Mobile Workstation - Mobile Workstations Versus Laptop Computers

A mobile workstation for most power users or CAD operatives is essentially a replacement for a normal Cad workstation, but unfortunately all too often the needs of the user and the software that will need to be used on a mobile workstation are very much overlooked. The principle buying criteria of many uneducated businesses will always come down to purely cost, and this is a massive mistake especially in the mobile computing world.

In our Cad workstation guide we have highlighted the difference between Cad workstations and desktop Pc's and the cost to business of investing in the wrong one, but the differences between a mobile workstation and a generic laptop or notebook Pc are even more diverse.

Getting this wrong will inevitably mean you'll end up buying twice at best or at worst your user(s) will be stuck using totally unproductive software and could lose weeks and week of productivity over the period of a single year.

So why is the difference so dramatic? Let’s look at the requirement of a typical laptop computer or computer user. In the mobile computing world most users are either general consumers or perhaps sales people that are out on the road. At worst many of these users will simply browse the web, use office applications or perhaps have to give a presentation to a client so this defines the make up of a typical laptop.

Mobile Workstation versus Laptop Computer

Laptops for this market generically tend top be built to a price break as the market is very competitive. Laptop configurations are geared to low power use, long battery life, compactness and light usage. That is to say thinner lightweight chassis, slower hard drives (not good for cad applications), lower specification processors (some of which will not even run Cad software), on board graphics (which are not even certified for cad applications), low level cooling (which is often inadequate for sustained use).

However the needs of a Cad user are poles apart from your average laptop user, so the make up of a mobile workstation is at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to your standard laptop.

Just like a standard Cad workstation Mobile workstations also need more powerful processors that run cad applications, they need dedicated certified mobile workstation graphics cards, they need faster hard drives to enable applications to run as fast as possible. And a consequence of this is that a mobile workstation will need a larger chassis and of course have better cooling.

So as you can see Cad software needs to be run on a proper mobile workstation pc not on a try and make do because of cost laptop. Trying to run cad applications on standard laptops will be costing your business money on a daily basis in lost productivity so is essentially a false economy.

Another important buying mistake to avoid is buying a laptop to see if it will make do? If it does you can guarantee that you will not be getting the best performance from either the laptop or your employee. And if it doesn't, unlike a desktop computer or cad workstation where you can upgrade components potentially (at an extra cost), laptops have very little upgradability so you could end up buying twice.

The key takeaway here is to understand that there is a distinct difference between a mobile workstation and a laptop Pc in configuration and cost for very good reasons. And unless you want to be bleeding profit in lost productivity or longer than necessary project lead times, your best business decision will be to invest in a proper mobile workstation for your CAD user or users.