Choice of the laptop is not an easy task, and you should consider all the details seriously. As well as in the choice of PC, a lot of attention should be paid on the technical characteristics. Laptop dimensions, weight and the comfort of use are also important. The choice of models will depend on the aims for which you are going to buy a laptop. You should remember that it will be almost impossible to upgrade your laptop in the future. That’s why you should buy a laptop with all necessary facilities.
Laptop display, matrix
The aims for which you are buying a laptop, will strongly affect the choice of the laptop. It is more comfortable to work with a large display, but compactness and small weight have their advantages.
A laptop with 17 and 15,4 display diagonal can be used for the playing games as well as for office work. Usually such laptops have all the facilities of the PC and can easily replace it. If you are traveling all the time, then mobility is very important for you. That’s why it is better to buy a laptop with 10 or 12 inches diagonal.
Display resolution also strongly affects the choice of the model. The most widespread are next resolutions: XGA (1024x768), WXGA (1280x800), WXGA+ (1440x900) or SXGA+ (1400x1050 dots). For text work the laptop with XGA resolution will be enough. At the same time for designers and other people who work with graphics, it is recommended to buy a laptop with WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution. High resolution positively affects the quality of movie watching and games.
It is also important to know the technologies, used in the display production. There are three, every type has its advantages and disadvantages.
The cheapest technology is Twisted Nematic (TN, STN, TN+Film). Its basic advantages are good reaction time and low energy consumption, but in the rest it is worse then others. Color rendering, contrast and viewing angles have low characteristics. The peculiarity of this technology is that broken pixels have a bright-white luminescence; on other displays they will be black. This technology is still used in the budget models because of its low price.
A laptop with Multi-Domain Vertical Alignment (MVA) matrix will be the best choice for today. These displays have good, compared to TN color rendering, high brightness and contrast. Response time is about 25ms. Viewing angles in such matrixes are quite enough – up to 169 degrees.
IPS (In Plane Switching) matrixes have the best color rendering. Observability can reach 180 degrees horizontal as well as vertical. But if you want to buy a laptop with such matrix, you should know that the display will have long response time and high energy consumption. And this technology is still very expensive.
Producers don’t indicate the matrix type in the laptop characteristics, but only additional technologies, used for the image quality heightening. Many Samsung and ASUS laptops have TN+Film matrixes. Fujitsu laptops usually have MVA-technologies. Anyway, some models have good response time and long time of autonomous work, others emphasize the image quality.
To improve the image quality, producers use additional display coverings. In this way they get a higher brightness and better viewing angles. Before buying a laptop, pay attention on the display covering. If the display surface is mat, you’ll be protected from glares. Glossy surface has a higher probability of glares, but the image is brighter.
Laptop accumulators
The time of laptop work from one accumulator charge is an important criterion. Usually laptop is used as a portable computer, that’s why the time of work should be maximal. Otherwise it can switch off in the most inappropriate time. If you are always going to use a laptop near the power supply, then the accumulator capacity is less important.
Minimal laptop working time from the accumulator is 2 hours, the battery type is usually Li-Ion. Nowadays there are models, which are able to work up to 8 hours, for example, Sony Vaio VGH-TX650P. But you should remember that producers indicate this magnitude with the minimal duty. That’s why if you are going to use a laptop in the places, where a power supply is inaccessible, you’d better buy an additional accumulator.
Laptop processor
Processor is one of the main parts of every computer, including a laptop. When you are going to buy a laptop, the main indicator for you will be CPU clock. Besides, here there are some details connected to energy consumption and heat generating.
Laptop processors differ from those in the computers. Intel as well as AMD has special technologies for portable computers. These processors differ by the use of technologies that lower energy consumption.
If you are going to buy a laptop for office work, then the processor with 1GHz CPU clock will be enough. For more resource-intensive facilities (games, graphic editors) it is better to buy a laptop with 2GHz processor or more. But don’t forget that the working speed will also depend on the operating memory.
As for the laptop processor, the leader in this sphere is Intel. Majority of laptops use this processor. The main advantage of the Intel is SpeedStep technology, allowing to lower the processor energy consumption due to the lowering of clock frequency, while the laptop is not working or in the lowest duty. And now bicyclic processors are available for the laptops too. Intel Centrino is replaced by the new version of laptop processors - Intel Core Duo. AMD processors keep up with Intel in this sphere. AMD Turion 64 version was created especially for laptops. They use their own Power Now! technology to lower the energy consumption. Results of many tests show that with minimal work (text work, listening to the music), Intel processor consumes less energy. But if you are going to buy a laptop for the work in graphic editors, then it is advisable to choose AMD processors.
A laptop with high CPU clock has high output and low energy consumption. As a result they generate less heat, the level of noise from the fans decreases.
Motherboard
Every producer tries to decrease the dimensions and the weight of the laptop, that’s why every model has a special motherboard. There is no possibility to change it during the upgrading. It is important that the motherboard has an additional slot (one or two) for the RAM increase.
Laptop HDD
HDD in the laptop, as well as in the PC is a main information carrier.
The capacity of HDD depends on the aims imposed on the laptop. You can buy a laptop with HDD from 40 to 200GB. Of course the price of the laptop will depend on the HDD parameters.
