More and more managers are using portable computers but the most popular places to use them are not planes, trains and automobiles, but home or the office, according to a survey commissioned by Brentford, Middlesex-based AST Europe Ltd, and IDG Communications, publishers of Portable Computer Review. The results were compiled from research conducted by Basingstoke, Hampshire-based agency PC Marketing. Some 200 independent users were approached at the June Personal Computer exhibition in London and a further 100 sourced through telephone research identifying purchase criteria in companies with over 500 personnel. The results claim that professionals and consultants constitute the largest user group at 19%, with directors and partners at 18% and other managers at 14%. Also noted was that those with access to both desktop and portable personal computers spend an average of just under four hours on the desktop and two and a half hours on the portable. Those without a desktop spend just under four hours on the portable. Surprisingly perhaps, it is claimed that portable systems are used in the office slightly more than home, by 37% to 34%, and that only 9% of portables were used on the move. Yet portability is cited as the most popular feature, at 35%, with the ability to work outside the office trailing at 10% and a comparatively low 6% for facilitating work at home. Both individual and corporate personal computer buyers see screen quality as the major determinant in buying one model over another, above other factors such as keyboard quality or processor performance. Corporate buyers also noted compatibilty and the ability to network as key purchase factors. Service from the supplier came bottom of the list for both groups. The most popular software package in use was Windows, with one in four users running Windows on their portables. WordPerfect came second with 21% and Lotus 1-2-3 third with 20%; 30% of corporate buyers said that Windows would be the most important new application area for their company in the next 12 months. Dataquest forecasts that over 1.5m laptop and notebooks will be sold in Western Europe next year.
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