In situations where a small footprint is desired, the largeat factor of 'stability' revolves around heat-dissipation / avoidance.
Therefore, in a weighted distribution the order of precedence stability-wise would be:
1. heat dissipation / avoidance
2. Application
3. O.S.
Once you get past these trivial matters, you'll quickly focus on the meat of your real issues, namely: your GPU power.
The single most limiting factor of small form computers is the reduction of the Graphics Processor Power, and since there's no buss to plug into, your video upgrade options don't exist for those computers
Small form factor manufacturers sacrifice power for size to avoid the heat generation in the first place.
Processing power requires cycles, and higher cycles generate more heat.
too much heat and you need active cooling....which...needs more power to run the fans, and suddenly its not a 'small' form factor anymore.
catch-22.
we as a business are slowly migrating away from the ultra-small black-box style computers and back to small cases that can still be mounted behind the TV. Your CPU and GPU needs will fluxuate depending on how many components your running throughout your campaign.
News ticker, vid cam, local weather, flash videos....they are all consumers of processing power.
Demo your presentations using your laptop.
