To those wondering about hardware differences - Just run your OS in VM. With modern processors you won't be able to tell the difference performance wise. Also,

To those wondering about hardware differences - Just run your OS in VM. With modern processors you won't be able to tell the difference performance wise. Also, it's easy to make a backup of the image when you are wrapping up at work/home. This way, if you lose the drive or it fails - you will have a backup of your most recent work. I have seen people doing this for at least the last 10 years (I am surprised it is news). I agree with what some others have posted about using an SSD with eSata or USB3. This really is a great way to go. I wold recommend also throwing some kind of encryption in the mix (either encrypt the hard drive or use BitLocker or something comparable withing the OS since you will no doubt be carrying sensitive data or intellectual property around.