Tuesday Tip: Is the Laptop Dead?

by Tony Rushin

laptops dead

No, it’s not.  Okay, that’s it for this week’s Tuesday Tip!  Come back next week when we’ll ask, “is the PC dead?”

Okay, I’ve been told that I should actually give a reason or two as to why I think the laptop isn’t quite dead yet (even though this 2012 Fast Company article declared it so).   The laptop – especially for attorneys and other professionals – isn’t dead for two reasons:

1)    You can’t do everything on a tablet that you can do on a laptop

2)    Ultrabooks – those small, light laptops – work great

Let’s look at each of these reasons a little more closely.

Tablets aren’t laptops

Even a tablet with a keyboard can’t do what a laptop does.  I know this from first-hand experience (and I love the Logitech keyboard I use with my iPad).  The big thing that’s missing – for me and for every attorney I know – is Microsoft Office; especially Word and Excel.  With a tablet you can read and reply to emails and get to websites quickly.  You also have access to a huge library of free or inexpensive apps on your tablet – including apps that get you remote access to your server so you can reference and work on documents.  However, if you need to work on a document or spreadsheet off-line, a tablet just won’t do.  One tablet that may be able to take the place of a laptop is the Microsoft Surface Pro: it runs Windows 8 which means it runs any Windows program (including Word and Excel), has a USB port plus an HDMI/VGA port built in, and also runs BitLocker encryption for security.  Several of our clients are currently using / testing the Surface Pro to see if it can become their next-generation laptop.  Stay tuned.

Ultrabooks

These small, light laptops have several advantages over traditional laptops.  Most notably:  smaller & lighter, longer battery life and solid state hard drives (yes, you can get solid state hard drives on regular laptops but they are standard issue for Ultrabooks).  Personally, I’ve been using an HP Folio 13 for over a year now and love it.  I’ve got a simple docking station / port replicator that I plug it into when I’m in the office to use my dual monitors and connect to the server.  What I really love is how quickly it turns on and boots up due to the solid state hard drive.  There are several business-class Ultrabooks available from HP, Dell, Lenovo & Toshiba.  Note: warranties and service can vary widely between these manufacturers – we’ve had best luck with HP over the years.

Network 1 Consulting is a 15-year-old, IT Support company in Atlanta, GA.  We become – or augment – the IT department for professional services companies: law firms, medical practices and financial services firms.  Our IT experts can fix computers – but what our clients really value are the industry-specific best practices we bring to their firms.  This is especially important with technology, along with regulations and cyber threats, changing so rapidly.  We take a proactive approach to helping our clients use technology to gain and keep their competitive advantage.

Tony Rushin Headshot

Tony Rushin: In his role as VP of sales & marketing, he is responsible for hiring, managing and coaching the sales team and always staying on top of (and meeting) the needs of clients. Under his leadership, the company has steadily grown each year.

Network 1 designs, builds and supports the IT you need to run your business more securely, productively and successfully. Whether you want to outsource all of your IT needs to a reliable, responsive, service-oriented company, or need to supplement the work of your internal IT staff, we will carefully evaluate where you are now, discuss where you want to go and implement and support a plan to get you there with as little interruption as possible.

1 Comment

  1. Tuesday Tip: Is This Your Next Laptop? on December 10, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    […] I wrote about a few months ago (“Is the Laptop Dead?”), the Surface Pro was the only tablet that may be able to take the place of a laptop.  However, […]

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