Ditto! Laptop is where it's at! We have two, and can't imagine ever going back to a desktop. Laptops are waaay more versatile... esp. when paired with a wifi network. Some things I routinely do with my laptop that one could never do with a desktop include: I bring it in the kitchen when I cook. I can take my laptop out to the hammock with me in the summer. When we visit my parents, we bring our laptops with us and we can answer work emails without using their computer, which would be awkward. Most laptops have DVD players... Ever wish you could entertain LF on a long car ride, or ever wish you could watch a movie somewhere other than in your living room? Laptops take up less room, and it's easier to tidy up your desk when someone is coming over... we put ours in the cabinet for parties and the desk becomes a buffet... this would be a pain in the butt to do if we had a bulky desktop. Laptop keyboards are easy to use, but if you want a big one, you can always plug a standard keyboard in through a USB port. There are some pro-desktop reasons, but I suggest they all have "yeah-buts" attached: You can get a bigger screen with a desktop (yeah, but who needs that big of a screen anyway). Many desktops have more storage capacity (yeah, but you could always use a portable hard drive if you ever managed to fill up a laptop). Many desktops can be used with more peripherals because they have more cable ports (yeah, but who buys a laptop without first ensuring it has enough ports to meet their present and probably future needs anyway). I've never had a laptop overheat, but one of my coworkers did have a desktop overheat because it was bulky and she crammed it in too narrow a space for the fan to work properly. (She's sort of an idiot, so I don't know if this counts.) I can't imagine a reason in the world that I would ever buy a desktop computer again...

Huh?!!? The only drawback is battery usuage and changing for those items that don't have rechargers. There was a thread about a week ago concerning cordless keyboards...there was not a negative word. Tired of getting tangled in wires? As far as lag time...there is no such thing if you have a quality set up. The slowest mouse with the most lag time is my Microsoft Wired Optical (for notebooks). All three of my cordless mice are much faster. The two Microsoft cordless and of course the laser leaves "tugboat" Annie in the dust. How much lag time do you experience turning off your TV by hand vs turning it off by remote....? This might be in regard to the MX610 or LX7 mouse? By in large you will really enjoy the freedom and accuracy of not dragging around a cord. As far as a corded vs cordless keyboard, I'm sick and tired of getting tangled in cords. It doesn't have to be this hard!!! Treat yourself, live a little and don't feel guilty. Get the 60.00 MX610 mouse for 24.00, its the only good deal going at the moment, and when the time's up it might not be back. My MX1000 was never again offered for 35.00 with rebates. Enjoy it. (use a large nice flat smooth light colored mouse pad to go with it.) marf

Thanks everyone. The more I learn the more uncertain I am. The Asus' sound good - and I know Raven loves hers - but when I look at the negative reviews (on varous sites), there seems to be significant quality control issues. Lots of lemons - and defects - and terrible cusotmer service. There's enough of that type of review that I hesitate to buy an Asus tablet. I saw a google nexus 10. I prefer it to have a microsd card slot - not have fixed storage like an ipad. It also just did not feel or look good to me. Genes - you may be right about not finding that kind of battery life for video play. I thought that ipads were (at least older generations) got 9-10 hours of video play. On the one hand, i would expect video to be one of the biggest battery drains. But perhaps surfing the web - downloading content, etc also consumes battery life. Urlee - I interpreted that quote about really killing the tablet - and what battery life it gets - to suggest that even using it to the max - he gets 6 hours - and thinks "regular?" use could get 10 hours. Of course, we don't know what "regular is". That kind of leaves the Samsung tablets - either galaxy tab 10.1 - or Note. The actual pen aspect of the note doesn't do anything for me (maybe I'd wind up loving it - but it's not on my list of desireable features). I just saw a refurbished note at Best Buy for about $330 (something like that - I had a small credit - and there was tax). 500-600. They're often closer to $So I decided to order it and give it a try. It's supposed to be fast - 2GB ram - with ICS. I have not seen one in person. This has just 16GB on board storage - but with a micro sd slot, that doesn't matter since I can add 64GB more. For some reason, this Note doesn't excite me in theory the way the Asus tablets did. But the relatively large number of complaints (and consistent complaints) on Asus have made me pause. Mike - I am aware that many international flights have power ports. But we have not been that lucky in our last international flights. These flights have been booked through an educational tour group - and therefore the airline has been very reluctant to give us any information. I know we're in a Boeing 777. But from Seat Guru it looks like there are 5 different versions. And the one that looks closest to the seating chart on Delta's website - does not have power ports in economy. One seating chart looked like it might. Another suggested just ipod/iphone charging in economy - no tablets or laptops. But none of the charts on seat guru quite match what's on Delta. If there were power ports, that would make this easy. But my experience is, don't count on power ports. First - they may not be in economy. And if they are, they may not be at every seat. And even if they're there, doesn't mean they're working. (Heck - 2 of the last 4 domestic flights I took - the readling light for my seat was not working - and the flights were full - no reading for me (this was before i had the Nook). If I could really count on power ports that work - I'd just bring my nook tablet for now. But it's been acting up in terms of battery drain lately - and I don't want to risk this as my only entertainment. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks. Lynn.

Without hearing your computer, it is very difficult to pin down your specific problem. You are in the best position to locate the source of the noise. However, I can make a good guess by your description. My guess is is a fan with a dry bearing. Possible locations of fans: 1. on the processor 2. in the power supply 3. Cabinet intake fan 3. Cabinet exhaust fan. In a pinch, I have sucessfully relubbed these fans to get a few more hours out of them and give me time to get replacements. However, if you are not comfortable with prying up labels and re-applying these.,best to not bother with lubrication and simply replace the fan. If it is the processor fan, replace it right away. If the noise is coming from a hard drive (and it did make this noise before) shut down and get another drive right away. Increased noise from a hard drive most often signals a failure is developing. Do not confuse the noise from a spinning disk with the noise a read/write head makes when it is hard at work jumping from track to track.