Strategic Shopper Article

What's this obsession with size?

If Sigmund Freud were alive today, you can bet he'd have a thing or two to say about the wired revolution. "Zis obsession vith being 'connected,'" he'd declare from his airplane seat, while psychoanalytically eyeing the rows of business travelers hunched over their notebook computers. "Clearly it is ze manifestation of unresolved yearning for ze umbilical cord."

Even if you think The Interpretation of Dreams is a load of hooey, you've got to admit there is a security-blanket quality about the way some folks refuse to leave home without their portable PCs in tow.

Don't think for a second that this phenomenon is all about productivity. Few of the notebook-encumbered travelers I see are concerned about finishing a proposal or catching up on correspondence en route. When they flip open their $4,000 ThinkPads, it's to while away boring hours of flight with a video game or by watching the movie of their choice on DVD.

Sure, it's cool that a notebook can offer all these functions in a unit about the size of a three-ring binder. But should you buy one? Probably not. I critique computers for a living, and I'm not impressed with the value that most notebooks deliver.

Unless you travel constantly and you really need to have a computer with you at all times, you should invest in a desktop system instead. A PC costs up to two-thirds less than a notebook with equivalent features, and you'll get more use out of it. Adding more memory or a better hard drive to a desktop PC is cheap and easy to do. Notebooks, on the other hand, are expensive to upgrade, and even if you are willing to shell out the money, your options are limited. With few industry-wide standards in place, most notebook components will work only with a particular brand or model.

Even for people on the move, a notebook isn't necessarily the best choice. Teresa Barker bought one two years ago, thinking it would help her co-ordinate her busy alternative health care practices in St. Catharines, Ont., and Aurora, Ont. Instead, Barker grew frustrated with the machine's erratic responses to standard commands, and soon it was just one more thing to lug between offices. Now she'd like to ditch it and find an easier-to-use system.

My advice to people like Barker? Remember that there's more than one way to transfer files. Barker, for instance, could install a desktop system at each office and simply send e-mail messages back and forth. Or she could copy the files she wants to take with her onto disks and carry them from one desktop computer to another. Old fashioned floppies are fine for word processing documents or simple spreadsheets, and even large, complicated files fit easily on rewritable CDs, Zip disks or Imation SuperDisks. Disks pop out at a push of a button, they're easy to carry, and they're inexpensive.

I admit that desktop systems don't pack the same "see how important I am?" appeal of notebooks, but they are much more comfortable to use. In their quest for compactness, notebook designers often throw ergonomics out the window. The biggest pain in the neck is having the keyboard hinged to the monitor, which forces you to curve your neck and shoulders down to view the screen. Plus, almost all notebooks force you to make do with an incomplete keyboard or one that's been re-arranged to take up less space. While it is possible to get used to having the delete key in a hard-to-reach spot, the complete absence of a numeric keypad can be almost crippling for people who need to track expenses or keep accounting records. Models with undersized keys pose an even greater annoyance, especially if you have big hands. You can alleviate both problems at home by attaching a desktop keyboard to the keyboard port on your notebook, but you still won't have a really comfortable setup.

If I've convinced you that notebooks are a bad idea, you can stop reading right here. But my editor insists I consider the possibility that not everyone will be swayed. And if my editor isn't happy, I don't get paid.

Besides, it's my journalistic responsibility to at least acknowledge the many users across Canada who are, at this very moment, contentedly computing into their laps. Cord-free; yet connected.

Mary Ann Bastian, for example, swears by her Dell Latitude Pentium notebook. "I couldn't live without it," says the director of Donald Ellis Gallery from Dundas, Ont. "Having a notebook allows me to take my centre of operations with me when I travel." Paired with a handy little Canon portable printer, Bastian's machine allows her to weather, say, a three-week art show in New York. When someone wants to buy a piece of native North American sculpture, she can draw up an invoice on her laptop and print out the client's copy. Then, at the end of her trip, she simply uploads all the relevant information to the PC at head office.

I will admit that highly mobile executives like Bastien can find a notebook useful. But the trick is to avoid getting taken in by expensive sounding options that don't add much to the utility of your computer. Once you figure out which features you really need and forget about the rest, it's possible to find a notebook that fits your needs, and still have a few bucks left over for software.

First, consider the notebook's CPU. How much memory and speed do you want? For most people, 128 MB of RAM (random access memory) and a 500 MHz processor are enough to run complex software applications with very little finger-drumming while they wait for the processor to "think." Impatient types might be tempted to spend more on a faster processor, but in my experience it isn't worth the extra money. When you use a 650 MHz notebook on battery power (rather than plugging it into an A/C wall outlet), it'll be processing at 500 MHz anyway. All other things being equal, a notebook with more memory is cheaper than one with a faster processor, and you won't notice any difference in performance.

Since your hard drive is where all your software and data will be stored, it makes sense to spring for as much capacity as you can afford. And a slower processor acquires the appearance of more MHz when it's in a notebook with more video memory. You should look for a video card with at least 8 MB. That'll get the display on your screen faster, so your computer seems like it's processing information faster.

