[quote name='way2lazy2care' timestamp='1327676226' post='4906756']
[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...)
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I recently bought a fujitsu t900 or 901 (can't remember which). It's more like a full featured laptop that also happens to be a tablet, but it cost me $900 for a refurbished one on EBAY. I might have different requirements for it than you want though. I wanted one with a Wacom digitizer and a sandybridge CPU, so you can probably find better ones for you for cheaper.

The EEE slate is a pretty snazzy tablet with windows 7. Not sure how you'd feel about that though.

Most laptops I've seen have a 3.5 mm stereo output for headphones/speakers.

Technically not LIES, but im going to scream LIES regardless.

Ive never held a laptop with anything resembling a decent audio port, and that includes by current $2000 machine. Im not some bitching audiophile, but consistent fizzling and popping, or large frequency bands which are essentially dead? No thanks. If you care at all about this stuff, be prepared to get a usb external audio card, built by a company not ashamed to put their name on it.

The battery usually gets charged partway, but you can typically run the laptop even if the battery is removed altogether. I've heard that it doesn't make much difference in terms of the overall life of the battery.
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If you dont use your battery for extended periods of time (month or more), put it at 50% charge. Leaving your battery 100% charged all the time will render it essentially useless in a year, if not faster. Ive done that to three laptops before diving into the scientific literature on the subject; trying not to use your battery is not best practice. Number of cycles doesnt really matter; but extended periods of time at extremes of charge (full/empty) does.

[quote name='Eelco' timestamp='1327946454' post='4907714']
Ive never held a laptop with anything resembling a decent audio port

You've clearly never held a Mac. Headphone jacks are always crisp, plus optical if you need it. I know quite a number of professional musicians/composers who swear by them.[/quote]
You mean like this macbook pro of mine? Its not a complete wreck, but thats the best I can say of it.

That said, I've never held a PC laptop with poor audio connectors *either* (apart from a couple with other serious hardware problems). And being in the IT business, I've held a lot of laptops over the years...[/quote]
Guess im just unlucky. Or ive become more of an audio-snob than id like to admit.

If you care at all about this stuff, be prepared to get a usb external audio card, built by a company not ashamed to put their name on it.[/quote]
Does anybody still use an audio card, external or otherwise, to drive speakers? Hell, the Realtek crap standard on every motherboard under the sun is good enough for 99% of users, and laptops have much the same equipment.
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The audio out of my high end asus board at work is excellent. But ive used so few desktops over the past ten years, I wouldnt be able to spot a trend. On the ground of market pressures, there is indeed no reason to expect much of such on-board audio. Assuming quality standards which give a plainly borked result 10% of the time, only ten percent of users will even notice, and only ten percent of those will take the effort to ask for another board. Still, I could imagine the virtual absence of space constraints makes it more feasible to pack a decent DAC on a desktop motherboard.

Either way, I decided to stop worrying about the flaky audio quality of my various devices, and bought a digital wireless speaker set. Digital cd quality audio to your speakers, with DAC, amplifier and speaker all in one well-tuned box. That makes a lot of engineering sense, which shows in the very decent quality you get for relatively little money. The system does have some lag though; doesnt matter for music or film, but I imagine it would suck for gaming.

[quote name='Eelco' timestamp='1327955256' post='4907752']
You mean like this macbook pro of mine? Its not a complete wreck, but thats the best I can say of it.

I'll grant that the built-in speakers are pretty crap, but unless you happen to have taken home a dud, the onboard audio should be top notch - music production is one of Apple's major markets after all.[/quote]
No, im not talking the built in speakers; they are good as far as those come, but yeah.. To be fair I havnt tried my macbook on too many outputs, so my impression isnt that solid. I already decided I wanted to opt out of the dispensable-electronics-DAC roulette before I got it, so I never really used it much.

The audio out of my high end asus board at work is excellent. But ive used so few desktops over the past ten years, I wouldnt be able to spot a trend.[/quote]
There is a 50/50 chance that your Asus board uses the same family of Intel HD Audio chip used in your MacBook Pro. If not, it uses the Realtek chip shipped in every el cheapo motherboard under the sun...[/quote]
Dunno. I suppose there is quite a bit of variability in cheap analog circuits. Digital circuits either work or they dont, but some subpar soldering on your connector and you are screwed. Accidentally yank your cable too hard once, and all bets are off.

