How to Choose a Laptop?

Laptops were designed with mobility and media consumption in mind, while notebooks were designed for multimedia usage, including gaming. Today, notebooks have surpassed the popularity of laptops. While netbooks are convenient and very affordable, laptops are considered to be the mainstream technology. With the increasing popularity of laptops, manufacturers of computers, software, and peripherals have upgraded to higher processing power, faster processors, and more memory to meet the needs of laptop users. In addition, the price of these laptops has dropped dramatically.

The laptop is an incredible piece of machinery that takes up very little space and can easily fit in a briefcase or backpack. While netbooks are great because they are very convenient if you are on the go a lot, laptops are better if you need portability and battery life. Laptops can be used as a desktop replacement, even being used as an extension of a desktop computer when connecting to a wireless network. Laptop computers can also be used as a secondary or primary computer in a multi-user setting, allowing multiple people to work on a computer at the same time without any risk of individual computer failure.

The battery life of laptop computers can vary depending on how it's set up. Netbooks generally have a battery life that is much less than that of laptops. The most basic laptop configurations with their basic software pre-installed typically last for three to five hours on a full charge. However, many laptop manufacturers have designed their models to be more powerful than the average netbook, which allows for longer laptop battery life.

Basic notebooks are similar to netbooks in almost every way except for the lack of a keyboard. Many laptops come with keyboards built right into the machine. In some cases, there is a keyboard jack built into the monitor itself, allowing the laptop to simply plug the monitor and keyboard into one another instead of having to connect the two separate pieces. These are also usually more affordable options than buying a separate keyboard.

When considering purchasing a laptop, you will want to consider the mobility factor. Netbooks are great if you only use your laptop for work on occasion, or if you travel often. Laptops are better for people who like to go between computers frequently, or who like to use their laptop in different locations. Portability is especially important if you plan to often travel with your laptop. If you are planning to go on business trips, though, it is probably better to choose a desktop model for the portability factor alone.

Laptops are great for students who like to be mobile. Many laptop manufacturers create models for college students specifically with a small keyboard and screen in mind. These models tend to be less powerful than their desktop counterparts, but they are still light enough to be carried around without a lot of difficulty. A student will need to find a battery life test that his or her desktop computer will not be able to do, so that he or she can compare the battery life of a portable laptop to the maximum that his or her desktop computer will be able to perform. This can be an extremely important part of choosing a laptop.

For the most part, though, all portable notebooks are the same. They have the same number of general options, such as ports, RAM, hard drive space, and screen size. The main difference is that notebooks are usually thinner than desktop computers and weigh more. However, they are much more portable and easy to carry around.