Go with a full-size notebook to get the best selection of built-in features. They're the heavyweights of the market, measuring about two and a half inches thick and tipping the scales at 3 kilograms or more (7 to 8 pounds). But what they offer in return is convenience. Your essential mechanical drives are all onboard: the hard drive, a floppy drive, and a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, which is a must for viewing and working with digital photography and video, as well as for installing software.

Most smaller, lighter notebooks are missing one or even two of these three drives (also called "spindles"). You can buy a detachable CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or floppy drive separately and hook it up to the notebook only when you need it, but I wouldn't recommend this approach. Though it doesn't seem like a hassle at first, you'll grow to loathe the ritual of stopping work, closing your applications, powering down, unplugging a drive, putting it away, plugging in another drive, powering up, re-opening your application, then trying to remember where you left off.

Of course, maybe I'm missing the point. Notebooks are often more fashion statements than workhorses, and the stylish seem to operate on the assumption that less is more. If you absolutely must have a smaller model, you can choose from one of the mid-sized "slim/lights," which are a little over an inch thick and weigh 1.5 to 2.25 kilograms (3.5 to 5 pounds), or a "subnotebook," the most compact of them all, weighing 1 to 2 kilograms (2 to 4 pounds). Fujitsu's B Series LifeBook, for example, is 2.3 cm (0.9 inches) thick, and measures less than 26 by 21 cm (10 by 8 inches) (retail price: around $3,000). But, again, diminutiveness comes at the expense of features. The hard drive is its only onboard spindle (the B Series is packaged with a detachable external floppy drive, and you can buy an external CD-ROM drive separately) and the monitor is on the small side-27 cm (10.4 inches) diagonally, compared to the 36 or 38 cm (14 or 15 inches) you get in a full-size model. Be prepared to squint.

You can compare notebooks by browsing manufacturers' Web sites (log on to www.moneysense.ca and click on WHATTK for a list to get you started), and by checking out sites like Canadacomputes.com, which conducts extensive testing on computers, software and peripherals, then reports its findings to users like you. (Some of that testing and reporting is conducted by me, but don't take that as a sign of bias. This site really does have a lot to recommend it, including the fact that it's geared toward Canadians.) The U.S.-based site CNET.com is also worth a visit. Here, you can see which notebook models are the most popular with people who shop through the site, as well as product reviews and computer news. Click on Hardware, then Notebooks, to find the Laptop Decision Maker, which picks out a few models that fit your preferences on price, weight and features.

Robert Cod, the sales manager at Notebook City in Richmond, B.C., says your No. 1 criterion should be a respected brand name. You'll pay more for a Toshiba or Fujitsu, but what you get in return is the assurance of the brand's experience and international reputation. You may also find that large companies offer better warranties.

Toshiba's line of notebooks is very popular, and deservedly so. This company is the Toyota of the computer world: safe and reliable, but also at the higher end of the price spectrum at $TK to $6,900 for a fully-loaded Tecra 8100 PIII 750. For quality and value, I think Fujitsu notebooks are the best deal going. Their hard drives run well, and in six years of testing I've yet to find a lemon--a sign the company is paying attention to quality control.

If you have an Apple computer on your desk, choosing your brand is a no-brainer. You'll buy an iBook or a PowerBook to ensure seamless data transfer between your desktop and portable units, since few software programs are 100% compatible with both PC and Apple operating systems. And while they may be in the minority, Apple users are a loyal bunch who wouldn't dream of buying anything else.

Of course, there are other worthy manufacturers out there, and while you're surfing the Net for information on notebooks, you should make a note of the names you want to get to know better. Then head out to some computer stores to take your top candidates for a test run.

If you're planning to work with a notebook on your lap, sit down with it in the store. You should be able to wriggle in your seat without accidentally shutting off the power, and attach headphones without feeling the plug grind into your knee the whole time you're working. By the same token, if the CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or floppy drive opens onto your lap, dealing with disks is going to be awkward in a crowded subway or coach-class aircraft seat.

Try moving the cursor on screen. Is the pointer smooth and easy to use? While older models used trackballs in place of the desktop mouse, new models have pointsticks or touchpads. A pointstick is about the size and shape of a pencil-top eraser, and it sticks out of the centre of the keyboard so you can nudge it with your finger. The more popular touchpad is an area below the keyboard that you slide your finger across. Mastering either method will take some time, so be patient.

The one ergonomic advantage that notebooks have over desktop systems is the Thin Film Transistor (TFT) monitor you'll find on most new models. This Liquid Crystal Display is easy on the eyes and allows you to see the display, glare-free, from any angle. In contrast, every desktop monitor has at its core a Cathode Ray Tube--essentially a television set that causes eye strain and oozes radiation.

But is a healthier monitor enough of a reason to buy a notebook instead of a desktop computer? Not for my money. I'm about as likely to give up my desktop system as I am to give up watching Beggars and Choosers on TV.

Copyright © 2000

Wordsmithville home