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Portability has traditionally come at a premium. Because of the extra expense involved in miniaturizing components, notebooks have often cost more than desktop PCs with equivalent performance.

But notebook prices have been dropping. The average price of a laptop today is about $1000, compared to $1250 in 2004 and $1640 in 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal. Of course, desktop PC prices keep falling too.

So the question is: How do notebook and desktop prices compare now? Do you still pay more for portability?

To find out, I used an admittedly unscientific approach (although I think I came up with some useful comparisons): I informally compared prices and features for desktop PCs and notebooks. At Dell's Web site, I compared what $600 would buy in a desktop to what I'd get for the same amount of money in a notebook. At Hewlett-Packard's site, I tried as best I could to match a notebook's specs to a $1200 desktop, to see how much the notebook would cost. Here's what I learned.

What You Get for $600

Desktop PC: Dell's new Dimension 5150 is available preconfigured for $579, and I added a monitor for $50, bringing the total to $629. For that money, I got the following.

• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630 w/hyperthreading technology (3.0 GHz, 800-MHz FSB)
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home
• RAM: 256MB, on one DIMM
• Hard drive: 80GB
• Productivity software: None
• Optical drive: DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo unit
• Monitor: 17-inch LCD
• Keyboard: basic USB model
• Graphics: integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 using main memory
• Audio: Dolby Digital 7.1 capability
• Wireless networking: No
• Dial-up modem: No

Notebook: A $599 preconfigured Dell Inspiron 2200 included these components.

• CPU: Intel Celeron M Processor 370 (1.50 GHz, 1MB cache, 400-MHz FSB)
• Operating system: Windows XP Home
• RAM: 256MB, on one DIMM
• Hard drive: 40GB
• Productivity software: None
• Optical drive: DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo unit
• Display: 14.1-inch LCD
• Keyboard: integrated
• Graphics: information not available
• Audio: information not available
• Wireless networking: No
• Dial-up modem: Yes

Bottom line: I should get much more performance with the desktop system; both the processor and the optical drive are faster. In addition, the desktop has a larger hard drive and better video and audio chips. The Dell Web site didn't provide any information on the Inspiron's video and audio chips; judging from the notebook's product manual, the 2200's video and audio specs are adequate but not as good as what the Dimension 5150 desktop offers.

You Pay for Portability

Desktop PC: I configured the $799 base model HP Pavilion D4100y, pumping it up to $1239. Here's what I ended up with.

• CPU: Intel Pentium D 820 with dual-core technology (2.8 GHz, 800-MHz FSB)
• Operating system: Windows XP Home
• RAM: 1GB, on two DIMMs
• Hard drive: 250GB, 7200 rotations per minute
• Productivity software: Microsoft Works, Money
• Optical drive: DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo unit
• Display: 15-inch LCD
• Keyboard: USB model
• Graphics: 256MB GeForce 6200SE with TurboCache support
• Audio: Intel high-definition audio
• Wireless networking: No
• Dial-up modem: No

Notebook: HP's Pavilion Dv4000 multimedia notebook starts at $849. I customized it to match the D4100y's specs, as best as I could; it's not always an apples-to-apples comparison. The notebook's price tag ended up at $1728, about $500 more than the desktop PC. Here are the specs.

• CPU: Pentium M Processor 770 (2.13 GHz), no dual-core chip available
• Operating system: Windows XP Home
• RAM: 1GB, on two DIMMs
• Hard drive: 100GB, 4200 rpm
• Productivity software: Microsoft Works, Money
• Optical drive: double-layer DVD burner
• Display: 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD
• Keyboard: integrated
• Graphics: 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X700
• Audio: information not available
• Wireless networking: No
• Dial-up modem: Yes

Bottom line: Even though the notebook cost $500 more than the desktop PC, it lagged behind in performance potential and storage capacity. For example, the D4100y's dual-core processor and 250GB, 7200-rpm hard drive are big improvements over the Dv4000's Pentium M chip and 100GB hard drive, which runs at a sluggish 4200 rpm.

The Final Bottom Line

No matter how you look at it--comparing desktops and notebooks in the same price range, or seeing how much it costs to try to match a notebook's specs to a desktop's--the result is the same. Portability still comes at a premium.

Does this mean that next time you need a new computer, you should get a desktop PC instead of a notebook? If you're constantly on the go with your notebook, the answer is easy: No.

But some mobile professionals may fall into a gray area. For instance, do you carry a notebook outside the office only on occasion--say, once every two months, for a few days at a time? If so, you may want to hold onto your current notebook for travel purposes and buy a zippy new desktop for your office. And if you travel less frequently, you might be able to live without a notebook entirely, using a smart phone or wireless PDA instead.

The downside to using two computers is having two computers to maintain. You've got to buy and run antivirus, anti-spyware, and firewall software on two computers; keep the operating systems updated and patched; defrag both hard drives; and so on. Nonetheless, having a backup in case one computer fails is a nice perk.

Of course, you'll need to keep data--such as e-mail and Microsoft Outlook contacts--synchronized between your two computers. Fortunately, you've got lots of options for doing that. Read "PC Syncing Tips" for more on this. For a review of low-cost notebooks, see "Solid $500 Laptops."