Laptops Buying Guide
Don't be mystified by jargon or fooled by hype. Our comprehensive Buying Guides help you choose the right products.
What you need to know, from the kind of user you are to current technologies:
HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT FIT?
Laptops come in all shapes and sizes, and like a fine suit, the best ones are custom-tailored to your needs. The thinnest and lightest laptop may feel great on your shoulder, but it may not have the features or the performance to get the job done. Before you start comparing models, you must first decide what type of laptop you need. Here's how.
Ultraportables | Thin-and-lights | Mainstream or value laptops | Desktop replacements | Tablet PCs
Ultraportables
Ultraportables are the frequent fliers of the notebook world. No, they can't match the performance of their bigger brethren. Plus, their displays top out at 12 inches or so, and they don't have internal CD or DVD drives. But a few tens of grams here and there can make a huge difference if you spend a lot of time on the road. These systems are so light and small that you'll barely know they're in your laptop bag. The tiniest -- sometimes referred to as subnotebooks -- have 10-inch displays and cramped keyboards. Because of the trade-offs, ultraportables aren't hugely popular, but as performance improves and more users ditch drives and exchange files via email instead, these little laptops could be poised for liftoff.
Toshiba Port้g้ R100
• 2kg or less
• Less than 13mm thick
• Small displays (12 inches or smaller)
• Slower mobile processors, less memory and smaller hard drives
• No internal CD, CD-RW, or DVD drives
• Fewer ports
• Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional
Thin-and-lights
A thin-and-light offers the best balance between portability, performance and features -- especially for business travellers. Power-tuned mobile chips, such as the Intel Pentium M, now give these svelte systems performance that rivals that of laptops twice their weight. Add in their 14-inch displays, combo CD-RW/DVD drives and wireless networking, and thin-and-lights let you leave the office behind without missing a beat. It's no wonder this has become the hottest category of laptops. You'll pay a slight premium for these do-it-all portables, but they are the best choice for many people.
IBM ThinkPad T series
• 2 to 3kg
• Less than 25mm thick
• Midsized displays (12 to 14 inches)
• Powerful mobile processors, lots of memory, spacious hard drives
• One swappable internal CD, CD-RW or DVD drive
• All standard ports
• Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional
Mainstream or value laptops
The mobile equivalent of a budget desktop PC, these laptops deliver the performance and features that most users need without all the stuff they don't. Though these devices are a little lighter and smaller than desktop replacements, mainstream laptops still aren't suitable for frequent travellers. At one time, nearly all laptops in this class had two fixed drives -- a floppy and a CD or DVD drive -- though that's starting to change with the new budget models that offer a single, swappable drive instead. Notebooks in this class won't set any speed records, but they offer more than enough oomph for typical tasks, such as email, Web browsing and word processing.
Dell Inspiron 1100
• 3 to 4kg
• More than 25mm thick
• 14-inch display or larger
• Value mobile processors, base amounts of memory and small hard drives
• Two fixed or swappable internal drives for floppy, CD, CD-RW or DVD drives
• All standard ports
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
Desktop replacements
Like a luxury SUV, a desktop replacement is prepared for just about anything, but it rarely ever ventures off the beaten path. Though too big and heavy for anything but infrequent travel, these behemoths deliver the best performance and the most features available in a notebook. Typical options include massive screens, DVD burners and large, comfortable keyboards. These laptops also have two swappable drive bays so that you can mix and match optical drives, extra batteries and other options.
Generally, desktop replacements are popular with people who do not travel regularly and want the muscle for tasks such as multimedia authoring, along with digital audio and video. Because they can be moved easily from room to room, they are a great choice as a second or third PC in homes with wireless networks. And as they close the gap with desktops in terms of 3D performance, devices in this category are getting the attention of gamers.
Compaq Presario 3000
• 3.5kg or more
• Well over 25mm thick
• 15-inch to 17-inch displays
• Fastest mobile or desktop processors, most memory and largest hard drives available
• Two swappable internal drive bays for floppy, CD, CD-RW, DVD or DVD recordable
• All standard ports, plus multimedia connectors, such as S-Video, FireWire, S/PDIF
• Microsoft Windows XP Home or Professional
Tablet PCs
Comparable in size and weight to ultraportable laptops, tablets occupy a different niche. They are available in two basic designs: tablets that look like traditional laptops, but with displays that swivel and fold flat facing outwards, and slates that have no attached keyboard. All tablets use a special version of Windows XP that works in tandem with the digitised displays for navigating and entering data using a stylus. Until recently, tablets were primarily used in specialised fields, such as healthcare, insurance and real estate, but sexier models with new software are slowly reaching a broader audience.
NEC Versa LitePad
tablet PC
Less than 2kg (some slates weigh as little as 1kg)
Dimensions vary depending on design, but all are compact
12-inch digitised displays
Same mobile processors, memory and hard drives found in ultraportables
No internal CD, CD-RW or DVD drives
Fewer ports, especially on the slates
Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
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