To continue my current renewed zest for learning things, I have come to the decision that an additional screen would be beneficial to my computing setup.
An obvious choice would be to get another monitor but space limitations and additional requirements mostly rule this out.
My capacity for storing the boxes that large electrical items come in has reached saturation, so whatever is obtained must be efficient in its packaging. Likewise the space on my desk I have for this item is also small.
This leads me to two options (with their own sub options) - an iPad - a netbook
Each of these would offer me an additional screen, usable in portrait mode, which would also offer additional, if moderate, computing power. Going back the the discarded monitor option; the monitor would have to be rotatable to portrait, limiting the choice anyway.
A netbook is more flexible, opening out like a book and being placed on the desk, assuming it is square enough down the sides and appropriate ports aren’t blocked. Each option would allow me to transport away easily and (if 1st generation iPad were purchased) be reasonably inexpensive. Or as expensive as each other.
I feel the netbook would feel annoying, and cone with yet another power supply. And it’s own quirks. Plus to set it up to a level where it was usable (word processing, email, etc) would be a pain. Although it could be linuxed and offer a full programming environment.
The answer is both!
