As web analysts, we want to have power. I mean, not just power of influence, but also power of computing.
Here at Dell, we have the luxury to choose from a wide range of computers (have to be Dell of course), both standard and non-standard configuration, although non-standard configuration requires of special approval.
Last time when I had to choose my laptop, without hesitation, I chose Latitude D820, a 15”4 laptop, the largest of Latitude D series, the king of all. The solidness of the build, the size of the screen and the power of core duo processor made me really feel like a king, from the first moment when I turned it on. 
I have been happy with it most of the time, although the 6.15lbs weight sometimes dragged me down. I didn’t travel much but every time when I was on the road, I regretted to carry it with me. The battery life after the first year has also become a concern.
By the end of June, my laptop is about to fully depreciate according to Dell policy and I am ready for another laptop. This time, again, without any hesitation, I went to apply for a Latitude E4200, a 12.1″ and 2.2lbs laptop, the second smallest in the e-series. Putting it side by side with D820, they are like the beauty and beast.
So, just in two and a half years, I have gone from big to small. Thinking about my personal experience, I believe the PC market has gone through some fundamental transformation in last several years.
First of all, mobility now becomes the deciding factor among all criteria when choosing a computer. Price and features are still important but mobility has taken the driver seat. As consumers, we can now trade off between affordability and functionality, depending on how and where we are going to use our computers. But mobility is something that we cannot sacrifice. This is very evident when you look at the booming netbook market.
Second, “powerful” is not an adjective reserved for big monster computers any more. My E4200 has and can have as much computing power as my D820 does, if not more. The E4200 I have boasts a 3GB DDR3 memory (can be upgrade to 5GB), a 128GB solid drive, a detached DVD-RW optical drive as well as a backlit keyboard. It runs Windows XP SP-3 and Office 2007 Business. What else I need to do my work?
Finally, the battery has been improved to the point that carrying laptop is not longer a burden but a joy. I never carried my D820 to any meeting, not necessarily because I want to solely focus on the meeting (admit it, most of the meetings are counter-productive and boring), but because I was afraid I am going to run out of battery and I have to find a place to plug in the adapter. The 6 cell batter on E4200 can last up to six hours, which means that I can take it to any meeting (God forbids any meeting longer than six hours), or probably watch two or three movies during a trip to eMetrics Summit.
So you see, just in two and a half years, I have gone from big to small, but the power remains.
What’s the computer you are using? What’s the next computer you are going to have?
