It’s interesting how your work environment changes the way you view your ideal computer set-up.

My recent history (2004-2008):

• A few years back, I was using a 17″ PowerBook with an external monitor as my primary machine.
• Then as I transitioned to doing most of my work from my home office and the desktops were much faster at the time than the laptops, I switched to a desktop.
• Since I was no longer using the laptop as my primary machine, I changed from valuing screen real estate to valuing portability. I got a MacBook.
• Then I started working outside the house again, first at the Hive and now in our own office. I needed something that could drive a big monitor, so I swapped the portability of the MacBook for the graphics power of the MacBook Pro.

Now that I’m in the office full time, I’m considering getting a desktop machine there and going back to a laptop as just a portable/travel machine. Assuming I don’t go hog wild on specs and/or go with a used desktop box, I think I could upgrade to both (after selling my previous laptops) for just over $1k.

The MacBook Air is very tempting to me as a portable machine – something to use while traveling. While it can’t drive a big display and isn’t particularly fast (it’s not a suitable replacement for my MacBook Pro), it’s very nice at what it does. I need to go play with one some more.

I’m going to keep all of this in mind next time someone asks me “what kind of computer should I get?” – I’m now of the opinion that the correct answer can vary widely depending on how you plan to use it.