Computers are a part of our lives that makes things easier, faster and
more accessible. The cherry on top is that we can now take them
anywhere with us - you guessed it, we're talking about laptops here.
Laptops come in a wide variety of flavours, therefore finding the right
one might be trickier than you imagine: you have to choose between
notebooks, netbooks and ultrabooks; you have to pick the right screen
size; you have to decide what brand to buy.
There are many variables,
so, how do you make the right choice?
There are three main aspects
to consider when searching for a laptop: performance, mobility and
battery life. As a general rule, you will only get two out of three, so
if you want a laptop that delivers solid performance and a decent
battery life, you will end up with a machine that's not the most
portable device out there; if you want maximum portability and
performance, you will have to sacrifice battery life - it's a vicious
circle, so you'll have to decide which factors are the most suited to
your needs. Let's take a close look at the three main categories and see
what's on offer.
Netbooks
These tiny machines are the most portable of them all, coming in
sizes ranging from 7 inches to 11 inches. Due to their small screens
they are obviously not the best pick if you need to work or watch a
movie, but they are great tools for checking e-mails and performing
light tasks while on the move. Their main advantage is their impressive
battery life which can stretch up to 10 hours.
Notebooks
Notebooks are the "normal" laptops, the mobile equivalents of
regular PCs. Their size ranges from 15 inches all the way up to 20
inches, the bigger ones being mostly used as desktop PC replacements.
The advantage of notebooks over netbooks is that they offer increased
performance, thus being suitable for a broader range of activities.
Another noticeable advantage over the other two categories is that
notebooks offer some upgrade options, allowing you to expand the amount
of RAM or replace the hard drive. Notebooks are the preferred choice for
the typical casual user who wants a bit of everything.
Ultrabooks
Ultrabooks are a relatively new species that combines the best of
notebooks and netbooks. Coming in sizes of 11 inches to 15 inches,
ultrabooks are usually thinner than notebooks, while offering comparable
performance.
Just like netbooks, ultrabooks usually come without an
optical drive and have less connectivity options than notebooks.
Ultrabooks impress with their mobility, being very thin and
incorporating a similar battery life to netbooks; they also win in the
aesthetics category due to their unibody design. On the downside, a
unibody design offers limited to no upgrade possibilities.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
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