Laptop With Desktop Setup?

Mel Culbreath · Post by **Mel Culbreath** » 17 Nov 2001 8:09 am

I travel a lot and am considering buying a Laptop PC. My Desktop PC needs updating and I am thinking about getting rid of it and using the Laptop with my existing monitor, keyboard, and mouse while at home. I have been told that I could do this by using the Laptop in a "Docking Station". Has anyone tried this? Is this a workable solution so that I wouldn't have to replace the Desktop too?

Also, I am looking for advice on which Laptop to buy for under $2,000. I am not a gamer, and use it for spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail, surfing the Internet, and listening to music from the Internet.
Laptop size and weight is not an issue, but battery life and as large a screen as possible is important.

I am a fanatic about backing up files I create. Some are much too large for a floppy.
What media should I use for this purpose? My current desktop has a tape backup, but it is pretty slow.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mel

Steve Feldman · Post by **Steve Feldman** » 17 Nov 2001 11:35 am

I travel a lot for work with a laptop. I also plug into a docking station at the office, where I use a desktop monitor. It's a great solution.

I would get an extra battery if uncorded operation is a concern for you. These things are smart in that they go into low-power mode when not plugged in, but realistically, 2-3 hours of battery operation is what you'll get before things start to diminish - and that won't take you cross country on a flight.

A burnable CD module is a good way to go for back-up. You can also pull it out and insert a floppy drive if you need to do that - or, just patch it in through an available port in the back.

I haven't checked around for what's being sold these days, but I expect you could get a pretty good machine for $2K. I have a Dell, and I've used Toshibas in the past. Both work for me.

Website · Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 17 Nov 2001 1:59 pm

Steve's right on the money. A docking station is a nice accessory, as you can keep your monitor, mouse, etc. attached to the station and just insert your laptop when needed (rather than having to reattach everything).
If you're looking for a Windows laptop, the Dell laptops I've used are good buys.

The best laptops in my opinion are IBM's ThinkPad series and the new Apple iBooks.

Both have excellent screens and can be ordered with CD/RW drives (so you can burn backups to CDs). If you don't go that way, I'd suggest you get an Adaptec PCMCIA SCSI card and connect it to an external CD burner, then do your backups that way.

------------------
Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Mel Culbreath · Post by **Mel Culbreath** » 19 Nov 2001 10:43 am

Steve/Brad,

Thanks for the quick response.

Sounds like you have answered my questions fully.

Jack, you can close this topic if you want to.

Mel

bob drawbaugh · Post by **bob drawbaugh** » 19 Nov 2001 2:32 pm

If you must use a laptop the docking station is the only way to go. I use one at home for my company laptop it is great. Just pop the laptop in the docking station and you now have a desk top. My docking station will let me install another hard drive,CD rom or disk drive. So you don't have to put all the weight on the laptop if you don't need it while you are away from the docking station. For backup there are alot of good options. You can use the tape with the docking station,but you can get mini zip drives for the laptop that are really neat and better than tape. But you all ready have the tape so use it unless you have the bucks to spend. Then get the mini zip drive. I hope this helps.

John Fabian · Post by **John Fabian** » 20 Nov 2001 12:54 pm

You might also look into an external IEEE 1394 (firewire) Hard Drive for backup and any extra storage needs.

Many new laptops have IEEE 1394 ports and the drives are reasonable.