What to Look for in Laptop Notebooks?
Buying a new laptop or notebook computer usually means upgrading -- a faster processor, more memory and more features than your old computer. But knowing what features you should be looking for requires understanding some basic computer lingo and knowing what the various components add to your computing experience. Ideally, comparing features will help you choose the best notebook or laptop to meet your needs.
Other People Are Reading
-
Screen Size
-
Most notebook laptops come with 15.4-inch screens, but you'll also find smaller and larger screen sizes available. If portability is your major concern, you may want to select a 14.1-inch screen, while heavy graphic users may prefer the larger 17-inch screen.
Optical Drive
-
Most new software is released on CD or DVD, so it's important to have an optical drive that can read both types of disks. Some drives will only allow you to create CDs, while others will create both CDs and DVDs. But for most users, a CD-writer is sufficient.
-
Battery Life
-
Portable computers depend on their batteries in any location where they can't plug in, so your notebook's battery life is of first importance if you plan to compute on the go. Look for the longest battery life you can find in the size of laptop you're planning to buy. A minimum battery life of five to six hours is generally typical.
Weight
-
Weight is another important consideration if you're planning to do much computing on the go. Any weight below 6 pounds should be acceptable. Be aware that notebooks with greatly lessor weights may be missing important features.
Central Processing Unit
-
The type and speed of your computer's CPU are two of the greatest influences on how fast the computer boots up, opens programs and performs operations. Look for notebooks with dual core processors and with speeds of 2.0 GHZ or above if available.
RAM (Memory)
-
Amount of computer memory is another factor that influences your computer's overall speed, so you'll want to look for notebooks with at least 2 GB of memory installed. Notebooks with more than 2 GB of RAM will perform even faster.
Access Ports
-
There's no standard number of ports included on laptop notebooks -- some include only two USB ports, while others include four or more USB ports along with serial and VGA ports. Be aware that the more peripherals you want to use, the more ports you'll need.
Video Graphics Card
-
Windows Vista and Windows 7 are graphic-intensive computing environments, and one of the "hidden" places that computer makers short-change users is in the video graphic card. Look for a notebook that has at least 128 MB of RAM on the graphics card.
Wireless Network Access
-
With so much done over wireless networks today (especially wireless Internet), you'll certainly want a laptop that has integrated wireless (Wi-Fi) network technology included. The standard speed is 802.11g, but you may find the faster 802.11n speed as well.
Hard Drive
-
As your computer's permanent memory, you'll want to be sure you have plenty of hard drive space for saving documents and installing new software. Look for a hard drive with at least 160 GB of space.
-
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
