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 »

Samsung R519

Advantages: Looks Amazing
Disadvantages: only a 250GB hard drive

...on you any time soon. samsung are renowned for there build quality!. the graphics card it good, Intel's own an latest. 3GBs ram although becoming slightly regular is still top end when it comes down to it. that with the processor will give a very speedy laptop. the hard drive isn't great i would of liked to see at leased a 500GB in a 15.6" display size laptop, the CD drive doesn't support blu-ray which is a shame but we can all do without the expensive ...

jjlyon 12.10.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Samsung R519 P

Speed

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Great when working but beware!!

Advantages: great laptop when working!
Disadvantages: poor aftersales

...went dead and on contacting Samsung via email (using my desktop) was told that it was a common known problem. This statement was later denied by Samsung. After paying 230euros to return it I had my money back and decided to opt for a company without known problems that hadn't been fixed. I made several phone calls all over between Greece and UK but the international warranty is not in my opinion very good. If you live abroad (outside the UK) be ...

tinkerslots 11.04.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Samsung R710 Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4 GHz - 17" TFT

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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

Speed

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Value For Money

Light, small, fast, and amazing battery. Cant fault the Q1U

Advantages: Lightweight but very functional!
Disadvantages: Small HDD? Thats all i can fault really!

Great little tablet PC with only a few drawbacks. Firstly the battery life is INCREDIBLE. On battery-save mode you get 12 hours with the big battery!! The screen is clear, the touchscreen is responsive and accurate. Some people have said the 600mhz version is slow but mine launches fullscreen video whilst web browsing with no problems at all. Worth being careful with the bloatware you install as there's a big selection on the disk, but you dont really ...
...versions dont have the SD slot, either of the 2 cameras, bluetooth, the fingerprint reader, or the control buttons on the top right of the screen (volume etc) so be very careful to check when you buy - the model number doesnt tell you this! This isnt a problem with the device, just the way it's sold. Personally i cant fault the Q1U. I'd have prefered a bigger hdd but thats only in the next model up and was a big cost increase. External drive does ...

stave84 24.02.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Samsung Q1 Ultra A110 800 MHz - 7" TFT

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Look & Feel

Comfort & Portability

Robustness & Durability

Value For Money

Really good and reliable laptop

Advantages: Fast and very portable
Disadvantages: No webcam

...it is a very big improvement and if dell keeps going like this it will be the best brand of laptops out in the market for a decent price especially I paid a very decent price for mine which gave me top specs, a good brand and a quality product. ...

sebpolska 21.11.2009 · Read full review

Review of Dell Latitude E6400

Speed

Look & Feel

Comfort & Portability

Robustness & Durability

Value For Money


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