Laptops come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, each with its own set of pros and cons. While the smallest laptops are the most portable (and often the coolest-looking), they also have smaller keyboards and displays, fewer features, and slower performance than their bulkier brethren. Conversely, more full-featured laptops are generally more difficult to carry and take up more space on your desk and in your bag.Until they make the perfect laptop, you'll have to sacrifice something, so think about what's most important to you--computing power, a complete set of features, long battery life, good looks, a small form factor, or a low price. Take a look below to learn more about what each type of laptop has to offer.
Ultraportable
The smallest, most lightweight laptops are called ultraportables. Their compact form factor is crucial for people who need to have their PC with them all the time, especially frequent business travelers. What you gain in portability, however, you usually give up in terms of weaker performance, smaller keyboards and displays, and fewer features. And what's more, ultraportable laptops almost always carry a premium price tag. Still, a compact, lightweight profile can make all the difference if you spend a lot of time on the road.
Weight: 4 pounds or less
Size: Less than 1 inch thick
Display: Smaller than 14 inches (diagonal)
Processor: Slower, low-voltage mobile processors, some dual-core CPUs
Features: Fewer ports and connections, 60GB to 120GB hard drive
Networking: LAN, modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (optional), WWAN (optional)
Other things to note: Small keyboard and touch pad; may lack an internal optical drive
Price range: Start at $1,100; fully loaded $2,000 and up
Thin-and-light
A thin-and-light offers the optimal combination of portability, performance, features, and cost. Power-tuned mobile processors deliver enough power to keep you working smoothly, and unlike ultraportables, most thin-and-lights have a more reasonably sized keyboard and display, a larger hard drive, and a built-in optical drive. Yes, they're more expensive than slightly larger, heavier midsize laptops, but if you need maximum productivity in a portable package, this is the best choice.
Weight: 4 to 6 pounds
Size: Approximately 1 inch thick
Display: 12 to 14 inches (diagonal), probably wide screen
Processor: Midrange-to-fast dual-core processors
Features: Most ports and connections, 80GB to 120GB hard drive, optical drive
Networking: LAN, modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (optional), WWAN (optional)
Other things to note: Small keyboard and touch pad
Price range: Start at $800; fully loaded $1,500 and up
Midsize
Not all midsize laptops are inexpensive, but most inexpensive laptops are midsize. Why? Whereas a desktop replacement is designed to deliver high performance and a thin-and-light is optimized for portability, the typical midsize laptop isn't specialized. Rather, a midsize laptop gives you everything you need for basic computing (word processing, storing digital photos), home entertainment (burning CDs, watching DVDs), and online communication (e-mail and Web surfing). Slightly smaller than desktop replacements and with limited battery life, midsize laptops aren't particularly well suited for regular travel.
Weight: 6 to 8 pounds Size: More than 1 inch thick
Display: 14 to 15.4 inches (diagonal), possibly wide screen
Processor: Slow/budget AMD Sempron or Intel Celeron, midrange AMD Turion 64 or Intel Core Duo, or fast Turion 64 X2 or Core 2 Duo processors
Features: Most ports and connections; 60GB to 100GB hard drive; DVD burner; memory card reader; decent software package
Networking: LAN, modem, Wi-Fi
Other things to note: May be less attractively designed; may suffer from mediocre performance and battery life
Price range: Start at $500; fully loaded $900 and up
Desktop replacement
The largest and heaviest type of laptop, desktop replacements are designed to deliver the power and features you'd get from a desktop PC. Too bulky for anything but room-to-room travel within a house or an office, desktop replacements typically offer the best performance, the largest screens and keyboards, and the most complete set of features available on a laptop. Popular among home and business users, these systems can deliver enough computing muscle for serious gaming, multimedia authoring, and even high-level digital audio and video work.
Weight: 7.5 pounds or more
Size: More than 1 inch thick
Display: 17 to 20 inches (diagonal)
Processor: Fast dual-core processors
Features: Wide array of ports and connections,80GB to 240GB hard drive space, double-layer DVD burner
Networking: LAN, modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (optional)
Other things to note: Large keyboard, separate number pad, large touch pad,batteries not designed for lengthy mobile use.
Price range: Start at $1,000; fully loaded $1,500 and up
Tablet PC
Usually comparable in size and weight to ultraportable or thin-and-light laptops, tablets let you take handwritten notes and navigate menus, documents, and Web pages using a stylus directly on the screen. The most common type is the convertible tablet, which looks much like traditional a laptop but has a display that swivels 180 degrees and folds flat over the keyboard. (Some manufacturers are incorporating this type of tablet functionality into larger midsize and thin-and-light laptops.) Slate tablets, on the other hand, lack keyboards--they're all screen. The smallest tablets, ultramobile PCs, bridge the gap between PDA and ultraportable, with 7-inch touch-screen displays and enhanced media player features. Once only the tool of specialized industries, tablets are gaining a wider audience, thanks to their portability, flexibility, and wow factor.
Weight: Usually 4 pounds or less, with some slates weighing as little as 2 pounds; UMPCs weigh less than 2 pounds; some larger laptops incorporate tablet functionality
Size: Less than 1 inch thick
Display: 12 inches (diagonal) or smaller digitized display Processor: Moderate mobile processors
Features: Fewer ports and connections; 30GB to 60GB hard drive
Other things to note: Microsoft Windows Vista OS; handwriting recognition softwarePrice range: Start at $1,000; superior models go for closer to $2,000Networking: LAN, modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (optional), WWAN (optional)
With a Satellite Pro L300-EZ1004X laptop you can be as mobile and productive as you need to be. Enjoy affordable, fundamental business productivity features, with styling that goes well beyond basic. Toshiba Satellite Pro notebooks make it easy to convey a polished, professional image, while making short work of the day's workload. With the Intel dual-core processors, your L300 Satellite Pro Series can deliver the performance and enhanced wireless connectivity you need while on the move, plus added ?bandwidth" for multitasking, downloads or virus scans. The 15.4" TruBrite screen gives you a truly stunning display that offers incredible color depth and clarity, plus clearer viewing from wider angles. You'll also be able to sneak in more spreadsheet columns, make multicolored graphs easier to read, and give awesome desktop presentations. You'll also find the Satellite Pro notebook PCs is pleasantly streamlined, offering fundamental performance and connectivity, free of unwanted features that distract you from the task at hand. If it's a machine amply equipped?and keenly priced?with the components you need to help you accomplish the day's agenda, then the Satellite Pro L300-EZ1004X notebook PC might be best working definition of value and affordability. 15.4 diagonal WXGA (1280 x 800) TruBrite TFT LCD display Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 DVD+-R/RW Super Multi Drive with Double Layer Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g 10/100 Ethernet LAN 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter - MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD ExpressCard 54/34 Slot 3 x USB 2.0, Headphone out; Microphone-in, VGA, RJ-11 (Modem), RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 14.3 (W) x 10.5 (D) x 1.48 (H) Approximate Unit Weight - 5.6 pounds.
