Miscellaneous Ramblings

Portables Replacing Desktops in Users' Plans

Charles Moore - 2001.10.30 - Tip Jar

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: New 2008 iMac 2GB $42 / iMac Intel Core2 DUO & MacBook Pro 2GB $36 - 1GB $20. MacPro 8 Core Memory 8GB kit $286 / 4GB kit $143 / 2GB kit $93 -- Free shipping available. LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: OWC Mercury On-The-Go FW400/800/USB2/eSATA Portables High Performance A/V Rated, **Bus Powered** **Up to 500GB in the Palm of your Hand** Macworld Editor's Choice, CNET 'Very Good' - from $75.99!

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

Macworld UK says that when they asked Which is best for you: Desktop or Portable?, they didn't expect the tide to have turned so heavily towards PowerBooks and iBooks.

In the poll results, only 17 per cent of voters favored desktops, while 35 per cent owned or planned to buy a portable, with 38 per cent in favour of having both.

IMHO, this is just common sense sinking in at the consumer level. As I have advocated for years in my Road Warrior column and elsewhere, PowerBooks - and more recently iBooks as well - are simply a better choice for most users. The portable Mac is the logical Mac.

The iMac weighs a hulking 35 pounds, and relatively compact as it is, it still occupies a significant chunk of desktop real estate. The iMac may have a convenient carry handle, but very few of us would ever consider it to be a seriously portable computer. And while it is in many respects the logical heir of the original "small Macs," it weighs more than twice as much and is a lot bigger. Even the Cube, as I found out, is a far more bulky and cumbersome package than a PowerBook.

So the portable's obvious first advantage is its small size and portability. Some people need and others (like me) simply prefer the small size of a laptop computer. You aren't rooted in one spot and can conveniently use the computer outdoors in nice weather if the mood strikes you. 'Books also don't dominate a room the way a desktop machine does. They are more subtle, a quality that appeals to me greatly.

Another major advantage of choosing to work on a PowerBook is the built-in flat screen display. You can, of course, buy a flat screen monitor for a desktop Mac, but doing so will erase a significant chunk of the desktop's price advantage.

The PowerBook 3400c and G3/G4 PowerBooks made the "PowerBook as my only Mac" concept a no-apologies potential reality for many users. Of course, some people still want the raw power and expandability of a high-end desktop Mac, but for many of us, a PowerBook or iBook will do anything we need a computer to do - and a great deal more besides.

Apple's G3 Series PowerBook portables essentially removed any logical rationale for owning a both desktop computer and a laptop for most Mac-users. With more speed than any but the very fastest desktop models and an inventory of features that would have been considered the pinnacle of high end only a couple of years ago, a 'Book can easily be "the computer to have when you're only having one" with no excuses necessary.

And if you want to, you can even convert your PowerBook into a virtual desktop Mac for stationary use. Just plug in an external monitor, a standard keyboard and mouse, whatever other peripherals you need, and voilà! This sort of setup costs substantially less than buying separate portable and desktop computers.

Another 'Book advantage, especially if you live out in the boonies like I do, is lack of worry about power outages. I can happily keep on computing - and even Web surfing and faxing - through blackouts as long as my batteries hold up.

And, of course, portable computing is not just a boon to traveling business people, students, and other road warriors. It's a pleasure to be able to pick up the computer and work outdoors on a lovely summer afternoon or just move to another location in the house or office. It's a lot more convenient to carry the same computer between home and the office than it is to deal with the hassle of keeping files synchronized between two computers. When you go on vacation or business trips, it's easy to take a laptop along. In the rare instance that your trusty PowerBook needs service, it's a lot less back strain to carry a laptop into the dealer than a 40 pound desktop box.

Of course, some desktop die-hards "poured scorn on the portable lovers" in the Macworld UK poll, one arguing that "Portables are overpriced, underpowered fashion accessories."

Well, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but the desktop is becoming a dinosaur for all but very high-end or low-budget users.

Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and writing for Mac websites since May 1998. His The Road Warrior column is a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com.

Recent Miscellaneous Ramblings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.