1 Harvey, please pass this along to Machelle: Yes, laptops are as functional and dynamic as a desktop. But you pay through the nose for that power and convenience. DH and I have been without a desktop system since the turn of the millenium and we haven't missed one, although we have paid more for the laptops than we would have for a desktop system. We have a Fujitsu that I've never had a problem with for 5 years and a Dell that lost its motherboard 4 months out of the warranty. Grrrr. Dealing with that last week. My 2 cemts: If you buy a laptop, DO NOT go with a compaq, HP, or IBM thinkpad. Compaq and HP are not swappable and you can't upgrade them. UNC has been requiring Thinkpads for freshmen and med students for several years now, and I have seen a lot of their HDs crap out. I've had good experiences with my Fujitsu and with Sony Vaios and with our Dell until it just DIED. Two tips: Buy with a credit card,if you have the cash to pay it off. Many credit card companies (most Visa and MC and Amex) will automatically double the initial standard warranty on items you purchase with the card, but check with your company first. Second, if you can, utilize a special buying program (as Dell has for government, student, and school employee purchases). This frequently will get you a better deal on software, processor speed, and memory in your purchase. It also pays off in the long run if you need to call technical support because you get dropped into a smaller call queue. And in the case of the Dell, we never had to deal with Indian tech support because everyone in their Educational Program support office is in the US. Hope that helps, Machelle. Good luck, and check the prices. There are some good deals out there.

2 It probably wouldn't hurt to add the fact that my sisters brother in law builds computers for a living and will build us one cheaply.

3 Desktops usually have bigger memories (I saw an ad for a 140 gig desktop, next to an 80 gig laptop, both for less than $1000), and are usually faster. But once you're talking about the difference between 1.5 gigahertz and 2.5 gigahertz, and the capacity to store X-hundred thousand songs/ebooks versus X-1 hundred thousand songs/ebooks, there's no real perceptible difference. If you want to play video games on a laptop, you'd better buy a USB mouse as well. I don't see how anyone could play a game like Quake with a touchpad. Sound might be an issue: desktops still have much better sound systems, which you'd have to pay alot more to get on a laptop (maybe even separately). Nowadays due to Moore's (pbuh) Law, there are few differences.

4 I posted over at Machelle's site also, but I have to agree with Caltechgirl, if you can afford a Fujitsu, get one. But that is out of most people and companies's budget or what they are willing to spend.