QUESTION: Is a laptop or a desktop better? I have a small company and need to do some graphics, photos, etc., plus 100 page reports. I like the mobility of a laptop, but is a desktop better in the long run for holding/retrieving data, etc.?

ANSWER: Great question. Sounds like it’s easy to answer on the surface, right? Laptops are mobile, desktops aren’t. But there’s more to it than that. Here are some issues to consider:

Mobility – Well, sure, it’s the big one. If you need to work remotely, a laptop is the way to go. Remember that a 3G card from your cell phone provider can give you high-speed internet access in most urban areas.

Storage – One of the major places where laptops and desktops differ is in how much hard drive space they offer. Laptops use physically smaller drives, which can only offer so much storage space. Though larger drives are available, 100GB is still common on a laptop, while 500GB desktop drives are seen all the time (again, bigger drives can be had).

This is a huge difference and it seems to be expanding, not contracting. If you have very large storage needs, desktop is your best bet.

Graphics and Gaming – You said you run a business so I don’t expect this is a big deal for you, but with Vista it’s important to consider graphics now, no matter what kind of user you are.

Laptop graphics have come a long way, but I’d still say only 50 percent have really sufficient graphics processors. On the other hand, you can outfit any PC with perfectly good graphics for $100… and you can upgrade it later.

Upgrades – Speaking of upgrades, it’s more difficult to upgrade a laptop. In some cases, it’s impossible: Sure, you can pop in a new hard drive later, but adding a second hard drive means plugging in an external disk that will be cumbersome to tote around with you. Many laptop optical drives can’t really be upgraded at all, nor can motherboards or CPUs. Laptop repairs are far more expensive and difficult than desktop PC repairs.

Peripherals – Remember that when you’re in the office, you can always plug in an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor to your laptop.

Price – Expect to pay $300 to $500 more for a comparably equipped laptop (though this varies widely).

Other considerations are about the same, to be honest. CPU and RAM are about equal on laptops and desktops now, unless you’re considering an ultra-high-end PC.

I obviously can’t make the buying decision for you, but I’ll reiterate my computer plan in case you haven’t seen it before. I use both: a moderately-priced laptop is with me on a daily basis, syncing up with an inexpensive desktop that works as a print and file server.

The desktop works as a machine for my daily backups, has plenty of storage for stuff I don’t need to take with me on the road (or to other rooms of the house), has two printers hooked up to it, accepts incoming faxes, and otherwise stands as a backup in case something fails on my laptop. My laptop, however, is where I do most of my work. Sure I could get by with just a notebook PC, but having both makes things so much easier.

[Source: Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech]

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For those of us raising children, it’s a breath of fresh air. Yes, I know the standard adage — “it’s up to the parents to control the content their children consume” — but at least their Internet consumption can be somewhat cleansed when they use the RedZee search engine. Of course, as soon as your children are past the age of 5, they will figure out how to search “Google”, “MSN”, and “Yahoo!” in the RedZee search field, and awaaaaay they go.

Try the RZ search function. Go to the RedZee homepage and do a search for “porn” (or any other adult term), and watch the results. All you will get is the little red zebra shaking his head and doing a dance for you. Now if they can design a filter for all the drug and violence content. (don’t get me started) The red zebra reminds me of the donkey in the hit animation movie Shrek. Yeah yeah, cute.

It’s funny though; when I was talking on the phone to one of RedZee’s employees, he mentioned that RedZee is simply a new search engine, and not just a family-safe search engine. It’s seems that I’ve jumped on the same band wagon as The Washington Post, Fox News, Parent Guide Magazine, Forbes, The Seattle Times, and Yahoo!, as far as narrowing their product appeal. In my defense though, the family-safe feature is news-worthy for all consumers. Click here to read more on RedZee’s press.

When you view RedZee’s home page you’ll notice a few things right out of the gate. Their gui is similiar to Google’s in that it’s simple and clean. We’ll see how long they keep the adorable Zebra, but for now the kids love it. Children between the ages of 3 and 75 that is. They offer search for images, Mp3/audio, Video, and they also have a directory page for users who want to narrow their search from the get go.

Like all savvy Internet search companies they have a toolbar. The RedZee toolbar has the following list of features:

• One click search across 16 search engines
• Keyword highlight features for web sites
• The RedZee pop-up blocker
• Check your e-mail in the toolbar
• Instant real-time weather forecasts
• Radio RedZee music streams
• Add thumbnails to major searches
• Quick View feature for searches
• View Wayback machine archives

One of the first things webmasters will notice when opening RedZee’s home page, is that their Google Page Rank is only a 4 (at the time of this writing), but I assure you that will change quickly. As the Internet community begins to take notice of RedZee, their Google PR will likely be 8-9. I really don’t fuss over Google Page Rank levels as much now, but it’s something the Internet SEO (search engine optimization) community takes notice of right away. Anyway….I just gave them three more inbounds in this post.

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In my view, the whole issue is as old as the hills. Big business wants more control over what the buying public consumes. To give my readers a clear example of the importance of this issue. There has been cases of ISP providers blocking the Vonage web site and service from being viewed on their customer’s computers. This sums up the issue here. The ISP companies want to have control over what, how, and where we can view internet sites.

It’s no surprise that the Republicans are voting strongly in a direction that favors yet another form of control and restraint on the internet. I remember the golden days of the internet, and thinking to myself, this freedom will never last. It’s too powerful a medium, and power can mean money. Big business (including the Internet service providers) has been pouring billions of dollars into the Internet over the last decade, and they want to control their investment.

The like of Google and Ebay are stumbling through the corridors and alleys of Washington trying to pretend they can out lobby the crafty and shrewd lobbyists hired  by the Telcoms. It’s sad to watch all this, but I do believe we will see an open and free Internet when it’s all over. The broadband providers will then be competing with each other by offering the most unfettered Internet access. The public will scorn and run from ISPs that restrict their cyber freedom.

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