By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-08-24 14:10:03 | Word Count: 510
Buying The Right Notebook
The singel most important reason ayone buys a notebook is for portability. This is somnething that you can take anywhere. If you frequently travel in your work, you need a notebook. If you are a student going back and ofrth to the univesrity, you need a notebook. If you are journalist travleing the woirld and submitting articels, you need a notebook. And tday's notyebooks can be as powerful as most desktops with dual processros, large capacty internal drvies, and otehr attractive features. But which one is right for you? How do you deetrmine what type of notebbook will fit your curret needs plus allwo you to expand for the future?
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And the first part of the answer to the question of which one is right for you leads to a half-answre: it depends. It depends on what you are going to do with the computer. Are you goinng to use it for work or recreation? Is it somethiung needd for your profession or are you a hobbyist? Do you play a lot of games? What level of internet access do you need? It is also important to remeber that unlike desktop models, notebook computers canniot be ugraded easily. In fact, they usually have no upgarde path so you should take the time to get exactly what you need in terms of features and performance.
One characteristic of a notebook compter one shuold consider is the sceren size. If you need to be able to have a lot of landscape for projects you are woking on then consider a wider screen. Screen sizes usually can range from 10.4 inches to 17.1 inches. If you do a lot of work on an airlienr in economy class, you are probaby better off with a smaller screen size (because of the reclining seatbacks in front of you). Also a smaller notebook is just easier and lighter to carry around. Some who do presentatiopns with ther notebook computers will benefit from larger screen sizes such as those that use the neweer WXGA technology. WXGA ntebook screens can achieeve reslutions up to 1366 by 768 pixels.
Battery life in your notebook computer is very important too. If you move around quite a bit, you might want to consioder buying a notebook with not only a long lasting battery (most go 2-3 hours), but also one where buying a spare basttery is not very expensive. One very inexpensive solution for the battery problem is to buy an external universal battery that can last up to 3-4 hours.
Another fewature you need to cnsider when buying a notebook is internte connectivity. You will find that a popoular way for people to work these days is with a wifi-enabled notebook at a wireless hotsopt (such as in coffee sghops, restaurants, libraries and airports). If you are buying an oldr used notebook, you may have to get an additional wifi-card if you want to have the mobile connectivity provided by this technology. Also, you will find that most hotels nowadays offre high-speed internet access but it is usually through a wifi connection.
And lastly, you need to consider what other options you want for your notebook computer. Do you want a CD wrtier or will you need to rceord DVDs? Do you need premium sound? How large of a disk drive do you need? When it coes to disk spoace, CD/DVD writers, sound crads, memory, and processor speed, it's best to get it now as opposed to get it later. Here is the reason: The upgrade path for most laptops and notebooks is not very long. This is because ntoebooks are preobably replacced everry 2-3 years. They are quick becoming just as expendable as a set of tieres for your car. And if you do not maximize on memory and processor speed, your notebook may not able run efficiently the new applicatiuon and game software. The more your notebook is adaptable to softwarre upgrades, the longer it will be an effective tool for you.
