The only problem I see with the compare clause is it apparently does not work past the first directory level when both the source and destination are in flat view. I think viking wants something across the board because his files are scattered in different places between the two machines.
So in this particular situation I think I'd try to find the files with a date filter only. For example say I left home with my laptop on December 1, 2005 and just today got back again. With Opus in my laptop files folder I'd use the utility find panel and create a filter like the one below.
The results would be all the files I'd changed since on or after December 1, 2005. Since I had been gone all that time I'd know those files were newer than the desktop equivalents so it would only be a matter of copying those files to the appropriate locations in the desktop.