Purchasing a new laptop. Any advice?

[firemark]

I am doing some research into what my next computer should be. My thoughts lean heavily towards dual monitors with a docking station for a laptop, using the laptop as the primary PC. I have a friend that had this set up and it seemed to streamline the whole process of working at home and working on the go. By saving everything to either his laptop or an external hard drive he kept everything portable and easy to access. My problem is that I want a relatively powerful computer (not for gaming, I have other processor intensive programs that I need to run quickly) but I also want a small laptop.

If money is not an option, what would be your recommendation for a small but powerful laptop? My preference would be for it to have a disc drive and multiple USB ports; aside from that I leave the rest of the details up to you. Anyone have an opinion?

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

As someone who has been solely based on a Laptop for a long time now, I'd say that a Netbook/Desktop setup is probably better. Sure, Laptops streamline the whole process, but you get far less customisability and power for the price of a good Desktop. I haven't had a Desktop in a while, and I'm saving now to go back to that mix of mini portable and powerful desktop machine.

But that's just my opinion. If I had to recommend a Laptop, my HP G series has served me admirably. I'm sure the newer ones are far better than this one too.

 

[TOGSolid]

I am doing some research into what my next computer should be. My thoughts lean heavily towards dual monitors with a docking station for a laptop, using the laptop as the primary PC. I have a friend that had this set up and it seemed to streamline the whole process of working at home and working on the go. By saving everything to either his laptop or an external hard drive he kept everything portable and easy to access. My problem is that I want a relatively powerful computer (not for gaming, I have other processor intensive programs that I need to run quickly) but I also want a small laptop.

If money is not an option, what would be your recommendation for a small but powerful laptop? My preference would be for it to have a disc drive and multiple USB ports; aside from that I leave the rest of the details up to you. Anyone have an opinion?

If money is not an option: http://www.xoticpc.com - Look at their top end rigs. They've got basically every feature you could ever want.

 

[firemark]

Thanks, I'm going to go check it out! They look fairly close to what I want.