Laptop Buyers guide, part 2
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.