Notebooks for business
Published: 17 Nov 2008
Matching users to notebooks
Putting the main notebook usage models and device types together gives a picture like this: 
As far as entry-level users on a limited budget are concerned, the choices are a netbook if portability is required and a low-end mid-size notebook for the more desk-bound.
Mainstream users are best served by the 2-3kg thin-and-light category, which forms the bulk of 'fleet' notebooks in businesses these days. Again, if portability is less important, then a larger mid-size system may be more appropriate.
The ultraportable is the ideal notebook for mobile professionals — netbooks are generally too cramped and too underpowered to do duty as a main computer (although they may prove valuable as a second system). If a bigger screen and a more spacious keyboard are required, then mobile pros should look for a thin-and-light notebook.
Power users need a high-spec notebook, which means a reasonably bulky system. Their requirements are likely to encompass the high end of the thin-and-light category if portability is important, and the lower reaches of the desktop replacement category if screen size is the main attraction. Most power users who are largely desk-bound will be suited by a high-end mid-size system.
Content creators need desktop PC or workstation levels of functionality, and that will generally mean a no-holds-barred desktop replacement system with screen sizes in 17in. territory. These machines will not be especially portable (some don't even bother to include a battery), nor will they come cheap. Those who need a system that can be transported to and from clients' premises may be better served by a high-end mid-range system that comes in under the shoulder-busting 4kg mark.
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- Notebook design: things we love, things we hate
- Notebook design: ten things we love
- Notebook design: ten things we hate
- Notebooks for business
- The future of netbooks
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