Laptop HDD has its peculiarities, concerned with the wish of producers to lower the energy consumption and compactness in every model. First, laptop HDD is smaller then one in the PC. Second, the choice of the laptop will depend on the HDD spindle speed. HDD’s spindle speed is usually no more then 5400 turn/minute, even with 200GB, to economize the energy consumption. For office work it is better to buy a laptop with 4200 turn/minute HDD.
The possibility of HDD change depends on the exact model. So before buying a laptop, inquire about this detail. There is always a possibility of additional external HDD connection through PCMCIA-port or Express Card, but it isn’t very convenient.
RAM
Minimal RAM capacity of the laptop necessary for its work is 256 MB. If you are going to work with resource-intensive facilities, then you should buy a laptop with RAM from 512MB. As well as on the PC, if the RAM is not enough, the part of the data will be transferred to the hard disk. It will decrease the working speed and will heighten the energy consumption. The necessity of RAM extension should influence the choice of the laptop. The type (DDR or DDR2) is not so important, because tests show that the difference in their work speed is insignificant. If you want to install additional RAM, attend a service center.
Laptop graphics card
You cannot choose a laptop graphics card. You can buy a laptop only with an installed graphics card. Originally, producers didn’t pay a lot of attention to this parameter, because laptop was created for office work. Nowadays, when the users have more needs, you can buy a laptop with a powerful graphics card with its own memory up to 256MB.
Laptop sound card
Laptop sound card is usually built-in and has all the necessary facilities. Built-in AC’97 codec is enough for audio files reproduction. Laptop often has a built-in acoustics. These speakers are not very powerful, so if you want to have a more qualitative sound, you should buy additional speakers. The sound card should have and audio input.
Keyboard and laptop positioner
Laptop keyboard differs from the standard one. Keys can have unusual sizes and arrangement. Usually part of the keyboard with letters is full-size, and other functional keys are smaller and are arranged differently. That’s why, before buying a laptop, pay attention to the keyboard. It would be even better, if you could try to press some keys, to do some habitual operations, because some keys can be in unusual places.
Instead of mouse laptop uses other devices. Mainly it is a TouchPad – touch panel, the cursor is operated with a help of finger. You can click either with a help of the panel, or using the buttons near it. Usually you can buy a laptop with a touch panel, because it is convenient and durable. You can also buy a laptop with TrackPoint positioner. It looks like a small joystick in the center of the keyboard. Joystick reacts on the direction and strength of the pressure. TrackPoint is convenient because you don’t have to remove hands from the keyboard. If you don’t feel comfortable with any of these devices, you can buy a special mouse for laptop (some models already have it in the set).
Netcard, modem, Wi-Fi module
Communication facilities are very important for everyone who is going to buy a laptop. That’s why modern models usually have a modem (standard V.90/V.92, 56k). Ethernet 10/100 Mb/sec netcard is built-in. Ethernet (Wi-Fi) standard 802.11 b/g is becoming more and more popular. It isn’t a problem to buy a laptop with Wi-Fi module nowadays. Many modules are equipped with it.
Laptop inputs/outputs
Inputs and outputs create additional connecting possibilities.
First of all, it’s a USB-port, with a help of which you can connect to various devices. That’s why it is advisable to have this port (from one to three). Then there is an infrared port (IRDA) and Bluetooth. They are mainly used for connecting to mobile devices (mobile, pocket PC). It is recommended to buy a laptop with Bluetooth, because data transfer rate is higher, then through the infrared port. But everything of course depends on the presence of Bluetooth and IR-port in the devices with which you are going to work. It may be better to buy a laptop with both ports.
PCMCIA port can connect different devices depending on its type. Type I allows to connect additional RAM. Type II is used to connect the modem, fax, SCSI card and other devices. Type III is intended for connection with additional hard disk.
You can also buy a laptop with ports to connect video and photo devices (IEEE1394), usual monitor (VGA), TV-output, audio input/output, and a slot for memory cards (SD, MMC, MS).
Weight, dimensions, case
Choosing a laptop, don’t forget about its weight and dimensions. We advice you to buy a special bag for a laptop.
Full-size laptop can fully replace a PC, but its weight can reach 5kg. The laptop weight is affected not only by the sizes of the display, but other componentries. Hard disk, DVD/CD-drive, disk drive can be external.
If you often carry a laptop, then it is recommended to buy a lighter model (1-2kg). But if you going to carry DVD/CD-drive or additional hard disk, you should consider the whole mass with a laptop.
Case material also matters. It protects the laptop from damages (especially the display), and adds weight to the laptop. The most durable is aluminum alloy case. But if you have to buy a laptop in plastic case, it can be durable too, if you’ll be careful. Leather decoration is used only in expensive elite models.
This basic information will help you to buy a laptop with necessary facilities. Questions, concerning servicing and upgrading should be defined in the shop. You shouldn’t make a common mistake – buy a laptop, basing the choice only on the trade mark. ASUS, Acer, Toshiba, Sony, Dell, HP laptops are very popular; of course their quality played not the last role in it. But it doesn’t mean that if you choose Samsung, Fujitsu Siemens or LG laptop, it will be less qualitative. Among these models you can also find a laptop that will work many years.