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| that seems a little BS to me man. At school i see about 2 ppl in classes of 30 with laptops out and these are computer science classes or engineering where I would say the majority of laptops for university students are. |
Once again, we have a case in which one example is being used to make inferences about every college out there. Not only are most colleges beginning to require laptops for incoming students, but many are actually providing them to the incoming freshmen. At the university I attended, I'd say that at least a third of the people in my classes had laptops they took to class with them, and I was a History/Political Science major. This was three years ago. Now that wireless networking is becoming even more prevalent, you are seeing that percentage increase markedly. Go to some university/college websites and see how many either require a computer or provide them - you'll be surprised. I know of several school offhand that do that, and Duke University is actually providing iPods to incoming freshmen to record lectures on.
There's a reason that notebooks outsold desktops for the first time ever in late 2004 - portability and mobility are becoming increasingly important, and units that can play games are among the leaders in the notebook segment. When you can get a laptop that will play games for almost the same price as a desktop, the portability and flexibility of the mobile platform really stands out.
Personally speaking, I have gone back and forth between desktops & notebooks over the years - my first notebook was a Powerbook 145. To be perfectly honest, I prefer notebooks because of the portability factor. Furthermore, given the pace at which notebook manufacturers are closing the gap with their desktop counterparts, I'm not surprised in the least that notebooks sales are still climbing. It's not just a handful of people that are turning to notebooks for gaming, the number is growing every day.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
Here's my five reasons for owning a laptop over a desktop:
1. Portability - not only can I use my notebook anywhere in the house or in the yard 9weather permitting), but I can also take it with me - whether I'm flying out on a trip or just going to a coffee shop.
2. Size - a notebook computer takes up less space than a desktop, and consequently can be used in a wider variety of places.
3. Flexibility - unlike the early days, when laptops lagged far behind the performance curve of desktops, notebooks have closed in on their larger counterparts. That means that not only can I do word processing, email, etc. on the unit, but I can also edit digital video, play games, etc.
4. Power consumption - since laptop manufacturers do have to take battery life into consideration, I wind up using less electricity to power it. Compared to a desktop, where you are running power to the tower, monitor, and whatever other accessories you have connected to it, I have just the one AC adapter connected to the laptop. That means that I consume less electricity, and save money every month when the electric bill rolls around.
5. Price - for virtually the same price as a similarly configured desktop, I get the same capabilities, INCLUDING gaming, but I gain the advantages outlined above. There will always be power users who have to have the absolute best, fastest (and usually most expensive) computers out there. They are the ones who wouldn't be suited to notebooks. But for most people, notebooks provide a viable alternative to desktops, even for the same purposes.
