Recommended Notebook Features
Memory, Memory, and more Memory - Most lower-priced
notebooks are sold with 128 MB of system memory (RAM). That's not enough
for running applications efficiently under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. If you use your notebook for occasional
typing and web browsing you could get by with 128 MB of RAM but you
would probably be much happier with 256 MBs. Power users should try
to get a notebook with at least 512 MB or more. It is very important
that the memory is purchased when you buy the computer as many notebooks
have only one or two memory expansion slots and you will wind up throwing
away the old memory when you upgrade.
Advertisement: If you are upgrading your notebook's RAM,
you can save about half the cost of a memory upgrade when you buy
your memory direct from Crucial.com
instead of buying from the notebook manufacturer. |
Batteries - Lithium batteries are superior to other
kinds.
Hard Drives - 20 GB minimum. Of course, larger is better.
Hardware DVD/MPEG-2 - All DVD drives rely on MPEG graphics compression
to display video. The current standard is known as MPEG-2. MPEG-2 compression
can be provided by software (slow) or by hardware (fast).
It is generally agreed that a 500 MHz or faster Pentium III or Athlon
is required to play software DVD effectively. Needless to say, hardware
MPEG-2 is more desirable, and will provide smoother playback. Hardware
MPEG-2 is a video chip function in notebooks.
Video Screens - There are basically two kinds: active matrix
(TFT) and dual scan (STN)/passive matrix screens. Another type of passive
matrix screen is called HPA (High Performance Addressing). HPA screens
are generally brighter than plain dual scan screens.
Active matrix screens are faster, brighter, and cost about $200-$300
more than a dual scan/HPA screen. It's best to view the screen before
purchase to see if you like it.
Video Memory and Screen Resolution
- The screen resolution of any notebook or desktop computer is a function
of the graphics adapter, amount of Video RAM available, the size (pixel
density) of the screen shown (e.g. 640x480), and the number of colors
used. These screen features are loosely defined by the type of output
the screen can produce e.g. VGA, SVGA, XGA, and SXGA as shown in the
table on the next page.
<< back continued next
page >>
Recommend
this page to your friends!!