Portable vs On Board Air Compressor?

This has been asked here quite a few times. Some love there on board even with the cost and some love their bicycle pump! I love gadgets so if money was no object I would have a on board. But when I had air bags in the past for my TC. I really only adjusted pressure when I put the Truck camper on or off.

I use a bike pump for my air bags and I have a Viair portable for the tires

I plan to do a good amount of beach camping and light off-roading. I'll likely be adjusting both tires AND airbags somewhat often. So like I said, don't mind doing a little extra work to save cost. But is a portable really THAT much more of a pain that I'm going to be kicking myself if I don't get an on board?

Also, I don't understand why an onboard comes with a tank and a portable does not.

I think they tend to make portables small, so minimal space is taken up, and lightweight, so they're easy to move around. Tanks are big and heavy. But a tank is no big deal if it's installed permanently and doesn't take up cargo space.

If I were going to need the compressor frequently, like maybe 15 or more sand/offroad occasions per year, I'd want an onboard system. Less than that, it's not so much hassle to pop the hood and attach clamps to the terminals. My ViAir is pretty quick and I've never really wished for a tank.

Portable would be less so with an attached tank..on board system tank gets mounted on truck. But not all on board systems include a tank.

We are constantly adjusting air bags, whether taking camper on/off, adjust to get level, road conditions. Upgraded to onboard- worth the price for the added convenience-its just push a switch anytime, camper on or off to adjust bags. Tires not so much.
I do have tank on onboard system and set up to use for other air needs. However I don't use unless really necessary for tires, too much run time for the small air bag compressor. I carry a small 110v electric compressor in camper that I use with gen. for tires. As tire filling is a manual thing anyway kinda made sense.

Works for us- air is pretty much required I couldn't limit source to one compressor.
In your case, adjusting tires over bags, a small on board without tank dedicated to bags would give you the convenience with a bit less cost- then a better portable for tires. Or, just the better portable for the volume to fill tires and manually adjust bags.

I wouldn't use on board air bag compressor where its primary duty would be filling tires. You can always do onboard for bags later if the convenience seems justifiable.

If you are constantly adjusting air bags, you must have a leak.

A good size tank would make it not so portable. We have our mounted under the truck with the compressor. If memory serves it has a 3 gallon tank which is on the small side (to say the least) to air up 6 tires after getting out of the sand. For us it is about right for air bags, filling up rafts and topping off tires occasionally. If I had to do it over I would go with a bigger system.

If money is no object then an onboard compressor, tank, and the biggest train horn they make is the way to go and the air chuck,hose, and inflator are the frosting on the cake. BTW I have a Viair 400 and train horn envy.

Sorry for being so naive here but I'm still kind of confused. If I invest in an on board compressor, are you saying that it's not powerful enough to fill my tires? Only the airbags? I don't want to buy two compressors. I want one that can handle both my tires and my air bags. No I'm not going to be constantly inflating/deflating. But I'd like to have the option to be able to go on the beach when I feel like it without it being a major hassle. or put the camper on without dreading the airing up process. I just want to know if an on board is really that much more convenient.

Does having a tank or not affect the speed or capability of the compressors? The viair portables don't seem to have a tank. Does this make it an inferior product?

truck customizers.com has complete train horn kits that include tank, compressor, horns, and inflator hose. After airing up your tires, toys, and airbags you could be ready to blow the doors off the next car that cut you off! Yes I am still hoping Santa cures my train horn envy.