I have been in the high tech industry for all of my life, and have always had the luxury to choose my own computer. As I always worked from both home and the office so I gravitated to portable computers.

I must have worked with all the so called portable computers since the early eighties, although I confess I never had an Osborne, which most computer historians claim to be the first truly portable device (1981), with a five inch monitor and a weight of 24 pounds. Although I did not have one, I bumped into them a lot in my career of a high tech lab instrument salesman. Seems to me that they were light years ahead of their time.

I went through a number of machines of all weights and sizes, but one of my favorites was “the Brick.” The idea of the brick was to put the computer into a very small package (3″ x 8″ x 11″), which could then be transported. When you got to the office you plugged in your keyboard, monitor, and printer and started work. This was in 1990. I loved it, although you had to hold your breath when you plugged it into the docking station, which had a gazillion connectors, anyone of which, if bent, could bring the system down. I must have been through a dozen different portable, laptop, or notebook variants over the years, but my favorite is the one I have now – the Sony Vaio TR3A. I like tiny computers—before the Sony I had a Fujitsu B-Series Lifebook, which is actually smaller than the Sony, but doesn’t have the same features.

My Sony weighs just three pounds, has a 10 inch high resolution display and a built-in optical drive. My requirements are simple—give me the smallest computer that will allow me to touch type and read the screen. Battery life is important too, but I settle for three hours and the ability to replace the battery. It seems to me that the overwhelming factor in of this size thing is the keyboard. I am a new touch typer as I picked the talent up late in life; touch typing is liberating. I’m glad I gave it the three months of effort needed to pick it up. But, if you can type at the rate that you can think quality thoughts, the world opens up. It definitely makes writing a book a bit quicker.