Notebook versus desktop computers for cadets at West Point

Some universities require or recommend that their students purchase personal computers, and the trend is toward using the portable notebook variety. West Point cadets (students) are currently issued late-model, IBM-compatible desktop PC's on matriculation, and this study investigated the feasibility and desirability of issuing notebook computers to future incoming classes. As a pilot comparison one classroom group of 18 students taking introductory courses in computers and mathematics was given notebook computers for one semester in place of their desktops. An additional 12 notebooks were evaluated to assess specialized technical features. The principal findings were that, at a constant dollar cost, notebook and desktop computers differ in computational power, durability, and ease of use. Due to miniaturization costs a notebook is less powerful than a similarly priced desktop or, for example, to replace a $1700 desktop with a comparably powered notebook it would cost $2500. The most negative feature of the notebooks was the lack of durability indicated by a failure rate of 31% compared to a failure rate of less than 5% for desktops. The portability of notebooks was considered its most positive feature, and the Mathematics Department felt the strongest about the potential positive impact on their instructional pedagogy with other departments expressing minimal impact. The capability of portable notebook computers to serve in computer labs via docking stations for network connections was also evaluated. We concluded that we cannot move to notebook computers for incoming students until notebook durability (maturity of technology) is reasonable and until the disparity between the computational capability of comparably priced notebooks and desktops reaches an acceptable limit. We now see the technology maturing rapidly and are likely to move to notebook computers within three years.