BUYING A LAPTOP

Home and Gaming Laptop

In recent years, laptop computers (also known as notebooks) have greatly increased in popularity, power and affordability. However, although it is now easy to find an inexpensive laptop that will perform most tasks, they remain relatively expensive compared to desktop computers, so that spending the same amount of money on a PC or Mac will usually buy a more powerful machine.

The great advantage of a laptop over a desktop computer is its portability. A laptop gives you the freedom to use your computer on the move or around the home rather than restricting yourself to a single location. It also means that you can take advantage of wireless networking (which is standard on new laptops) to surf the internet using broadband without the need to be near a phone socket.

A top-of-the-range laptop, like a notebook with Dell, HP, Asus, and many others, can be powerful enough to be used as a replacement for a desktop PC, with all the functionality that would be expected, plus the advantages of portability and compactness. Some manufacturers make laptops specifically for gaming, with a high-speed processor, dedicated graphics chip and a large amount of system memory that are needed for modern 3D games. Laptops targeted for home or gaming use are likely to be bulky because of the emphasis on a good size screen, so weight may become an issue if you intend to carry it around a lot. A screen size of at least 15.4” is best suited for home use, but if mobility isn't an issue you may want to go for a larger 17” display.

If your budget runs to it, widescreen format has a number of advantages over the standard display. Widescreen allows you to view multiple windows side by side, so that you can work in more than one application. A widescreen display is also noticeably better for games and multimedia.

The powerful features of a home laptop are likely to use up batteries quickly. A three to four hour operational time is usual with a standard battery, but if you run the laptop from the mains most of the time, battery life may not be such an issue.

Business and Mobile Laptop

Because of their special requirements, business users on the move are likely to want advanced communication features. Wireless technology is essential, but this is standard in most new laptops. Often, business users are in places where there is no mains supply, or where it would be inconvenient to use it, so the battery is essential. To enhance this feature, business-oriented machines use processors specifically designed for laptop use. These chips include advanced caching, which can bring the laptop's performance to near-desktop-computer level, while still saving battery power.

The main features to consider when choosing a mobile laptop are size, weight and battery life. Whilst laptops with 15.4" screen can perfectly portable, they are still quite bulky and relatively heavy compared to smaller screen laptops. As the screen is the heaviest part of a laptop, truly mobile laptops have screen sizes between 8" and 14.1”, though the trade-off is that smaller screens may become a strain to work with over long periods.

A hard drive of 80GB is usually enough to store documents and files for normal business use, but if you are planning to store music or video as well, a larger hard drive would be a worthwhile investment.

If security is an issue then look out for biometric fingerprint scanners to stop unwanted access to your data.

Mini Laptop or Netbook

Mini laptops, also called netbooks or webbooks, are cheaper and less powerful than standard laptops. Their low cost makes them a good choice for parents who want an affordable laptop for their child. They are small and compact, so are ultra portable, and although their specifications are low, netbooks are perfectly adequate for general tasks, e-mailing and internet surfing.

Netbooks generally use Intel Atom, Celeron, or Via processors, which are less powerful than the chips used in standard laptops, but they are cheaper and more energy efficient. The operating system may also vary from the standard Windows Vista. Netbooks often come with Windows XP or even the Linux operating system installed. This means that less RAM is needed to run the system, and a spec of 1GB RAM or less is sufficient. Some vendors will offer a choice between XP or Linux, with the Windows option usually being the more expensive.

Netbooks do not feature built-in CD and DVD drives and storage space will be limited. Wireless connectivity is standard though, as netbooks rely heavily on the internet for remote access to web-based applications.

Broadband deals that offer a "free laptop" usually mean a netbook rather than a standard laptop.

Choosing a Laptop

Processor

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the "brains" of your computer and controls the speed at which it processes information. In terms of computing power, it is the most important element of a computer system. Processing speed is measured in megahertz (MHz) and gigahertz (GHz, or 1,000MHz). The higher the number, the faster the system.

For the best performance, look for a laptop that has a dual-core CPU, as this is equipped to carry out multiple tasks simultaneously. The Intel Core 2 Duo is a good chip often shipped with new computers, or there are similar, less powerful chips such as the AMD Turion X2, AMD Athlon X2 or Intel Celeron. Netbooks usually use a low-power Intel Atom CPU

System memory

The memory (RAM or Random Access Memory) is where your computer stores the information it is currently working on. The more memory your compute has, the faster it will run. RAM was once measured in megabytes (MB) but is now usually measured in gigabytes (1GB = 1,000MB) as computers become more powerful to meet the demands of modern software.

