Since writing my last reply I then saw Mark Boucher answer and it reminds me of something I do.
I created a simple batch file to automatically back up the databases I work with on my computer and compress them automatically. I simply click the icon first thing every morning and it starts the programs I want every morning (email, browser, ArcGIS), compresses my active databases and backs them up to the network.
Editing on a personal computer, as Mark wrote, is significantly faster in our environment then working off a hard drive on a server somewhere