I've just bought a new laptop - a Dell Studio 15 (with a funky orange lid). But I think it's too big...! My old Vaio is at death's door but I loved it's portability - it weighed less than 2 kg with a 13.3 widescreen (Model VGN- S2HP). I do most of my work on my desktop PC with a 24 inch SyncMaster display (lots of space to spread my ideas out) so I use the laptop primarily as a mobile workstation. I use it for presenting but also working when I am on-site with clients or am travelling (especially on the train). So I don't need masses of power but nevertheless a good specification is always preferable. However I got a little seduced by the Studio into thinking that a little extra screen real estate combined with some raw DualCore power would be good. Too late now I guess - I'm sure it will be fine.
This moment of indecision does however raise the issue of what makes a good mobile workstation. And for mobile I mean one that is in addition to your normal all singing, all dancing desktop (I'm not including those desktop replacement laptops - as used by many corporate and public sector employees - who use a single laptop both in and out of the office). One problem with the desktop and laptop approach is the managing of data across the two machines. I gave up synching years ago because it was such a pain so I tend to keep a portable hard drive which gives me access to all my data off my desktop machine. When I work on my laptop I then transfer that back to my desktop manually once I am back in the office. Seems archaic I know but at least I trust the 'system' to work most of the time.
There are times though when a high spec laptop is overkill since all I want to do is write some blog articles, type some text or access my webmail or the internet. For this type of use I have toyed with the idea of one of those stripped down Linux based PCs such as the Acer ASpire One or the ASUS Eee PC. I tried out the ASUS Eee PC 900 at Staples at the weekend and I was quite impressed. For around £200 you get a macine that does most things of the basic things well, weighs less than a kilogram and goes for 3-4 hours on a battery charge. The Acer looks nicer though...
And my iPhone? Well that's a great phone with good e-mail functionality plus of course it plays music brilliantly, but use it for serious web browsing or work on a document - no way!