Hi Timefortea (great name!)

I do all my work on a laptop, but I've set it up to feel more like a regular computer. I've attached a regular USB keyboard (check to see if your laptop has USB ports before purchasing a USB keyboard). And I have a regular USB mouse connected to the keyboard, since this particular keyboard as USB inputs on it as well. The laptop itself sits on a box at my desk. The box props it up so it is at a height that is inline with my eyes (no more slouching!).

This set up is completely movable, so you could work from the kitchen table or a desk and then put it away in two minutes when you were done, yet it feels like working from a full size computer.

Regarding printers, wireless printing is great, though it can be a pain to configure, depending on your operating system and printer. Could you keep the printer somewhere discrete and then just plug the laptop into it when you needed to print (assuming you don't print more than once or twice a week).

All the best
Coffeedrinker

[continued]

It just sucks to think that over a 1 1/2 year span (by the time the thesis is entirely drafted), I'll probably have only received feedback from my supervisor twice. (My previous supervisor met with me about once every month or two, but didn't believe in commenting on students work. He thought it was like holding the student's hand.)

*sigh*

I want to begin by saying: I'm posting this more to vent than to receive answers. (I'm not sure there are any answers at this point.)

...

I'm in my final year of a British PhD program, though I'm finishing it from home (North America).

Since moving home over a year ago, my supervisor has become nearly impossible to get a hold of. My supervisor was active and interested in me / my research when I was in the UK, but now that I'm out of sight, I'm also out of mind.

About every 2 months I contact my supervisor, asking her if we can talk via e-mail, skype, phone, etc. (I'll pay the phone bill!) The usual response is something along the lines of: "Yes, that sounds good. Let's do it next week." I immediately respond by either asking what day and time works best for the supervisor, or by suggesting a day and time. Either way, there's never a response. I then follow up with another email, asking again re: day / time or suggesting another day / time.

Because this approach doesn't seem to work, I've tried calling her at her university office, but she's never picked up and there's no answering machine.

So in the past year, I've received feedback on my work from her once, when I flew to the UK and visited her at her office (though that time she responded to my emails and agreed on a day / time to meet). The feedback that I received was helpful, and she's clearly read the entire chapter, but now that I'm almost finished a draft of the whole thesis, I'm wondering how / if I'll be able to get her feedback on the thesis as a whole. (So far I've only received feedback on 1 chapter out of 5.)

While the obvious solution would be to switch supervisors, I've already done that once (my first supervisor moved universities), and I'd rather not switch this late in the game. Also, she does seem genuinely interested in me / my work, and she's one of the biggest names in my field. And she tends to take things personally. And there's no one else at the university who knows the field well enough to give feedback on my thesis (other than correcting spelling, grammar, logic).

Several things frustrate me about this situation.
1) I know her feedback would improve my thesis
2) I'm quite sure she's giving feedback to her full-time, non-distance students
3) I'm paying huge tuition fees, but I'm not sure what I'm getting in exchange (other than the university accreditation of my degree, when I finish). I have virtually no access to the library (their online resources are quite poor), and virtually no access to my supervisor.

The only things that gives me hope about this situation are:
1) I feel like I know where I'm going with the thesis, and that I can probably finish a reasonable draft on my own
2) I plan to do everything it takes to get feedback from my supervisor on the thesis as a whole, when the first draft is finished. If this means e-mailing her every week, calling her every few weeks, flying to the UK, I'll do it.

It just sucks to think that over a 1