Good Morning Methuen. Looking at your post I would have to agree with Rooster, Max Exchange presents the most reliable method of synching your machines to each other.
The problem with doing record transfers in the method you describe is that the overwriting. Say you have two laptops called A & B, both have the same records and both make changes to the same company. If you transfer all the modified data from Laptop A to Laptop B what you have on Laptop B is then an exact mirror of Laptop A, all the changes on B have been overwritten and are not retrievable.
This is the reason Maximizer Software developed Max Exchange, it allows data to be safely synchronsied between remote machines.
If you are unsure about implementing a Max Exchange system you should discuss it with your business partner. The actual requirements for a Max Exchange Server are not that high when dealing with a small number of users. Appart from the server all you will need is a VPN to allow the laptops remote access to the network so they can connect to the Max Exchange server and exchange packets.
The other option is of course the Web Portals in the eCRM version of Maximzier, this however still requires a web server for you to host the portals on. The advantages of the portals are pretty obvious, you have a web client version of Maximizer that can be accessed via Internet Explorer from anywhere you can get a net connection. You can also setup the mobile portals to allow access to basic information via a mobile data handset.