I think everyone develops habits and has their own style of working. I personally cant imagine trying to do serious work on a laptop. I prefer working at a big desk where I can spread out notes and reference materials, and mouse and pen tablet. The bigger the monitor the better, so you can see what your doing. I run dual monitors so that I can place reference materials on one and work on the other. When working I typically have Poser, ZBrush, Photoshop and Carrera all running at the same time working back and forth between them. I need screen real estate to move windows around and keep eveything straight. I'm no expert in computers but it has been my experience through the years that laptops always seem to have more "issues" than desktops. To me working on a laptop is like working with one hand tied behind my back and looking through a tunnel at the work.

My father was an old school carpenter and I can remember from the time I was a child he would say If you going to do a job, use the right tools! I think his advice is still relevant!