Helping you make sense of the technological world...
Hard Drive
This magnetic disk provides you with space to save programs and files indefinitely--or at least for the life of the drive. Notebook hard drives can provide up to 120GB of storage, but these giant drives cost hundreds of dollars more than the default 60GB to 80GB notebook drives. The 60GB to 80GB drive should be sufficient, unless you store lots of music and movies or tons of pictures. Be warned that capacity alone does not make a good hard drive. The hard disk's rotational speed also makes a big difference; a 7,200rpm notebook disk delivers significantly faster performance than a 5,400rpm model. The faster the disk spins, the better your notebook will perform overall.
External Drives
storage and media-burning options that hook up to your notebook via cable come in many shapes and sizes. Most of these drives connect to your notebook via a USB or FireWire cable. Drive choices include external floppy, CD-ROM, combo DVD/CDRW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, hard drive, and others. There are also smaller external drives, called thumbdrives, that plug directly into your USB connector sans cable. These little drives are brilliant for transferring small amounts of data between notebooks or between notebooks and PCs, and they're much more convenient than burning data onto CD. Many notebook users don't need external drives, but there are scenarios that require them. For instance, if you buy a tiny ultraportable that lacks a built-in CD-ROM drive, make sure you get an external one so that you can load software.
PC Cards vs. ExpressCard
The PC Card, a credit card-shaped device that plugs into a slot on your notebook, can provide a number of connection types - modems, USB connections (say, for your digital camcorder), and wireless WAN radios are all available in PC Card form. PC Cards are handy because they're easy to upgrade and because you can buy third-party PC Card solutions after you purchase your notebooks. However, most notebooks come with only one or two Type II PC Card slots, forcing you to limit the number of PC Cards you can add.
Memory
Every computer comes with a certain amount of physical memory, usually referred to as main memory or RAM (random-access memory). Computers store currently running applications and data in this area. To find out how much memory you'll need, take into account your operating system and the applications that you plan to use. A general rule of thumb: You'll want 512MB for Windows XP or Mac OS X and 256MB for all other Windows and Mac operating systems. If you hope to run Windows Vista when it's released in January 30, you'll need at least 512MB, preferably 1GB.
If you're planning to hang on to your notebook for a long time, look for a laptop with easy-to-access memory slots, as memory is typically one of the first specs you'll want to upgrade.
Networking options
Though the standard is being phased out, most notebooks still come with a 56Kbps-modem (RJ-11) connection, and virtually all include Ethernet (RJ-45) or even faster Gigabit Ethernet connections. Almost all notebooks also include built-in antennas for wireless networking (802.11, or Wi-Fi) so that you can access wireless hot spots. If you choose a notebook with networking built in, consult our wireless network buying guide to learn the difference between the networking standards that are currently on the market, including 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g.
If your travels regularly take you beyond the reach of Wi-Fi hot spots, you may want to consider spending a little extra for a notebook with a built-in WWAN card. These systems let you tap in to a cellular provider's data network. They can be incredibly useful when connectivity is spotty, but the technology has its downsides: data plans still tend to be pricey; throughput speeds, while improving, are still slower than most high-speed Internet; and your built-in cellular card can work with only one cellular provider.
Depending on the model you choose, you may also have the option (often for an additional cost) of ordering a Bluetooth adapter in your laptop. This will let you connect your laptop to other Bluetooth-enabled devices (such as a printer, a cell phone, or a PDA) that are in close range.
If your notebook doesn't include any of the above network adapters, it's fairly easy to find PC Cards that get the job done
Other Ports and Connectors
Most notebooks have a VGA port for an external monitor, Ethernet and modem jacks, headphone and microphone jacks, and two to three (or more) USB ports for connecting an external keyboard and mouse, drives, digital cameras, and MP3 players. For home use, you may want any variety of A/V connections, such as S-video, DVI, or S/PDIF output, and a FireWire port for capturing and editing digital video or hooking up an external storage drive.
Processor
Sometimes referred to as the CPU, or central processing unit, the processor is the brains of the computer. It's the most important chip in a notebook, and it has power-management features that extend battery life. Notebooks use a variety of processor types depending on their focus.
