Desktop, Laptop, iPad, Notebook or just smartphones for business? So many choices and yet some people have them all. Some have a few while others only want to have one of the above devices like Best Monitors Under $400 (Budget-Friendly) for their daily use. We’ll assume for purposes of this column you will want two or three. The phone is a must while the others are a matter of personal choice.
First, smartphones for business are pretty much a given in these days of electronic devices which rule our lives. Where do you go today when you don’t make sure your phone is in your hand or in your pocket? You will not walk out the door without it. We are tied to our phones.
The issue though is in most cases our “phones” make lousy telephones but make great computers. While the iPhone5 is humming along the iPhone4 for instance offers some great video options and takes superb photos. You can record a voice memo on your phone and instantly upload it to your email and send it off to yourself to open later and put on paper (so to speak). Ingenious! Using the phone as a phone to talk to someone offers less quality it seems than the video, photo or peer to peer texting and emailing operations.
Still you are going to have one and you will make the most of it. You can actually get by with smartphones for business if you need to. It doesn’t have the best keyboard for fatter fingers but you can also download an easy to use scanner if you like. You can live by your phone but you won’t want to if you are much of a writer of sorts.
For actually doing hard core business such as writing reports, writing books, screenplays, documents and other creative things you will need a computer-computer. Whether you go with a PC, a MAC or a Laptop you will get something bigger than your phone. MAC’s are great for creative’s, especially those who do graphics in a big way. This is a given and the folks at Apple still do a great job. The old adage of MAC’s are less likely to get a virus however is going away. There are so many MAC’s now in use it is no longer the protected brother of the computer world.
The PC is still the way to go for most folks. It’s easier to use (except for those who love MAC) and the windows format, mouse and all that goes with the PC world is engrained into our brains.
The cool thing with the newest computers is small is better and more popular when it comes to the guts of the computer (the tower as we formally call it) while the screens or the monitors are getting bigger and with more resolution. A 12 inch screen used to be pretty good in the old days but now a 23 inch monitor is average with many folks opting for something even bigger. If you need to see and work on documents side by side it’s hard to beat a 27 inch monitor for ease of work.
The new speeds are incredible but the small size is awesome. The new towers from Dell for instance are less than a foot each way fitting to a square and only four inches deep. You can, if you like, place the monitor on top of the tower when you lay the tower flat. This saves a lot of desk space and doesn’t harm anything. You can also stand the tower upright and save space.
If you opt for a laptop you really want to go with what you need and not what you like. We may like lots of different things but if you travel a lot and carry your laptop you might go for lighter and smaller to save your shoulders and back. If you don’t travel long distances but need to show clients what you have from the screen, bigger may be much better.
You’ll probably opt for a hand held device as well such as a Kindle, a Nook or a Tablet, but if you don’t need them right now, wait until you do. No need to go into electronic overload.
Richard Thornhill writes for Steatite Batteries, specialising in downhole tools such as Nan Gall. Richard is based in the UK
