If I get promoted to Manager grade (I’m currently Assistant Manager) or change profile to one that requires me to travel a bit, the company I work for may provide me with a laptop. Now earlier the laptops that were provided to the employees were HP, IBM or Dell 14in models. You know the kind – no frill, very workman like models for business use. But they were atleast 14 inch screens. Since mid of this year, I noticed that most of them senior employees have started carrying 12 or 10 inch screen laptops or netbooks.

Back in July when I visited Bangalore and stayed in one of the company guesthouses, my room mate who was a newly recruited manager from the Presales team, had received a brand new Samsung (I think it’s the N110 model) for work. Similarly all visiting dignitaries to our branch office seems to be carrying new Samsung netbooks, having traded in their much older Dells & HPs. The trend seems to be going in the smaller direction and for people who do travel around for work, it seems to be a good option. I work on a 17 in screen connected to a Thin Client and I really can’t imagine working on a netbook. I don’t mind using a 10 or 12 inc screen netbook as a backup only for traveling but using it as a primary work machine? Not sure.

How are the trends in companies that you guys work for, my dear readers?