens is far from perfect and certainly no match for desktop monitors.

Many users get around these hardships by employing a standard keyboard and mouse, and in some cases, even a PC monitor. Although these solutions definitely do the trick, they rob the technology of its signature asset of portability. Mobile computing with an auxiliary keyboard and mouse must seem like an oxymoronic concept to a user who must perform his or her job from an airline seat, even in first class. Wireless technology offers one solution, but it's also a recent development, and even the best wireless devices have limitations. Rather than enhance their notebooks with space-consuming accessories, most users live with them as they are. The point is that portability has its price.

"Notebook flat panels [screens] are getting a lot better, but enhancing them has also made them more expensive. This is the primary reason laptops remain as high priced as they are," adds Rob Enderle, vice president of desktop and mobile technology at Giga Information Group, an IT advisory firm in Santa Clara, Calif. "Prices will start to drop as the cost of the flat panels goes down. Right now, there are still capacity problems to be overcome requiring a costly manufacturing process. That situation could improve as early as next year."

Is a PC or a laptop computer the right choice for you or your employees? A technology is only as beneficial as the use to which it's put. A huge, marketing-oriented company with hundreds of reps on the road would obviously do well to invest in notebooks. However, when the same company decides to bring its salespeople in-house, the picture changes drastically. A salesperson who works exclusively on the telephone will be just as computer dependent as a counterpart on the road. But will a laptop help him do a job better when he can just as easily use a PC? Common sense suggests no.

"A company should identify the workgroups within the organization that can truly benefit from a laptop," McGuire adds. "If a given employee doesn't need one, he or she probably shouldn't have one. It's really a no-brainer."