Laptops and notebooks

Laptops and notebooks are the same thing. They are sometimes called notebooks in the United States.

Most laptops today are designed as desktop replacement computers. They have the same power and speed as a desktop, but are portable. A laptop has a screen size of 15.6 inches or above. It usually has 2GB or more of RAM. Battery life is not outstanding on laptops and they’re not really that portable weighing in at around 2.5kg.

Ultrabooks

Ultrabooks are thin, lightweight (1.5kg) laptops with lots of power and RAM. They take the best bits of desktop replacement laptops; fast CPU and lots of memory and combine it with a thin, lightweight case that aides portability. Ultrabooks usually have a 12 – 14 inch screen and a good 8 hours of battery life. The flexability of ultrabooks comes at a price and they can cost £600 or more.

 Netbooks

Netbooks are mini laptops designed to be portable and work for long periods away from the power socket. They usually have low power Atom processors and only 1 GB or RAM. The standard screen seems to be 10.1 inches nowadays although you will find some netbooks with 8.9 inch screens. Their batteries can last up to 10 hours.

So which is best for you? Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of each type of laptop.

Laptop

• Used as a replacement for a desk top
• Portable within the home
• Good range of prices and spec for all uses, from gaming, the multimedia to just surfing the web
• Good size screen for long periods of work
• Short battery life – you’ll have to keep it plugged in most proberly

Ultrabook

• Designed to be portable and usable
• Good screen that can be used comfortably for hours
• Lightweight
• Good battery life
• Expensive (can be £500+)
• High power. Can be used for anything from gaming to video editing or music production

Netbook

• Cheap (around the £200 – £400 mark)
• Great battery life
• Light and portable
• Low power, can only be used for document editing and web surfing.

Check out all netbook vouchers here

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2010/3/1/asus-waveface-outdesigns-apple2c-set-to-revolutionize-pc-industry.aspx

As the article says – Apple, eat your heart out.

Mark

In its own words “hot on the heels of Apple’s latest product launch”, UK company X2 Computing has launched the “iTablet” range of Windows- or Linux-based tablet PCs.

Check it out

I think I’d rather have one of these than an iPad. Screw your millions of Apple iPad apps that I will never use.

It’s screen hinge can be rotated like an easel so that the device can be used as a digital picture frame or a small TV. It even comes with a simple remote and HDMI out so you can plug it into a proper TV.

Applications and some destination websites (like Facebook) seem to be hardcoded into the device and it claims to be self upgrading and self healing.

Check it out at litl.com

Here’s the video from the guys at CrunchGear:

Apple: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/times-slate-slip/
Dell: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?&entry_id=54786
Microsoft/HP: http://www.pcworld.com/article/186172/why_the_microsofthp_tablet_is_a_big_disappointment.html
Techcrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/
Lenovo: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/lenovo-ideapad-u1-hybrid-laptop-by-day-unhinged-tablet-by-nigh/
Sony: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/06/sony-introduces-dash-internet-viewer-touchscreen-tablet/
Notion Ink: http://www.androidcentral.com/notion-inks-smartpad-now-adam

You just download the app store client software, and from there you can browse and download hundreds of other apps for your Windows netbook.

Check it out: http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/appup.htm

We’re loving the touchscreen features. Very Minority Report. We can can get behind the idea of flinging pictures from the desktop onto Faceboom with a flick of the wrist. We’re loving the fact it has a HDMI output. We love the screen drag scrolling – we HATE trackpads.

Sounds like it has decent battery-life, nice aluminium finish and a processor with alot of poke. We’re reckon they’re gonna be pricey.

The Smartbook is smaller than a netbook, but bigger than a smartphone and contains it’s own SIM. The only example a Smartbook that we could find for sale today is the Sharp NetWalker PC-Z1 a 5 inch screened mini-laptop that runs Ubuntu.

The argument for the existence of these devices is that they are aimed at teens who want to browse the web – even where there’s no WiFi – and they want something that’s portable, cheap and cool looking.

I’d argue that either a netbook with mobile broadband dongle or a smartphone like the HTC Hero fit this bill admirably. Maplins have been pushing devices like the Pockt Surfer and the UBISurfer for years with little success.

The netbook market seems to be leveling out with an average screen size of 10.1 inches. If anything nebook screen are growing with more 11.6 inch widescreen netbooks coming onto the market. I don’t know why anyone would want to carry around yet another device with an unusable screen that no website will display correctly on.

Prove me wrong.