Celeron
A brand of low-cost microprocessor chip made by Intel that is designed and optimised to work best in computers used by average home-PC users.
Pentium M
A family of CPUs from Intel that are part of its Centrino brand for mobile computing. Introduced in 2003 at speeds up to 1.6GHz. Introduced in 2004, the second-generation Pentium M uses the same chip package but is built with 90 nm circuits rather than 130 nm.
Core 2
Core 2 Solo chips are single processor CPUs intended for the value market, while Core 2 Duo chips are dual-core models for mainstream desktop and notebook computers. Core 2 Extreme chips are also dual core with higher clock and bus speeds, designed for servers and high-end workstations. Note that Core 2 Duo and Core Duo chips (without the "2") are not the same.
Core Duo
The Core Duo is a dual-core chip that dramatically reduced power consumption over previous CPU chips. For example, when the laptop is placed in standby mode (sleep mode), the Core Duo flushes its cache to main memory because dynamic RAM chips use less power to retain content than the static RAM cache chips.
Turion
A version of the Athlon 64 CPU from AMD designed for thin, lightweight laptops. The Turion 64 CPUs dissipate as little as 25 watts compared to 65 for the Athlon. Introduced in 2005, Turion enhanced AMD's line of mobile CPUs, which included the Mobile Athlon 64 for full-sized laptops and the Mobile Sempron for the value market.
Sempron
Sempron is AMD's newest low-end CPU. It is replacing the Duron processor, and will compete against Intel's Celeron D processor.
Swappable vs. fixed
The least expensive notebooks come with fixed (built-in) drives. In other words, if you buy your notebook with a fixed DVD-ROM, you're stuck with that drive. A swappable drive bay, on the other hand, gives you optimum flexibility. For instance, you can pull out the DVD-ROM drive and swap in a combo DVD/CDRW drive or even a second battery. We recommend going with a swappable bay if you can afford it. Keep in mind, however, that the smallest and lightest ultraportable notebooks may include neither fixed nor swappable optical drives, relying instead on external USB drives.
Docking station or port replicator
A docking station contains a mixture of ports, slots, drive bays, and security features, and it usually attaches to the notebook from underneath. Docking stations come in a variety of shapes, ranging from the same size as your notebook, which is often referred to as a media slice, to much bigger--some stick out five inches past the back of your notebook. As the name implies, a docking station is where you park your notebook when you get back to the office, giving you easy access to your network, along with a bigger monitor, a regular keyboard, additional storage devices, and the convenience of leaving cables plugged in when you walk away from your desk.
A port replicator, on the other hand, is a smaller, stripped-down version of a docking station that mainly features--as you might guess--ports, such as USB or S-video. A port replicator can range from the size of a box of toothpaste to just shy of docking-station stature. When you're on the road, a port replicator is a convenient way to increase your connectivity.
Display size
Unlike traditional desktop CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors, notebooks ship with thin, liquid-crystal displays (LCDs). Notebook LCDs range in size from 10.6 inches (diagonal) to 20 inches; display size is a key factor in the laptop's overall weight. For comfortable viewing at the preferred Windows resolution of 1,024x768, most people like 14.1-inch or larger LCDs.
Centrino
An integrated set of chips from Intel for wireless laptops. Centrino also provides enhanced battery life. Because Centrino chips run cooler, less cooling apparatus is required, allowing for slimmer case construction.
CD and DVD drives
Most notebooks, even budget systems, now include a DVD/CDRW combo drive (either built in to the laptop or external and connected via USB) for burning discs and watching movies on the road. Some higher-end notebooks offer DVD burners, which let you store large amounts of information on one disc; double-layer DVD burners can pack even more data on a single disc. A few models, like the Toshiba Qosmio G30 and Sony VAIO VGN-AR28GP, even offer next-generation optical formats in the form of HD-DVD and Blu-ray, respectively.
Cache
A special type of computer memory that operates at very high speed. It is similar to RAM but is much faster. It is usually used by the CPU as a storage place for processing instructions. When the computer is shut down any information held in the cache memory is lost. An area set aside in RAM or on a disk to save frequently or recently used data.
