Even if you can take a taxi and you would only be required to walk at the airport and into your hotel and meetings, you still would NOT want your laptop bag digging into your shoulder. Believe me, a few pounds would make a lot of difference. Especially for someone who is only 5'3" tall, like me.
And apart from portability, travel laptops should also meet your needs both for business AND pleasure.
Just like choosing a car, getting the right laptop to tote around with you needs as much attention. It is as important. You need to check the specifics based on your own needs, size and the office budget.
In my case, these are my laptop requirements:
- It has to be light. Self-explanatory.
- It has to have built-in WiFi. This is, especially, useful when in hotels and airports.
- The screen size should be chosen based on the program we use. For those who need to work on spreadsheets, I suggest getting a bigger screen. For those working with graphics, you need to get a laptop with a better screen resolution.
- Consider the connectors available. How many USB ports do you need? Would you be using a floppy (yup, in this day and age!)? Do you need an ethernet card? Would you be needing a video connector?
In addition, I always need to carry with me an extra battery. And I make sure that I invest on a durable yet classy looking laptop bag.
Can't decide? Need help?
Check out EHow's Travel with Laptop for an explanation of what you may want to consider and why. PC Mag, on the other hand, has a great overview on what is available in the market as they put 5 Travel Laptops side by side for comparison.
Should you be tech savvy enough to know the specifics on hardware, check out Dell. They give you absolute freedom on which hardware you want installed in your laptop.
My personal choice? I have a Sony Vaio VGN-FS315S.
There are so many choices available in the market today that you CAN definitely afford to be picky.
And let's not forget -- once you've made the right equipment selection, you also have to make the right bag selection. A comfortable one that doesn't dig into your shoulder or arm, has enough pockets to be utilitarian, but too much so as to add weight. Everything you want, and nothing that you don't. There are lots of choices out there, but while I easily found a laptop that worked for me, I still change bags every six months or so.
Posted by: Fly Girl | March 14, 2006 5:07 PM | Permalink to Comment