Today we’ll be covering a very specific topic that won’t likely be affecting all of our readers. Still, of those in need, a little bit more information can go a long way toward improving your work flow, helping you create better designs, and generally becoming a better designer all around. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to be talking about the difficult decision between buying a new tower or laptop computer to design with. It’s a tricky situation, and if you’re not aware of all the risks, you may end up selling yourself quite short.
- How Important is Portability? First out of the gate, you need to think about what you’ll be doing with your computer. To begin with, how important is it to have the option to take your work with you? Do you want to be able to walk into any coffee shop in the nation and crank out some sturdy designs? You see, a laptop is a great way to get a lot of performance out of a small, easily carried machine, but a tower processor will easily do laps around the bugger. So really, it boils down to this: Do you need to take your work to meetings or other such locations, or do you mostly work at home or in the office?
- Are You Editing Video? Another important question revolves around video editing. In other words, are you going to be doing a whole lot of it? If so, then skip the laptop: Hardly any laptop on the planet can take care of the heavy duty work that you’ll be dealing with. And no, we’re not just painting in generalizations. Almost nothing we’re aware of will handle the workload, so skip the headaches and go straight to where the power is!
- Are You On a Budget? Of course, in most cases a laptop is often cheaper than a tower. However, there’s a caveat here. To get a laptop that can perform at the level that your’e going to need it to, you’re likely going to need to spend quite a bit of money. In comparison, a tower can often be several orders less expensive. This isn’t a fool proof strategy, but it’s worth keeping in mind when you’re shopping for a new workhorse for your office.