A reasonable starting spec for the Windows XP operating system is 512MB. This is sufficient for office tasks and surfing the internet, but if you intend to use graphics-intensive programs, you should consider increasing this to 1 or 2GB. Most laptops come with Windows Vista by default, which requires a minimum of 2GB and preferably 4GB of RAM. Not all laptops have upgrade slots for adding more RAM, so check before you buy.

Screen

A 15-inch screens are now standard; some manufacturers offer 16- and 17-inch screens. A bigger screen or widescreen may be desirable, but will also be heavier, making portability a consideration. A standard 15-inch screen means that the laptop will be heavy, but you will be able to view more on the screen. A 14.1-inch screen offers a good compromise between size and portability. You should look for a 13- or 12-inch screen if you want a laptop that will be easy to carry around.

Battery

Opt for a lithium ion rechargeable battery, which lasts longer than a nickel-metal hydride one. Many vendors also offer supplemental batteries to boost battery life. Generally, laptops have a battery that can last anywhere between 1.5 to 4 hours. If you plan to be on the road and away from a power outlet, make sure that your laptop has sufficient battery life to handle your computing tasks, or consider buying a spare battery

Optical drives

A DVD burner is essential, as it can be used to both watch and burn CDs and DVDs. If you want to watch Blu-ray movies on your laptop, buy a machine with a built-in Blu-ray combo drive; it will also let you burn CDs and DVDs.

Hard drive

Laptop hard drives continue to grow, but 200GB is reasonable for most purposes other than video editing. Most hard drives are easy to remove if you want to keep your data safe. Larger drives can be installed or external drives attached if you need more storage.

Peripherals

Most laptops still have a parallel port, though fewer laptops come with a full set of legacy ports - serial ports, PS/2 ports (for a mouse or keyboard) and infrared ports are becoming less common.; Look for at least two USB 2.0 ports for attaching peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, flash drives, etc. A FireWire port, for an external drive, MP3 player, or digital video camcorder, is now common. Memory card readers are also becoming standard, so check that your camera or MP3 player format is supported.

Most new laptops will have an ExpressCard slot, which is a rectangular slot on the side of the laptop. The high-speed ExpressCard interface can be used to plug in devices such as 3G data cards or even a digital TV tuner.

Most laptops come with built-in speakers, but the sound quality varies greatly and most are not suitable for listening to music. Buy a good set of headphones or external speakers if you want a good sound. Most laptops now include a built-in webcam

Networking

Built-in ethernet for wireless networking now comes as standard on all laptops, with some high-end models including gigabit ethernet, which is the fastest connection currently available.

Recommended Spec for standard laptop:

This is the spec for a standard laptop, which will cost around £500. You can adjust the spec depending on your requirements.

Security

Laptops are popular targets for thieves. If your machine is stolen, you stand to lose not only the computer itself, but also your confidential data. Because of this, laptop manufacturers and a number of accessory companies now offer a range of add-on security devices.

The simplest way to protect your laptop is to fit a lock to secure it to something solid, e.g. a wall hook or a piece of immovable furniture. This requires a reinforced slot on your computer's chassis. Most modern laptops have a Kensington Lock slot already fitted so that a compatible lock can be inserted and secured with an attached steel cable. More complex and sophisticated alarm systems include the Caveo Anti-Theft System, which uses a PC card with a movement sensor. The sensor sounds an alarm if the laptop is moved outside a specified radius and the card blocks access to the operating system until a security code is entered.

Your data may be more valuable than the hardware, and there are various ways to protect it. Although modern operating systems have basic password protection, these can be by-passed if the hard drive is removed and installed as a secondary drive on another machine. Data encryption tools offer a better solution. Programs by Utimaco and Steganos encode files, folders and disc partitions so that even if the hard drive is removed and mounted in another machine, only meaningless rubbish is displayed.

For additional levels of protection, some encryption programs require not only a password to access your data, but also a special USB dongle which must be inserted for the data to be unencrypted. One of these is Drivecrypt from Securstar. Some laptop manufacturers, e.g. Fujitsu Siemens and Samsung, incorporate fingerprint scanners onto some of their machines, and third-party fingerprint scanning devices are available from Sitecom. Manufacturers such as Acer and Dell offer machines that incorporate smartcard technology, so that you can only log in and access your encrypted data if the smartcard is inserted. IBM's Thinkpad range of laptops are fitted with specially integrated encryption chips, making them among the most secure machines currently available.

Resources

UKorbit Computers page

See Purchasing a Computer page for further help and information.

Visit UKOrbit's Consumer & Advice Centre for further help and information.