Buying Guide »


Introduction

Who could live without their laptop computer? Today everyone from gamers to grannies has their own laptop, complete with personal preferences from screen size to colour. Many of us prefer our laptops to desktop computers, even if we don't take them out of the house.


The days of complaints about poor battery power and over-heating are far behind us as innovation ensures all the essentials process effectively. Whether you’re a Mac fan or a die-hard PC lover, your ideal laptop is out there waiting for you to find it!


However, many laptop specs can seem confusing if you’re not familiar with the numbers and terminology used by vendors – and let’s face it, most of us aren’t. Luckily only a handful of these facts and figures are really essential; many are only useful if you’re after something particular from your laptop, for example, if its primary use will be playing networked games, or if you’re a designer looking to run a particular software package.


So what are the terms you do need to look out for? Our handy guide below will equip you with all the necessary information to identify what you really need from your laptop.


The essentials
1. CPU

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is, in a nutshell, the ‘brain’ of your laptop. Working alongside the Operating System, the CPU processes the instructions you give the laptop and fetches data from the RAM to allow execution. Intel and AMD are the most well known brands of CPU.


2. RAM

Random Access Memory (RAM) provides space for your laptop to read and write data to be accessed by the Central Processing Unit (CPU). When people refer to a computer’s memory, they usually mean its RAM. The more RAM a computer has, the less often the CPU has to read data from the hard disk, allowing the computer to work significantly faster. If you’re planning to use the internet and several applications/software programs outside the core Microsoft Office suite, you should look for at least 2 Gigabytes of RAM. If you work with image, video or audio editing software you may want to increase this to as much as 4 Gigabytes to help improve running speed.


by RAM Installed Size



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Reviews of Laptops »

Maxdata Maximumfantastica

Advantages: Great repair service, Inclusive guarantee, Relatively cheap
Disadvantages: Dodgy port covers

I have owned a maxdata laptop since August 2000 and in that time I have found it pretty good actually. For the purposes of comaprison I own a maxdata 650T, a P3 700MHz with DVD Drive 128Mb Ram with an 11Gb HDD. In addition I am sharing a house with 4 other guys all who own laptops so I feel that this is a fair comparison of its abilities How easy is it to get started? Very! I got that baby ticking away within 30 minutes. The Operating system needed ...
...This is where the Maxdata falls down in my estimation. It has loads of little plastic flaps overy port and socket. This flaps are just not designed to be opened closed very much. They are a bit flimsy and have a tendancy not to shut after a while. The screen which i often use for watching DVD films on is crystal clear in all respects both work and play. The laptop itself seems a little heavy but I believe that this has more to do with the fact it ...

Boris 07.08.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of MAXDATA Pro 650T

Speed

Look & Feel

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Maxdata laptop

Advantages: wide screen and very good customer service plus two years' warranty
Disadvantages: I have experienced systme crash for twice with this laptop

...to the windows xp. Fortunately, maxdata offers two years' warranty on this laptop, it is much longer than the warranty offered by other branded laptops, after I call the technical support team, my laptop was collected, repaired and then returned without charging me nothing, I got back my laptop in just 1-2 weeks. I am very satisfied with the customer service of maxdata. ...

shaniafeng 20.07.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of MAXDATA Eco 4000 IW

Speed

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Comfort & Portability

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HP is good!

Advantages: beautiful , practical
Disadvantages: expensive,

I buy a HP neyebook PC,I think it is very good,it is beautiful! HP as a big company which make computers,its computer is also beautiful ,but also use long!I hope HP can relove the problem about the PC which heat output is not good ! If HP improve the technology,I believe that HP will sell more ang more PC, and get more and more people's heart of a young woman. Some students in my school choose HP when they want to buy PC,I believe HP's strength,so ...
...Some people say that HP pc heat output is not good ,but I think that is error now, I wish HP will be better. I believe that will achieve! ...

alem433 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of HP Compaq 610

Speed

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Lenovo G550

Advantages: very simple
Disadvantages: no

Lenovo's latest re-issued debut Lenovo G550, which is intended to replace the predecessor series, Lenovo g530. Fundamental differences in the second generation lies in changing the screen dimensions from 16:10 to 16:9, according to standard most current notebooks. For the exterior design, conduct reforms Lenovo , from the original Lenovo G530 has a smooth surface-mate Lenovo now be presented in black print on Lenovo G550 wave this. Furthermore, Lenovo ...
...the release of IdeaPad S12, Lenovo also took two laptops and an all-in-one desktop update. The first is the IdeaPad U350, thin and light laptop with LED-backlit screen 13.3 inches (1366 x 768), HDMI output, ambient light sensor, and the choice of 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500, 1.3GHz SU2700, or 1.2GHz Celeron 723. For hard drive memory of 500 GB, DDR3 RAM up to 8 GB, GMA 4500 graphics M / MHD 4500, 1.3MP camera, multi-touch trackpad, twin 1.5-watt ...

arema_malang 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful
Review of Lenovo G550

Speed

Look & Feel

Comfort & Portability

Robustness & Durability

Value For Money

looking good

Advantages: out looking is nice
Disadvantages: little big

Opening the notebook up is even worse, since aside from the notebook's sides, keyboard and touchpad every visible inch is glossy black. i think that out looking is very good but the size is little big and if the processor speed is more powerful it will be a class product. Aside from this, the design is streamlined and minimalist. Apart from the keyboard and touchpad, the only things breaking the Inspiron's clean lines are a speaker grille and small ...
...sign of the 1545's budget nature, there's not even a webcam to spoil the screen's slick bezel. All the plastics used feel very solid and there is no sign of extravagant flex or creak. Connectivity, though, is another area that has been seriously affected. Aside from the usual DVD-Rewriter and memory card reader, we have a 34mm ExpressCard slot rather than the more usual 54mm version ...

rezvi 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful
Review of Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop

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