Thinkpads Forum

For those of you who work long hours on your computers.. do you tend to prefer a dock set up with keyboard and mouse, or do you work on your laptops directly? Just curious.
Thanks

OMG, I wouldn't want to work on a laptop for 10 hours each day. One of the main reasons that I prefer using desktops is I hate putting my palms on warm palm rests. There are a few laptops whose palm rests don't warm up but most do. If I must use a laptop for 10 hours a day, I would certainly attach an external keyboard.

I am trying to figur eout if I should just ditch the laptop compleely, set up a beast desktop in my office and then use remote access. Internet is fast enough wherever I am to remote in.. and then I can just use an ipad, or whatever PC available as a dummy terminal.

puma wrote:I am trying to figur eout if I should just ditch the laptop compleely, set up a beast desktop in my office

I think that's smart. I find that as long as the desktop computer is on the floor, and the monitor (or, in my case, 7 monitors) are pushed all the way back against the wall, using a desktop gives me *more* desk space than using a laptop. Besides warm palm rests, this is another important reason why I prefer desktops over laptops. There are several additional reasons as well, which I won't list.

For me it's about not having to carry around a laptop anymore unless I am going to be working at an office remotely. Even then, if I have access to ANY desktop with the internet I can get to mine. However the thinkpad t440s makes this hard since it's such a cool machine.. I enjoy using it.


Wow 7?! What video card you using?

My work (software developer) keeps me 8 to 12 hours on my Thinkpad/s (X230,X220, plus).
The Thinkpad is connected to a small USB hub and the hub is connected to a keyboard, mouse, and printer, and the display is connected to the Thinkpad port.
The Thinkpad is around 6 feet away and keeps the emi at a safe distance.

puma wrote:For me it's about not having to carry around a laptop anymore

I hate carrying a laptop as well. I simply use my smartphone to transfer files between work and home. If I must carry a laptop every day, it would be my pocket-sized Sony P Series UMPC, so that I wouldn't need a carrying case.

puma wrote:Wow 7?! What video card you using?

See, this is yet another advantage of using desktops. With so many expansion slots for adding video cards, it's so easy to drive many monitors with just one desktop. With appropriate video cards, I think my HP 8300 Elite can easily support up to 32 monitors! Here's a photo of my 7-monitor setup: http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 21&t=52525

Definitely docked + external equipment.

While I can certainly work long hours on a laptop (especially one with a nice IPS screen and a comfortable keyboard), I would not want to do this long-term.

One of the reasons I prefer business machines, like Thinkpads, is the dedicated docking connector and the docking station that allows you to connect all the peripherals to it, and just snap the laptop on.

A desktop is an even better solution, in terms of expandability and power per $, but it does require a bit more desk space or floor space, and doesn't allow you to take the whole thing 'on the go'.

A powerful desktop and a small 'dumb' terminal is a workable solution for certain tasks, mostly office type. But no internet is fast enough for real-time gaming or video.

no_man wrote:My work (software developer) keeps me 8 to 12 hours on my Thinkpad/s (X230,X220, plus).
The Thinkpad is connected to a small USB hub and the hub is connected to a keyboard, mouse, and printer, and the display is connected to the Thinkpad port.
The Thinkpad is around 6 feet away and keeps the emi at a safe distance.

emi? You're concerned about the electro magnetic interference?

pianowizard wrote:

puma wrote:For me it's about not having to carry around a laptop anymore

I hate carrying a laptop as well. I simply use my smartphone to transfer files between work and home. If I must carry a laptop every day, it would be my pocket-sized Sony P Series UMPC, so that I wouldn't need a carrying case.

puma wrote:Wow 7?! What video card you using?

See, this is yet another advantage of using desktops. With so many expansion slots for adding video cards, it's so easy to drive many monitors with just one desktop. With appropriate video cards, I think my HP 8300 Elite can easily support up to 32 monitors! Here's a photo of my 7-monitor setup: http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 21&t=52525

wow nice monitor set up!

8300 huh?? this is with the native video card?

dr_st wrote:Definitely docked + external equipment.

While I can certainly work long hours on a laptop (especially one with a nice IPS screen and a comfortable keyboard), I would not want to do this long-term.

One of the reasons I prefer business machines, like Thinkpads, is the dedicated docking connector and the docking station that allows you to connect all the peripherals to it, and just snap the laptop on.

A desktop is an even better solution, in terms of expandability and power per $, but it does require a bit more desk space or floor space, and doesn't allow you to take the whole thing 'on the go'.

A powerful desktop and a small 'dumb' terminal is a workable solution for certain tasks, mostly office type. But no internet is fast enough for real-time gaming or video.

Yes you are right, but I am not using it for video or gaming, it's mostly admin work/office type stuff.

I only use a laptop (X200s) when I'm away from home, which is rarely nowadays (retired).
Any other time it's always my desktop.

dr_st wrote:A desktop is an even better solution, in terms of expandability and power per $, but it does require a bit more desk space or floor space

Sorry for being unclear but I was really taking about "usable" desk space. A laptop takes up more usable desk space, because the screen is so small that one needs to put it fairly close to see clearly, and this usually means putting the laptop right in the middle of the desk, leaving one with little room to put other things (e.g. stationery, books, food, etc.). By contrast, for a desktop computer, the monitor(s) can be pushed against the wall, leaving most of the usable part of the desk available. If the desk has a slide-out keyboard tray, you'd save even more desk space. The second photo in this thread illustrates this difference: http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 21&t=52525 . Notice that the Toughbook is right at the center of the desk, and the little bit of space behind and in front isn't really good for anything. On the other hand, the desktop monitors to the left are pushed all the way back, and the keyboard and mouse are on the keyboard tray, and I can put so much stuff on the desk in front of the monitors.

puma wrote:8300 huh?? this is with the native video card?

No. I had to add video cards into PCI-e and PCI slots.

Much prefer my desktop when at home base. At the office it's Dell Lattitude with docking station hooked up to a real keyboard, 24" monitor and set up as dual screen with Outlook opened on my laptop screen and the 24" monitor for everything else. Laptop always goes with me when I'm out of the office which is often.

I've got a W700 V2 Minidock, and a 2503 for my Frankenpad. Docks are just the most fantastic convenience ever... as much as I like using the touchpad, the fantastic texture of the UltraNav touchpads wears quite quickly under my use... so I use a mouse to preserve it a bit.

Just being able to plop a laptop onto a dock instead of plugging a bunch of junk in is a huge convenience. Plus... the 2503 has a Mini PCI-E slot in it... which is just, beyond fantastic.

My W700ds spends pretty much all its day on the dock. Only time it's not there is when someone's using it for gaming. I also sometimes bring it to school- but that doesn't happen very often. The Frankenpad only charges on the 2503... but I use the 2503 to diagnose laptops that can run on it.

I am fairly mobile (both with work and socially, spending time in London and near Birmingham).

I use my X220 at home, docked and recently upgraded to two 24" HP monitors, and when mobile I have the benefit of, well, everyone knows what the X220 is capable of...

Additionally, I sync (non-sensitive) documents to Google Drive which enables fast and easy access from my Nexus 4 and 7, and then further sync those documents to a memory stick using Microsoft's excellent SyncToy utility.

(I also use Google Drive to sync these documents to my X220s.)

To me, the above gives me the best of all possible worlds.