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Buying a Laptop Means More Attention to Special Features
Most of the major specs I
recommended two weeks ago in my annual spring guide to
buying a computer hold true for laptops as well as desktops.
But buying a portable involves additional factors, so here
are some tips for making laptop purchases.
First, you may want to wait to get that new laptop until
later this year or early in 2008. There are a number of
interesting new hardware features coming. One is called a
“solid-state drive,” or SSD, which replaces the traditional
hard disk with a faster drive made of memory chips like
those used in digital cameras. Another is a “hybrid hard
drive,” or HHD, which combines memory chips with a standard
hard disk, for faster start-ups.
Also, more and more laptops will be using light-emitting
diodes, or LEDs, to light up their screens — a method that
promises to be both brighter and less power-hungry.
You also may want to wait for laptops with a new type of
Wi-Fi wireless networking built-in. It’s called “N,” and
promises to be faster and to have longer range.
For Windows Vista users, another new laptop feature coming
soon is a small screen on the lid called a Side Show, which
can display calendar appointments and new emails.
Even if you don’t wait, there are some features to know
about that aren’t available on most desktops. One is a
built-in Web camera and microphone, highly useful for making
video calls and recording videos to be posted online.
Another is a feature that allows you to play music, videos
or DVDs without booting up Windows.
In addition, if you travel a lot, you may want something
called a built-in WWAN, or Wireless Wide Area Network. This
is essentially a cell phone modem that makes Internet
connections over a cellular carrier.
Another key feature is a new kind of slot on the side of
most laptops for add-on cards, like wireless modems. It’s
called an Express Card slot and, confusingly, it comes in two
sizes. Your old-style cards, called PC Cards, won’t fit in
these new slots, so unless you want to buy new cards, you
might look for a laptop that has both the old and new slots.
Battery life, weight and size remain crucial on laptops,
unless you are buying a huge “desktop replacement” laptop,
which will rarely leave the house or be unplugged. For
everyone else, I recommend finding a laptop that offers at
least three hours of battery life on a single charge,
without requiring you to dim the screen so much you can’t
see anything.
Most laptops cluster around the six-to-seven-pound range,
which is fine for occasional travel, or for carrying between
classes, or between home and office. But if you are a
frequent air traveler and have the budget, shoot for a
laptop that weighs four pounds or less and is small enough
to use on a seat tray in coach even when the person in front
of you reclines.
The most expensive laptops are at the extremes–huge,
multimedia machines and ultra-portable models for hard-core
road warriors. Most well-configured Windows laptops, with
typical 15.4-inch screens, are between $900 and $1,500.
I find that laptops with 13.3-inch widescreen displays make
a nice compromise between mobility and power. At the moment,
there are very few brand-name models in that size, notably
Apple’s $1,099 Mac Book, which weighs 5.2 pounds; and Sony’s
Vaio SZ line, which weighs 4.1 pounds but costs roughly
twice as much. More 13.3-inch models are coming later this
year from other manufacturers.
Finally, there’s the perennial issue of Windows versus Mac.
Apple’s two laptop lines, the Mac Book and Mac Book Pro, are
very good. They have better built-in software than any
Windows laptop I’ve seen and don’t suffer from the security
issues that plague Windows. And they can even run Windows
software, if you need that.
But the Mac laptops lack some features that are common on
Windows portables, such as slots for camera memory cards and
built-in cellular modems. And the Mac Book even lacks an
Express Card or PC Card slot.
Among Windows machines, I think Sony and Lenovo make
especially well-designed laptops, but almost any name brand
would be fine.
By Walter S. Mossberg << back
Laptop Buying Guide
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