Laptop Key features

Laptop Hard drive:

You may not need the space, but laptop hard drives will continue to grow. Cheaper laptops with 40GB hard drives are getting scarce, but you can still save money by opting for a 60GB model. A top-of-the-line (100GB, 7200RPM or 120GB, 5400RPM) SATA hard drive will set you back a few hundred pounds if you purchase it when you order your laptop. You can easily remove most laptop hard drives if you decide to upgrade or just want to keep your data safe.

Weight and bay design:

Laptops range from 7kg desktop replacements, to 4kg all-in-one models with the optical drive built in, to 1.5kg ultraportables that rely on external drives. One-bay laptops have become more prevalent because of their appealing balance of features and weight.

Many laptops offer the optical drive as a modular device, so you can swap it out for a second hard drive or a second battery.

When making a purchase, you should consider the weight not only of the laptop, but of the AC adaptor, any external modules, and their cables. Ultraportable laptops have lightweight adaptors but they can weigh almost as much as a full-size laptop if you have to carry an external optical drive, too.

When you return to your desk, you can snap most laptops onto an extra-cost docking station or port replicator. Doing so saves you from repeatedly having to plug in and unplug an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other desktop peripherals.

Laptop Communications:

Few laptops come with a full set of legacy ports anymore. Serial ports are rare, as are PS/2 ports (for a mouse or keyboard) and infrared ports. Most laptops still have a parallel port and one PC Card slot, though many now offer an ExpressCard slot as well. Quite a few full-size models now come with a DVI port for connecting to an external digital display.

Most laptops have at least two USB 2.0 ports; many offer four, and some up to six. A majority of laptops include a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port for connecting an external drive, an MP3 player, or a digital-video camcorder.

Built-in ethernet now comes standard on all portables, with many models carrying gigabit ethernet. Many laptops also have built-in Bluetooth. Laptops using the Intel Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processors - or AMD's Turion 64 X2 processor - include Intel's wireless 802.11a/b/g chipset.

Some laptops come with built-in wireless broadband wide-area networking, enabling them to access Verizon Wireless's EV-DO BroadbandAccess service, for example.

Most also include one or more card slots for removable media such as CompactFlash, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, or SmartMedia.

The Specs Explained

Before shopping for a laptop, consider how you'll be using it. If your primary goal is to get some word processing or spreadsheet work done while staying on top of email, a Core Duo model with a 14.1in screen and a 40GB hard drive will be plenty fast and will save you money. Sexy lightweight laptops and models with top-notch processing power and big screens cost much more.

Keep in mind, however, that most vendors let you custom-build and price your own laptop by picking from a mind-boggling array of features, which gives you a lot of control over the final product. You may be able to afford a faster laptop by accepting a smaller, less-expensive hard drive or DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, instead of a Double Layer DVD+/-RW SuperMulti driver.

Unlike those on desktop PCs, only some of the components (such as memory and the hard drive) are upgradeable; others (such as the graphics board) are permanent once they're installed at the factory. That's slowly changing, as some manufacturers begin to incorporate upgradeable graphics. But take your time and pick only what you need. Below is a rough breakout of some configuration options.

The most highly evolved species of computer, the laptop allows you to work without being tethered to an office and there are more choices than ever. Identifes and discusses the available options - including screen size, battery life, weight, and communications ports.

Laptop facts

If you've ever shopped for a laptop, you know that the factors to consider go far beyond performance and connections. Laptop buyers have to consider variables as size, weight, battery life, screen dimensions, and keyboard quality - plus options such as built-in wireless.

Laptop Key features

Processor:

Intel's Core 2 and Core 2 Duo processors have helped laptops gain ground in the power department. In our tests, laptops using these dual-core processors performed considerably faster than laptops using single-core processors, particularly when multitasking.

Some laptops use AMD's Athlon Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor, which also improve performance. The Turion 64 X2 and the Core 2 Duo both provide 64-bit support, which will become increasingly useful as more 64-bit applications reach the market.

Low-end laptops offer Intel's Celeron M processor, which is generally not as speedy as the Core Duo processors.

System memory:

Unless you're buying on the cheap, a new laptop generally includes 1GB of system memory. Many laptops today are available with 2GB of RAM. Equipping your laptop with 2GB of RAM at the time you buy it will help extend its useful lifetime.

Graphics memory:

You'll want 128MB of dedicated video RAM. Make sure that the memory is dedicated for graphics use, rather than being pulled from main memory (the latter arrangement is usually referred to as shared memory or as dynamic video memory technology). Gamers should look for advanced 3D graphics chips, such as nVidia's GeForce Go series, along with 256MB to 512MB of dedicated graphics memory.

Some laptops now are available with Scalable Link Interface (SLI), which provides a means to use multiple graphics chips in one machine. Laptops that use this technology tend to be more expensive.

Screen:

Laptop screens continue to get bigger - and most have gone wide, enabling you to view spreadsheets or movies with ease. Most laptop manufacturers offer laptops with 17in widescreens. Frequent business fliers can choose from among the many laptops with screen sizes of 12.1in or 13.3in - some of which are widescreen models, as well.

Laptops with standard-aspect 14.1in or 15in screens remain available, but they're not as plentiful as wide-screen models.

Laptop Battery:

Laptop battery life has continued to improve. In our tests, laptops using a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor have averaged roughly 3.5 hours of life on one battery. Some laptops can run for up to 7 hours. Many vendors offer supplemental batteries to boost battery life.

Keyboard and pointing device:

Though you can get accustomed to almost any laptop keyboard, it's best to try before you buy. Thin-and-light laptops usually have smaller-than-average keys spaced more closely than the keys on a desktop replacement model, and their layouts may differ from a standard keyboard's.

Optical and other drives:

Most manufacturers offer laptops with rewritable DVD drives. It's still possible to get a laptop with a combination DVD-ROM and CD-RW drive, but few machines feature just a DVD-ROM or a CD-RW drive. If you really need a floppy drive, you can buy a USB add-on drive.

from board http://ask.metafilter.com/69077/Clone-a-laptop-drive