I have been positively impressed by netbooks. Portability wise, they are unbeatable.
I'm surprised they are going down... wait... ah, yeah, that 'atom' thing...
1st gen atom was terrible.
2nd gen is so-so. I know a few mainstream users on 2nd gen atoms. They are fine with it for their daily use.

A friend of mine bought a HP convertible with an SSD (he told me it's an OCZ?), Radeon 5400 and CoreI3 ULV (1.20 Ghz) about a year ago. It's awesome, but was a bit pricey. Touchscreen is shit.

I strongly recommend cheap desktop + cheap netbook. I'd love to have a look at some netbooks based either on Via Nano or AMD's equivalent... atom is really too weak for me, not for any serious use, unless you learn the art of patience in small ticks.

I've never really liked laptops - they're too small and cramped to be much fun for "real" work (especially those nasty keyboards) yet still too bulky and heavy to be much fun to carry around, especially on public transport.

I've personally covered both bases with a desktop PC for most work and a tablet for those cases when I need to pop out to visit a client.

I have a laptop and an iPad. I have a docking station at work that I plug my laptop into, which has a wired internet connection, dual monitors, mouse, and Microsoft natural keybaord. When I go home I just undock the laptop, throw in my bag, and go. It isn't exactly a killer gaming laptop, but allows me to do the game that I do actually do on it - play games like League of Legends and TF2. When I'm just browsing the net or checking e-mail though, I'll usually sit on the couch and use the iPad.

I'm a Producer, so I compulsively check my e-mail with my phone I do find myself browsing the internet often on it, but the iPad really is more ideal for browsing. The iPad is great for use for Google Maps for driving directions in the car, and it is good for looking at recipes in the kitchen! I honestly think iPads are a bit overpriced, but my work paid for it so I can't really complain.

I work with a desktop and two laptops next to the monitor ("L" setup). I'm very happy of this configuration, I can do so many things. My advice is to have both, at last a desktop and a laptop, because you'll use them for different things.

i use laptop and it's fine.

[quote name='mdwh' timestamp='1327673906' post='4906745']
I find a desktop plus my Samsung netbook works well - unlike a tablet, I get a real computer that's still highly portable, and has a physical keyboard. Though having said that, I plan to switch later this year to laptop + netbook, so I don't always have to be using a desk when at home (or making do with the lower power netbook).

You could get a convertible tablet :-p There were a bunch of convertible tablet/netbooks at CES that looked really attractive.[/quote]They look nice - what's the performance like given they presumably have to have the stuff in the screen section? Are there any with x86, and with a non-phone OS like Windows or Linux?

(Though I'd be happy to simply have a touchscreen netbook with vertical resolution greater than 600...)


For hand-held tablets, I already have my Nokia smartphone (phones are pocket sized tablets, really), which is why for my needs any additional larger device actually be able to be more like a real computer.

As far as I'm concerned, a gaming laptop is mostly a waste of money. You'd just be far, far better served with a significantly more powerful and cheaper desktop. It's hard to exaggerate how much more powerful desktops can be compared to laptops.

A laptop should be all about small size, portability, and ease of use when sitting on your lap. The best laptop out there in my opinion is the 11" Macbook Air.

But then I think that a Macbook Air is a waste of money, as I get something more portable with my much lower cost Samsung N220 Plus The 10" Samsung N220 Plus is the best laptop out there, in my opinion.

The point is that everyone's situation is different. Whilst up until now I have managed with a desktop as a main machine, I can see a laptop being very useful and convenient (e.g., can use anywhere in the house, outside, and easy to transport), even if it isn't filling the purpose of being an ultra-portable (which can easily be done with a secondary machine). Cost-wise, it seems that Samsung netbook + Gaming laptop would work out comparable to High end ultra portable laptop (of with the Apple Air is one) + Desktop, so I'd say it's a tradeoff. The former gives you more flexibility at home, more portability with the netbook, but less power in the netbook; the latter gives you more portable power.

People wanting to save money might go with netbook + desktop. People with lots of money to spend might decide on high end ultra portable laptop + gaming laptop