Maybe another one of those "which laptop?" threads...

<p>Well, it's my first time here as a user, at long last!</p>

<p>I recently bought a laptop dock for my Motorola Atrix 4G, which basically loads up a full linux experience, all from the phone's processor. It's not very fast, but comparable to a netbook's speed.
I also own a very powerful desktop computer, which I'm planning on upgrading in the very near future.
I'm majoring in biomedical engineering next semester. If the laptop dock could remote desktop into the windows desktop, would buying a separate laptop (I've already got some choices laid out, but I'm open to more!) be worth the extra cost (about 1000 more dollars)? I think the laptop dock could take plenty of notes in class, but it wouldn't be able to run many programs the classes may require.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I am not sure Atrix has a Remote Desktop Client for a PC, but it could work out less elegantly if you use VNC (run server VNC on your desktop and find VNC client for your phone). We’ve done this for work with other Android type phones. Having said this, a full fledged netbook may be a better idea simply because of the convenience of doing things local.</p>

<p>I’ve also heard from elsewhere that a netbook may be more useful.
Would a tablet pc be more useful for a BME major, or would any laptop do? Or would a CUDA enabled computer be preferable?</p>

<p>If you’ll carry it around on a daily basis, a convertible 12" tablet / laptop like the Lenovo X220 should do fine. Typically the department would have some recommendations about minimum computer specs, try to follow these. In my view we’re not there yet to expect decent, powerful tablets for general purpose use. My wife’s company uses tablets for manufacturing floor work and let’s just say they’re not the finest specimens of computing prowess out there…</p>