The Hindu Business Line : Oh, for that portable office!

Your office is not just your cubicle any more... With laptops becoming cheaper, and many opting for it, even a restaurant or park could become your workplace.

These days if you take `office' to mean a `place of work', it could refer to the four walls or the cubicle that make up your workplace, or the study room at home, or even the coffee shop down the road or the nearest park. Welcome to the world of laptops, where you carry your work, your contacts, your list of things to do, and of course, the latest version of FIFA (soccer) or Doom 3D to while away the time while waiting for your clients in the reception area.

And if it seems as though only hi-flying executives own laptops, things might just change in the near future, as prices in the laptop market have crashed to new lows. There has been a 15-20 per cent drop in prices this year, according to AMI-Partners, a firm that specialises in IT/Internet/communications actionable market intelligence.

A perfunctory glance at the prices at the nearest retail store confirms these figures — you can become mobile, work-wise, for just Rs 30,000! Not even as much as a PC would have cost a couple of years ago. And we're talking about the best configuration, DVD-ROM drive... and the works.

Says Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, Manufacturers Association for Information Technology, New Delhi, "For the past two years there has been a steady drop in prices, from Rs 70,000-80,000 at the entry level to around Rs 40,000-50,000 last year. And now you can even get one for Rs 25,000-30,000."

What caused this crashing of prices? "Well, for one, customs duties have come down, from 15 and then 10 per cent to zero. So now, many companies are formulating very aggressive pricing strategies, and hence the prices are crashing." Not to mention that because the component parts are constantly improving, the quality of the product remains the same despite the falling prices — in fact, it's improving all the time, with DVD-ROM drives and DVD writers being an absolute prerequisite. "The fact is," adds Mehta, "there has been a dramatic change in the brand positioning. It is no longer a corporate product; it's more a tool in small and medium enterprises and at homes."

A tentative estimation of `notebook' sales by AMI-Partners confirms this statement. Last year, the number of laptops sold in the sub-Rs 50,000 range constituted 5 per cent of the total laptops sold, whereas this year it constitutes 11 per cent. Taking the study one step further, laptops sold in the Rs 50,001-75,000 segment constituted 56 per cent of the market this year, against 30 per cent last year.

And what difference will this make to the customer? If you're in the insurance sector, you can prepare your client's profile right before him/her, or if you're an architect you can make variations in the design in your customer's presence.

The media industry, for example, will probably benefit hugely. Roshni Chandran, ad film-maker, says, "I use my laptop to make media presentations for clients. In my line of work it's a fabulous tool, because most conference halls have a projector which you can link your laptop to and make your presentation instead of carrying your film in some other media and hooking it up to a VCR and linking it to a projector — all that is a waste of time."

And if a client wants a copy of the presentation, it's possible to burn a DVD with the DVD-ROM writer. "And sometimes a situation arises when the client doesn't have much time, in which case you can just hop into the car with him and show him your presentation on your laptop on the way to the airport or wherever he is going."

Rita Joseph, a college student, says, "I just got myself an Acer 2312, which is WiFi enabled, so I can check my e-mails anywhere and keep in touch with my friends and family back in Mumbai. It's very useful to jot down thoughts, plan my day and so on."

Anil Jaishankar, who heads an engineering company that manufactures components for the process industry, says, "We have already ordered for four or five in our office. It's a great productivity tool in any industry; especially so in my office, because the work requires frequent travel. I think many people are also excited at the prospect of watching movies on their DVD drives," he adds.

What's in?

So what exactly is available in the market, and what would be the best choice? The Acer 2312, as Rita would tell you, is a good choice. It has a 1.4 gigahertz Celeron processor, with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, is WiFi enabled, and has a 15-inch monitor. All for Rs 31,500; and about Rs 1,000 can be knocked off in the grey market. The RAM may not be so impressive, but it can be upgraded to 1 GB for an additional Rs 3,000. The same configuration from HCL comes at Rs 31,000 with a Pentium IV processor.

If your budget can extend a lot further, the retailers recommend the Compaq 2324, for Rs 48,500, with XP Home as an additional feature. This lightweight model is the fastest moving in the market.

In the grey market, on the other hand, the Compaq Presario, which comes with a 1.3 gigahertz processor is available for Rs 31,500. There are other brands too — such as the Lenovo (IBM) with a 1.4 gigahertz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, DVD ROM drive and a 15-inch monitor at Rs 34,500, while the Mercury Cyrix, with the same configuration, comes at Rs 26,500.

Prakash, who owns Devlin Computers, a retail store, Chennai, says, "It's not about the configuration now. Most of the laptops come with the same configuration. Today, when you're buying a laptop, you look at the weight and styling." After all, what's the use of picking up a laptop if your lap is going to creak under its weight? And as for styling, that's equally important, especially when you are getting that laptop to take it out with a flourish at the restaurant!

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
When senses collide...

Khushboo...
A soft target

Outside office-hours

Always young

A little water in the wine...

Oh, for that portable office!

Newspaper kiosks of Goa