Recommended Laptops: Laptops are gaining popularity; especially due to their portability and convenience. Typical laptops integrates most of the components of a desktop computer as one unit; including the screen, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a track pad, and a pointing stick), speakers, and a chargeable battery.

The following points out why laptops are widely preferred as compared to the desktops:

Portability; laptops can easily be carried around – not only at home and in the office, but also during commuting and flights, in restaurants, lecture halls and libraries. Laptop computers are light in weight and smaller in size. This is efficient when space is at a premium, for example in a small apartment or student hostels, the laptop can be placed in cabinets or drawers to give space for other things.

Access: Laptop computers have good compatibility with devices, which gives room to the user to connect additional accessories like USB devices and other drive components

Power Consumption; laptops generally consume low power as compared to the desktop computers.

Quiet; laptops are often quieter than desktops, due to both the components and to less heat production leading to use of fewer and slower cooling fans.

Battery; when a laptop is fully charged, it can run for many hours before going off.

Extras: in comparison to low-end desktops, even low-end laptops include features such as Wi-Fi card and express Card slot and a memory card reader.

Immediacy; a laptop allows you to go through any information at any time and anywhere whether it’s personal or not.

Connectivity; a laptop can have easy access to internet and local network while remaining mobile.

Just like any other devices, a laptop also has its drawbacks. Some of the disadvantages include;

Cost; laptops are significantly more expensive than desktops PCs of the same or even lower performance level.

Upgradeability; is very limited compared to desktops, which are thoroughly standardized. Many internal components are not upgradeable.

Ergonomics and health; because of their small and flat keyboard and track pad pointing devices, prolonged use of laptops can cause repetitive strain injury.

Durability; due to their portability, laptops are subject to more wear and physical damage than desktops.

Security; being valuable, common and portable, laptops are prized targets for theft.

There are a wide variety of laptops from various manufacturers to choose from in the market. Popular manufacturers and representations include Dell, Acer, Asus, Centrino, Pentium, Inspiron, Averatec, Compaq, Fujitsu, Gateway, HP, IBM, NEC, Sony, Toshiba as well as many white box types. By this we mean built for major retailers and branded just for them. So the range of laptops is broad and withplenty of variety.

If you are looking for an officed laptop, or a family laptop, or maybe one for gaming – you can easily find one to suit you.

If you are happy to have a computer fixed in location, then best to get a PC. But if you like to move it around, and take up much less space in the family home space, then a laptop may well suit you better. They are getting more powerful and lighter, with longer battery life (4 hours is becoming the average in battery life).

One final tip: Be careful that you do not block up the bottom vents. This can be easy if your kids play with the laptop on their beds, or you on a comfy settee or a cushion. It is easy to block those ventilation slots underneath. If you let this then over heating results, and the fans bearings get worn, resulting then in a noisy laptop with loud fans whirring.

Happy laptopping!