Choosing a Laptop
A laptop is an expensive piece of computer equipment to choose and care should be taken before making any expenditure. With a desktop PC you can easily add a new screen or keyboard, with a laptop the computer comes as one unit with keyboard screen and processor combined.
A quality build, esthetic design and even colour of the laptop make the purchaser’s use of the machine more satisfying. A laptop is more personal than a desktop computer.
The Laptop Screen
The size of screen largely determines the over all dimensions of the laptop. If you want a laptop to fit into your favorite bag then choose one with a screen that will be small enough for it to fit. The overall computer dimensions are usually stated on the sale adverts. Remember the larger the screen the heavier the laptop is likely to be. However if you want to watch DVD’s with your friends on your laptop then a larger screen with Super-TFT is going to be a bonus.
The Laptop Mouse (Touchpad or Pointing Stick)
Laptops come with a touchpad or pointing stick which is meant to act in the same way as a mouse. The touchpad is a rectangular strip at the front of the keyboard. The pointing stick is a like a tiny joystick with a rubber end set into the keyboard.
However these mouse replacements are not as user friendly as the old mouse. A lot of people who are going to use the laptop a lot for a lot of typing generally buy a mouse which can be easily attached to one of the ports.
It is also worth remembering that the touchpad can cause problems when you are typing. If parts of your hand inadvertently make contact with the touchpad surface whilst you are typing unexpected occurrences may occur particularly if you are not constantly looking at the screen. Usually this may result in the loss of some text that was recently typed.
The Laptop Keyboard
The laptop keyboard is determined in part by the size of the screen. In theory therefore the bigger the screen the larger the keyboard can be. To make the keyboard fit a smaller screen the key size in reduced and the result is that the reduced size of keyboard and keys can be hard for some people to get used to. Particularly if they have been used to working on a full sized keyboard. Keyboards can also vary in quality. Some of the qualities of the standard desktop computer keyboards can be sacrificed. The keys should have a good feel and bounce to them and should click upon depression, they should be well spaced and there should be no rattling of adjacent keys when you type.
The large computer manufacturers are well aware of these problems and can generally be trusted to produce a quality product.
The Laptop Function Keys and Quick Access Buttons
Laptops have traditionally been used for activities such as giving presentations and connected to devices such as multimedia displays. These addition uses and reduced keyboard size has led to the use of multifunction buttons. The additional functions chosen can vary a bit from laptop to laptop. However these additional functions are colour coded on the keys and can be very useful if an additional screen is needed to be attached or email or internet applications started. These additional features are a plus point for laptops which puts them above the normal desktop pc keyboards.
What is inside my Laptop?
Well inside the laptop is similar to a PC except its much more condensed. In fact there is hardly any room left at all. This is worthwhile bearing in mind when you want to add more bits bobs or bytes to it. There could be a problem. So it’s best to get something with sufficient Processor Power, a large enough Memory (RAM) and a big enough Hard Drive.
A Laptop Processor
This is the central processor of the laptop computer. The faster it goes the better the performance should be. However don’t get to obsessed with the chip speed as a more modern processors use multiple processors and integrated memory technology to improve performance.
A Laptop Hard Drive
This is the disk that spins round at high speed storing all of the computer operating programs, your applications such as microsoft office and your photos, text, music and video personal data. The more we use computers the more space we need however the main disk drive will need sufficient capacity the run the operating system programs and the application programs plus an extra chunk for your stuff and at least double spare space to move it around.
If you are short on space for your photos, text, music etc memory stick are now playing a great supporting role. Meaning that your old laptop can easily have access to an additional memory souce.
A Laptop Memory
The Central Processor uses the memory (RAM) as a temporary store to move the information into and out of the processor. The laptop memory needs to be of sufficient size to run the big application programs that you are going to use. If you use MicroSoft Office or a Photo or Video Editing program find out what RAM Memory is recommended for its use. Keep in mind that a new version of this application software maybe coming out which will be even more hungry for processor memory. Build in a factor of safety. It is possible that the laptop has an additional memory slot which can be added to later.
A Laptops Graphics
With a desktop or tower computer you can replace your graphics card to suit the game or business application that you are running maybe AutoCAD for instance.
A Laptops Graphics are fixed, the cards locked inside the main circuitry. The integrated graphics will be the standard setup that is available and will run basic applications. However if you are going to be running a complicated graphics package then you are going to need a dedicated graphics card capable of running the application. Basically if you make a mistake and the laptop graphics are not up to the job there will be little you can do about it. Before you make the purchase check with the specification from the software supplier as to what graphics are is needed to run the software application and then see if they are supplied with the laptop.