9 Basic Features You Should Consider Before Buying Your Next

By: Ed Cordova

Laptops are the natural evolution in the ever changing world of
the computer. The improvement of technology has allowed the
computer to shrink from being as big as a house, to the size of
book.

Their compactness, and portability makes the laptop particularly
useful to the professional, the person on the go, and the
student. However, laptops can get rather expensive so you should
take care to choose a laptop with the right amount of features,
but not so many that they needlessly inflate the price.

Here are 9 basic features that you should consider before you
purchase your next laptop:

1. Weight and Size: When it comes to weight and size, you should
consider that the bigger a laptop is, the heavier it is. A small
enough size should be chosen, but not so small that it's
uncomfortable. The smaller the laptop, the more awkward it will
be to type on that tiny keyboard.

2. Display: The display, or screen is directly tied in to the
size of the laptop. You should choose the biggest display
possible. Also, a decision has to be made between Active, and
Passive Matrix.

Active Matrix is more expensive, but is recommended since
pictures come out sharper and moving images play out smoother.
Passive Matrix is cheaper, but the picture quality is not as
good.

3. Batteries: There are 3 main types of Batteries. They are Li,
NiMH, NiCad. What those letters stand for is not important. All
you need to know is to always choose Li since they are higher
quality, and provide a longer life. However, they are slightly
more expensive. If one is strapped for money, then NiMH is
acceptable. They're slightly cheaper, but must be recharged
every hour or so. Under no circumstances should NiCad be chosen.
They're extremely low quality, and have no staying power.

4. Hard-Drive: Most laptops start with at least 4.3 gigabytes,
or GB, of hard drive space. However, you can get more hard-drive
space if you think you'll need it.

5. CD-DVD Drive: To be honest, a laptop doesn't really need
either one. But at least one should be added since most software
comes in CD form nowadays. If you choose a DVD-ROM drive, then a
CD-ROM drive won't be needed since a DVD-ROM drive can read
CD-ROMs.

6. RAM, or Random Access Memory: This is the Short Term Memory
of you computer. How much does a laptop need? The simple answer
is about 32 megabytes, or MB, of RAM, but 64 is highly
recommended. This is due to the fact that laptops are difficult
to upgrade. Because of this, you might as well get more then
you'll currently need, and look ahead.

7. The "brain" otherwise known as the CPU: The Central
Processing Unit contains all the programs run on a computer. At
least 233 MHz in processing speed for a laptop is suggested.
There are many types of CPU's but just make sure the laptop you
choose has one.

8. Modems: The modem allows you to access the Internet. This is
important if the laptop will be used to surf the Web, and send
email. There are two primary types of modems used with laptops.
There's the Internal modem, and the PC card-based modem.
Internal modems are easier to hook up, and they're becoming more
and more common. PC card-based modems stick out of a computer.
Their advantage is that they can be replaced if upgrades to a
faster one are needed.

9. Ports: Ports are where the peripherals are applied, such as
microphones, cameras, and extra memory. What type of ports do
most laptops have? Currently, all laptops feature a serial, a
parallel, an infrared, and a universal serial bus (USB) port.
The reason why there're so many different types of ports is
because the peripheral equipment corresponds with different
types of ports.

That's it. Those are the 9 basics that you should consider when
purchasing your next laptop. Utilizing the above information,
you'll be able to make the most informed decisions when
acquiring a laptop with suitable features that meet all your
needs.

About the author:
Ed Cordova is a computer enthusiast whose passion for computers,
be they desktops,
or laptops, has lead
him to create About
Computers.