Laptop or Palmtop?

What about battery life? Isn't 3 hours ridiculously low for that laptop?
Many think it is, but I find more and more that the battery life of a laptop is less and less relevant. My older Fujitsu laptop gets approximately 1 hour of battery life, and I don't mind. I find that many commuter trains (and now some Amtrak trains) have AC plugs, and some day, every airline seat will have AC plugs (when they find a way for them to stop catching fire). Also, while I'm using my laptop, I'm not wandering around or in a place where I couldn't plug in. Yes, I can barely get 45 good minutes of battery life on an airplane, but again, I think a time when airlines are more business-traveler friendly is not that far off... and what is so important I can't wait a few hours until I'm on the ground anyway! I love watching all the guys who pull out top-of-the-line laptops on planes and then play solitaire!!! If this is what laptop battery life is to you, I suggest getting a portable hand-held video game. The battery life of a handheld, PDA, or pager is more important since it makes little sense to have to be plugged in while using these. The 8-24 hours available on the HP Jornada 680 is good considering it would cover a normal workday plus more, and then can recharge during the night.

Conclusion
Only you know what's best for you, but it seems to me that the palmtops are more and more attractive. You have a desktop or laptop in a docking station in your office, and you use the palmtop for travel and for business on the road. You can then synchronise the information and files on the palmtop with your office computer either when you are in or using the modem from the road. Makes traveling and working lighter, unless of course you have need for high-power or larger-screen applications like graphics and design apps.

Next episode, we'll look at the dream device. With cell phones that are pagers, PDAs that open your car door, pagers that fax, and more, where are we going next? What is that dream machine, and how far are we from having it?

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic