The Right Laptop, Notebook or Smartbook For You

Choosing the right mobile device can save your business money, improve the efficiency of your staff and streamline your company's workflow.How can laptops, netbooks and smartbooks fit into your business plan?

 The current issue of ebusinesslive.ie discusses the pros and cons of these three mobile devices.

Laptops

Laptop or notebook computers are the most expensive - and best understood - devices in the mobile market, and they easily offer the greatest functionality and range of capabilities. From VoIP services like Skype through video conferencing capabilities - often with built-in webcams - laptops are the complete communications and computing device.

While not as physically portable as mobile phones or netbooks, laptops compensate by offering desktop-standard functionality.

Consider purchasing a laptop instead of that desktop you've been planning to get. If the laptop remains in the office, it can be hooked up to a larger monitor. But if you need to travel and compute at the same time, laptops give you the option to do so. Expect to pay more than you would for a standard desktop computer, though.

Ideal user: Desktop-standard computing capabilities and VoIP functionality make laptops the complete solution for those who need an all-round portable business machine.

Netbooks

Smaller, lighter and cheaper - but with less functionality - than traditional laptops, netbooks, or mini-laptops, offer an economical way to bring mobile computing to your workforce. However, with smaller keyboards, netbooks are not ideal for those who need to type for a prolonged period of time.

In Ireland, netbooks are still regarded as "companion devices", perfect for accompanying - but not replacing - your laptop computer.

Part of the reason for that perception could be that netbooks are seen as a step-down from laptops, whereas in an alternative view, they could be seen as a step-up from smartphones. If smartphones are your comparison point, it's possible to think in terms of improved processing power, larger data storage capacity and larger screens.

In fact, small businesses in Europe and North America are more interested in and more likely to purchase netbooks than are larger enterprises, according to Forrester. Fourteen percent of companies with 20 to 99 employees have purchased netbooks, compared to 9 percent of enterprises with 1,000 to 4,999 employees and just 4 percent of companies with 20,000 or more employees.

One advantage netbooks have over laptops and other mobile devices is that many are sold with bundled broadband access, which can bring extra savings to your company.

Ideal user: Those who only need a mobile device for web browsing, watching videos, light email use and online applications.

Smartbooks

The newest mobile devices on the market, smartbooks typically combine the functionality of a netbook and a smartphone. They run smartphone software (like Google's Linux-based Android operating system or Microsoft's Windows CE), but they do so on portable computers with 7-inch to 10-inch screens.

Typical features include all-day battery life, 3G compatibility, GPS services and/or Wi-Fi connectivity. The inner workings are usually housed in a netbook-style case and the devices come with either a touchscreen or a physical keyboard. Apple's recently launched iPad is a good example of a smartbook-like device. The Lenovo Skylight is another.

Like netbooks, smartbooks are designed for running online applications, rather than traditional desktop software. The only real advantage smartbooks possess over netbooks, however, is that they offer superior battery life.

Since these devices are so new, it's hard to predict exactly where they will fit into business users' IT spend, and most SMEs will probably wait until smartbooks are better understood before making that investment.

Ideal user: Someone who requires a mobile device for email, online applications, web browsing, and watching videos.

Source: Enterprise Ireland (www.ebusinesslive.ie)

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