Or ive become more of an audio-snob than id like to admit.[/quote]
All your audio files are FLAC encoded, right?
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Not quite. Im anal enough to notice quality below 192kbps mp3, so I do have my favorite albums in FLAC, just to be on the safe side. But I thats not a hobby I would entertain if I had any other ideas as to how to fill up my harddrive space.

If you dont use your battery for extended periods of time (month or more), put it at 50% charge. Leaving your battery 100% charged all the time will render it essentially useless in a year, if not faster. Ive done that to three laptops before diving into the scientific literature on the subject; trying not to use your battery is not best practice. Number of cycles doesnt really matter; but extended periods of time at extremes of charge (full/empty) does.

Never had this problem. My old Dell Latitude D830 came with 9-cell battery and I've purchased second 6-cell battery for CD-bay, both have been with me since 2007. I've used this laptop throughout the year with 100% of charge, always leaving batteries inside. Every month or so I'm doing deep discharge (but only to 10%). 9-cell battery has 9% of wear, 6-cell battery has 1% of wear (maybe because it's Lithium-Polymer). Both batteries are now 5 years old. By the way, this laptop has also supposedly defective Nvidia chip (Quadro NVS 140), which after 5 years had not failed yet.

Similar story with my Eee PC 1000 HE. The battery is a couple years old and only has about 9% of wear. Neither of laptops have anomalies with their battery gauge, since I've been doing regular discharges (but not below 10%).

My guess is that there are other factors like quality, charging scheme, usage patterns and so on. My argument for leaving battery at 100% is that whenever you would use the laptop, it will always have maximum charge (e.g. in power outrages and while traveling).

On the other hand, the battery of my older Dell Latitude C810 died in a week and the battery of my new Samsung 14'' laptop has 15% of wear right after purchase.

[quote name='Eelco' timestamp='1327946454' post='4907714']
If you dont use your battery for extended periods of time (month or more), put it at 50% charge. Leaving your battery 100% charged all the time will render it essentially useless in a year, if not faster. Ive done that to three laptops before diving into the scientific literature on the subject; trying not to use your battery is not best practice. Number of cycles doesnt really matter; but extended periods of time at extremes of charge (full/empty) does.

Never had this problem. My old Dell Latitude D830 came with 9-cell battery and I've purchased second 6-cell battery for CD-bay, both have been with me since 2007. I've used this laptop throughout the year with 100% of charge, always leaving batteries inside. Every month or so I'm doing deep discharge (but only to 10%). 9-cell battery has 9% of wear, 6-cell battery has 1% of wear (maybe because it's Lithium-Polymer). Both batteries are now 5 years old. By the way, this laptop has also supposedly defective Nvidia chip (Quadro NVS 140), which after 5 years had not failed yet.

Similar story with my Eee PC 1000 HE. The battery is a couple years old and only has about 9% of wear. Neither of laptops have anomalies with their battery gauge, since I've been doing regular discharges (but not below 10%).

My guess is that there are other factors like quality, charging scheme, usage patterns and so on. My argument for leaving battery at 100% is that whenever you would use the laptop, it will always have maximum charge (e.g. in power outrages and while traveling).

On the other hand, the battery of my older Dell Latitude C810 died in a week and the battery of my new Samsung 14'' laptop has 15% of wear right after purchase.
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You cycle it at least once a month. You are doing it right then. It is not the 99% of the time at high charge that is the problem; it is the lack of reset that a cycle gives, that leads to some kind of runaway degradation.

You cycle it at least once a month. You are doing it right then. It is not the 99% of the time at high charge that is the problem; it is the lack of reset that a cycle gives, that leads to some kind of runaway degradation.

I will say that I've left my crappy laptop plugged in constantly, and now it's battery lasts no more than 15 minutes from a full charge after having it for 4 years.

This isn't even an exageration. If anything it doesn't even last 15 minutes.