Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 14:00:49 -0800 From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo@soco.agilent.com> To: Bakul Shah <bakul@bitblocks.com> Cc: mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: using a laptop as a main machine Message-ID: <200211142200.OAA11889@mina.soco.agilent.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 14 Nov 2002 11:50:44 PST." <200211141950.OAA13322@leviathan.cnchost.com>
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Bakul Shah <bakul@bitblocks.com> wrote:
> Even if you leave
> it on all the time, my guess is it saves between 100 to 200
> W/hr. or about 0.876 to 1.752 Megawatt-hours a year (about
> $140 and $280 a year for me). Now multiply that 3 to 5
> times!
This assumes that you have the money to buy 3 to 5 new (or even
used) laptops. Not cheap (unless you're rich and have money to burn ;-).
> Even for a home file/backup/print server I wonder if a
> desktop is all that good.
As people have said, desktops and laptops have their advantages and
disadvantages. Each person's situation is different, and what's good
for you, may or may not be good for someone else.
> Its internal disks get too hot,
Not always.
[ Note that some (many?) laptops get hot, too, and, like desktops, the
laptop hard drives can make loud annoying whines. ]
> its fans fail,
Not always. (Note that laptops also have fans that can fail.)
> you need a UPS,
True.
> hard to replace parts etc.
Huh??? Laptops have parts that are *MUCH* harder to replace. If
you have a desktop that's made from commodity parts, it's pretty easy to
fix. With a laptop, you either get to pay lots of money (unless you
paid a lot for a very long warranty, and, even then, repair parts may no
longer be available), or you're screwed (you get to rummage on eBay for
parts).
If you're fortunate, the laptop battery will probably be the first
thing to go (within, oh, 2-5 years), and you'll probably pay $100-$200+
to replace it, assuming that you can find a replacement (you probably
can, but there's no guarantee).
> Commercially available file servers are not there yet: too
> slow,
Huh??? The fastest desktops are faster than the fastest laptops.
In addition to having slower processors, note that laptop hard
drives are also slower than desktop drives.
> too expensive,
Again, huh??? Laptops are more expensive than desktops (for
similar-performing systems). You're probably going to pay $500-$1000
more on a laptop, than for a comparable desktop system of similar
quality (well, LCD displays aside, that is).
> power hungry. A fast laptop is usually
> good enough.
True, and (often) true.
--
Darryl Okahata
darrylo@soco.agilent.com
DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not
constitute the support, opinion, or policy of Agilent Technologies, or
of the little green men that have been following him all day.
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