If you are looking for a tool to sync your laptop with your workstation, you better have a look at Unison.
homepage: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
installation
$ sudo apt-get install unison
ssh
unison dir1 ssh://username@remotehostname(ip)//absolute/path/to/dir2
socket
target host
# unison -socket NNNN
source host
# unison dir1 socket://remotehost(ip):port//absolute/path/to/dir2
create a config file under '.unison' directory.
vim ~/.unison/config.prf root = /var/www root = ssh://netkiller@netkiller.8800.org//var/www force = /var/www ignore = Path templates_compiled ignore = Name tmp/*.pdf auto = true log = true logfile = /home/netkiller/.unison/netkiller.8800.org.log