Notebooks (lap-tops) are no longer seen on the laps of only
chief executives or directors. Instead, many officials of organizations
have started using them. How does one can choose a notebook
that best suits one's needs? The rules of purchasing a Notebook
(NB) are quite different from those that govern the purchase
of a PC.
The
NB was originally meant for use when on the move, away from
the workstation, or for making presentations. But today, NBs
are replacing PCs, as their performance capabilities match those
of a PC besides being portable.
Though the purchase of NBs looks simple as far as the features
are concerned, certain other aspects also need to be considered.
The speed criterion: In a PC-centric world, one of the first
questions that one might ask before the purchase a PC is the
speed of the processor. However, when it comes to purchasing
a NB, the speed of the processor is one of the last things one
generally looks at. In this case, the user needs a Celeron-based
machine. This is good enough, though a PIII-based machine will
obviously give better performance.
About Ports: Consideration of Ports is a crucial
one. Standard on almost all NBs are a monitor port and a connector
for an external mouse and a printer port. Most notebooks have
an IrDA port (Infrared Data Association port). Unfortunately
some NBs are configured without IrDA ports, which disable them
in communicating with Palm Pilots or for transferring files
from one notebook to another.
Similarly, most new notebooks come with one or two USB
(Universal Serial Bus) ports. With more and more peripherals
becoming USB enabled, USB ports have become a must.
On
PC card slots: PC cards extend the functionality of NBs.
PCI cards (Peripheral Connect Interface) are those that
extend the functionality of PCs. The most common PC cards these
days are network cards or modem cards. The standard configuration
is to have two PC cards lots, one over the other.
Some notebooks come with a single PC Card slot instead of two.
Though it has some minor limitations, one can go for combo
cards, which are multifunctional. Some NBs, though, come
in with a single PC card slot, allow cards of double thickness
in their dummy slot.
NBs come in with various configurations, which may have different
processors like PII PIII or Celeron. NBs come in with
different bundled software like Notebook driver CD, modem drivers,
utility disk, Acer time machine, Watergate PC doctor, Acer notebook
manager, Ring Central Fax, Compaq Insight Management, Adobe
Acrobat Reader 4, Win 95 and Win 98. All these software have
to be considered depending upon the utility. Ultimately, a balance
has to be maintained with the checklist of features to that
of the pros and cons of choosing the best one. Having considered
the above criterion, it is to be weighed against the cost.
12:30:22 PM 
The
NB was originally meant for use when on the move, away from
the workstation, or for making presentations. But today, NBs
are replacing PCs, as their performance capabilities match those
of a PC besides being portable. 
On
PC card slots: PC cards extend the functionality of NBs.
PCI cards (Peripheral Connect Interface) are those that
extend the functionality of PCs. The most common PC cards these
days are network cards or modem cards. The standard configuration
is to have two PC cards lots, one over the other. 
