[sejje]

I find I can work quite well with a wifi hotspot (mine is ATT and I'm very, very surprised that latency and transfer speeds are non-issues) and my laptop.

However, that's basically my home setup as well, just with normal home internet service.

I have a power adapter to give me a power plug in the car for the laptop. The hotspot can usually go over a day and charges with the same cord as my phone, if I need to charge it up.

Maybe you can use virtual desktops instead of multiple monitors. They come standard in Ubuntu linux, which I run, but there's a good program for windows that does the same thing.

Edit: I'm a web developer, if that matters.

[geophiler]

I find that when coding, one display works fine (just my MacBook). But much of my day is comprised of moving between ArcGIS and Excel, so two screens work MUCH better when comparing tables within Arc and Excel.

What are the benefits of using a personal wifi hotspot over tethering your phone to you laptop (other than, I guess, going cordless)?

[itazula]

When I talk on my phone, I usually step outside and leave my laptop where it is. As an additional note, public wi-fi spots sometimes require going through a proxy. I use ssh a lot, and even using software like corkscrew doesn't always get me through the proxy. Having my personal router lets me forgo that obstacle.