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 »

Great for the light/basic Laptop User

Advantages: Reasonably priced with a decent spec
Disadvantages: Ports all on the left

...that for the price; this Samsung not only looked the part but had all the features she needed. Now for the machine itself, to which I can thoroughly inform you of because the responsibility to "set it all up and road test it" as my mother pointed out was firmly down to me. The Laptop Well when I opened the box I was very impressed. Samsung have produced a very sexy looking laptop. A high gloss black top that was screaming "Do not touch me" and a ...
...Professional 2007 (free 60-day trial), SAMSUNG Magic Doctor, SAMSUNG Update Plus Opinion Set up was easy was once you open the box you realise there is actually very little to it. You put the battery pack in the bottom of the laptop and then plug in and charge. Once you turn the machine on it does an automatic set-up for you guiding you through each stage step by step. Once the initial set up is done you can then start to use the machine. The wireless ...

KathEv 25.01.2010 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Samsung R519 P

Speed

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Samsung R60 Laptop

Advantages: Looks and feels superb
Disadvantages: Limited software included

The r60 plus is an excellent comprehensive laptop for the price. It looks a high quality product and operates to the same high standard. The high gloss can be a bit difficult to keep clean though. The performance for the price is great, the processor is fast, quiet and energy efficient and it also includes ATI graphics which is much better than the integrated intel graphics found in many laptops. It also includes Vista and a large hard drive making ...

Kenfold 29.07.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Samsung R60 Plus Pentium Dual Core T2310 1.46 GHz - 15.4" TFT

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Sony Vaio 15.5" Notebook - VGN-NW20EF/S - Windows 7 & Integrated

Advantages: very good
Disadvantages: no doubt

...Laptop Operating System) The Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF / S is very elegant, lightweight and portable, reliability, productivity, and is very convenient. The cost of the notebook is made for both home and outstanding. It has the latest Windows 7, with a number of significant improvements, Vista comes in and jumps from a father to XP host (HDD and CD / DVD) The storage capacity is very good, you have amassive 320GB of hard drive space you give a lot of ...
...choice.The the keypad on the Sony Vaio VGN NW20EF ideal / S is known for the ease and comfort designed with large keys. Palm rest and touchpad, which react with force. (Wireless & network port) About Wi-Fi Are all connected to Wi-Fi enabled network, so you can always get in touch, which has a Wi-Fi hotspot so you can access the Internet on the move. There are 3 USB ports and an Ethernet port for networking. (Processor and the display size) The Sony ...

kocan 09.02.2010 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S

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Comfort & Portability

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HP Compaq 610

Advantages: NO
Disadvantages: NO

...Processors available Learn more about HP notebooks and Intel Centrino vPro technology Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5870 (2.00 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB) Intel® Celeron® Processor T1500 (1.86 GHz, 512 KB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB) Chipset Mobile Intel® GLE960 Express Chipset with ICH8M Mobile Intel® GME965 Express Chipset with ICH8M Specialized Design DriveGuard Memory Memory 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM 1 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM ...
...supply External 65-watt AC adapter; HP Fast Charge Battery Life 6-cell (47 WHr): Up to 5 hours Manageability Security management DriveLock, Disk Sanitizer, Computrace BIOS support, Kensington lock slot Service and Support Warranty HP Services includes a one-year standard parts and labor warranty, pick-up or carry-in, and toll-free 7 x 24 hardware technical phone support. On-site service and warranty upgrades are also available. ...

tampan 08.02.2010 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of HP Compaq 610

Speed

Look & Feel

Comfort & Portability

Robustness & Durability

Value For Money

its more than a computer

Advantages: Looks, speed, extra features, robustness and durabilty, nearly everything.
Disadvantages: Not wanting to 'hurt' it, and for some people the weight of it could be a problem

...the download section of the Apple website. I know have many widgets ranging from a Google search bar to a 'Gigometer'. And I'm sure that there are many widgets which you will love, even many just for fun. You can even send in your own widget ideas... Thank you for reading my review, please let me know what you thought of it, what I could do better maybe. ...

enternamehere 07.02.2010 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Apple MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz - 15.4" TFT

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