Lots of IT professionals I know have moved to laptops for their daily work. This allows them to keep their work handy, no matter where they are. If they need to work from home, or on a trip, they have their tools with them. It’s a good move for many people, but I wonder if it’s what the majority of professionals want. As a side note, if you have a work laptop, with work data, you ought to be using whole disk encryption.

When I worked as a production DBA, it was handy to have a laptop to connect to work from home and check on things. However I felt this was a double edged sword, with the responsibility of carrying the laptop with me, and the expectations of management that I would be “more available” than if I didn’t have a portable work machine.

Recently I thought about this when I saw a release for a new desktop PC that is “no wider than a golf ball“, the new ThinkCentre M93 from  Lenovo. It’s small, and powerful, with enough power for many developers and administrators that might work in the technology area. It’s also one of those machines that I might consider portable.

To me this might be the best of both worlds. Something that’s a desktop, removing me from the responsibility and obligation to take it home with me every night. However small enough that if I did need to work at home, to monitor a process, or get something done away from the office, I could pack it up and use it at home.

I wonder how many of you have laptops from work, or desktops, and if you prefer one or the other. I used to appreciate an employer picking up the expense of a laptop, but these days I’d prefer to buy my own and let the employer keep their equipment in the office, and out of the rest of my life.

Steve Jones

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