The challenge for most people who primarily use their laptop as a desktop is screen real estate, or specifically, the lack of it. Plus, the more mobile you go with a lighter machine, you usually further sacrifice screen size. Although I constantly carry two laptops -- more on this another time -- my main laptop is a 15" MacBook Pro with a 2.4GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo with 200 Gig HD, 4 Gigs of Memory and 256 megs of video memory.

Impressive geek stats for sure but the key number is the amount of video memory. 256 megs to just to power a 15" inch screen at 1440 x 900 resolution? Substantial if you were using your laptop to play games, which I do, but really really practical if you attach another screen to extend your screen real estate.

As you see in the photo, I've extended my desktop of my MacBook to go left onto a spacious 20.1 inch Dell LCD offering 1680 x 1050 pixels worth of screen real estate. I've propped up my MacBook onto a stand so the top of its screen can be relatively flush with the top of the LCD. So if you were to move your mouse from the MacBook screen to the LCD, it would appear as if you were moving it on one massive monitor.

The true benefit of more screen space is that you can absolutely do more at the same time. You can have your calendar as you check a date from an email you're reading. Have two Word docs up to speed editing. Have entire two-page layout on one screen while having all your tools on the other. You probably can think of more possibilities. In addition, Apple has a nifty OS tool called "Spaces" which provide you the ability to have "virtual desktops." I have mine set to four so I literally, with a flick of a mouse button, can switch out my current desktop with another virtual one.

To minimize the wires, I have the MacBook hooked up to our wireless (WEP secured), to the Dell LCD which also serves as a USB hub and connected via bluetooth to a Logitech Di Novo keyboard and mouse (see photo). So total, three things I have to plug in -- the power cable, USB and the monitor.

The only real issue is when I'm on the road and I open up my laptop. I sure do miss the 20.1 LCD. But really, on the road, it'll probably be just e-mail and Web. I'll wait to work on that brochure until I'm back at the office.

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Really i am impressed from this post....the person who create this post it was a great human..thanks for shared this with us.

Friday 31 December 2010, 05:02

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I recently came across your article and have been reading along. I want to express my admiration of your writing skill and ability to make readers read from the beginning to the end.

Thursday 15 September 2011, 13:59

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I wanna have such a desktop!!

Wednesday 28 September 2011, 07:20

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