When I read Warner's post on the Compaq, the first "mobile" computer, it definitely was a blast from the past. A friend of mine actually had one of those. The big debate in those days - do you prefer amber or green screens? I liked the amber much better, myself...

Looking back on my own mobile computing history, I have two significant "first" mobile devices, my IBM ThinkPad 701C ultraportable with the Butterfly keyboard and my Palm Pilot Pro. The Butterfly was my first real notebook computer. I took it everywhere, although with about a 1.5 hour battery life, I couldn't use it for long. And the keyboard was like magic. That system was rock solid. The PalmPilot was the first device I had with a pen and long before Palm was sued for using Pilot in the name. Those were heady days when I started learning Graffiti. The idea of using a pen for input just seemed so immediately natural for me. It only took another 5-6 years for Tablet PCs to take the pen to the next level.

Looking back at your own mobile history - what do you consider your first mobile device? What did you like best about it? What was the biggest limitation?

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Face it - as much as we like to go as paper-free as possible, there are business needs that dictate we print stuff off. That is fine and dandy when chained to your desk and have access to a network or desktop printer, but what about those times when you are off living the carefree life of a mobile warrior? What do you do?

Share with us your solutions for printing while mobile - do you have a service you use, a favorite mobile printer, a work-around business process you use, etc.

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One of the most common things I do with clients and friends computers is to remove the OEM pre-installed anti-virus and spyware. They are typically the worst culprits for a slow running computer. I normally install AVG Free Edition, ensure they have Windows Defender, and make sure the default Windows Firewall is on. I've also experimented with NOD32, which is really good, too.

What do you use for anti-virus + spyware protection, and why?

I'm John Doe in XYZ office and I'm looking for a new notebook computer for me and, potentially my staff. Talk to me about why I should even consider buying a Tablet PC. Where am I going to see the benefits? What can it help me or my office staff do more productively than what I'm currently doing with a traditional notebook or desktop? Is the pen a new fangled toy or is it really beneficial? What software would you recommend I look at and why?

It seems absurd that someone should have to do anything at all to a new computer in order to get the "promised" performance, but it is true. Fortunately, many of us who read GBM and other tech blogs are savvy enough to figure it out. However, most folks are not.

What do you do after freshly unwrapping a new computer? What do you install, wipe, uninstall, update, set up on a schedule, etc?

By the way, on Monday I'll be porting this post, along with all the comments, over to our forum so all the great advice is available there for searching and adding additional comments to.