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Laptops

The most highly evolved species of computer, the laptop allows you to work without being tethered to an office and there are more choices than ever. PC Advisor identifes and discusses the available options - including screen size, weight, battery life, and communications ports.

Laptop facts

If you've ever shopped for a laptop, you know that the factors to consider go far beyond performance and connections. Laptop buyers have to consider variables as size, weight, screen dimensions, battery life, and keyboard quality - plus options such as built-in wireless.

Key features

Processor: Intel's Core 2 and Core 2 Duo processors have helped laptops gain ground in the power department. In our tests, laptops using these dual-core processors performed considerably faster than laptops using single-core processors, particularly when multitasking.

Some laptops use AMD's Athlon Turion 64 X2 dual-core processor, which also improve performance. The Turion 64 X2 and the Core 2 Duo both provide 64-bit support, which will become increasingly useful as more 64-bit applications reach the market.

Low-end laptops offer Intel's Celeron M processor, which is generally not as speedy as the Core Duo processors.

System memory: Unless you're buying on the cheap, a new laptop generally includes 1GB of system memory. Many laptops today are available with 2GB of RAM. Equipping your laptop with 2GB of RAM at the time you buy it will help extend its useful lifetime.

Graphics memory: You'll want 128MB of dedicated video RAM. Make sure that the memory is dedicated for graphics use, rather than being pulled from main memory (the latter arrangement is usually referred to as shared memory or as dynamic video memory technology). Gamers should look for advanced 3D graphics chips, such as nVidia's GeForce Go series, along with 256MB to 512MB of dedicated graphics memory.

Some laptops now are available with Scalable Link Interface (SLI), which provides a means to use multiple graphics chips in one machine. Laptops that use this technology tend to be more expensive.

Screen: Laptop screens continue to get bigger - and most have gone wide, enabling you to view spreadsheets or movies with ease. Even budget shoppers can afford the luxury of high-resolution colour: Laptops with 14.1in and 15.4in widescreens now cost as little as £500. Most laptop manufacturers offer laptops with 17in widescreens, too. Frequent business fliers can choose from among the many laptops with screen sizes of 12.1in or 13.3in - some of which are widescreen models, as well.

Laptops with standard-aspect 14.1in or 15in screens remain available, but they're not as plentiful as wide-screen models.

Battery: Laptop battery life has continued to improve. In our tests, laptops using a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo processor have averaged roughly 3.5 hours of life on one battery. Some laptops can run for up to 7 hours. Many vendors offer supplemental batteries to boost battery life.

Keyboard and pointing device: Though you can get accustomed to almost any laptop keyboard, it's best to try before you buy. Thin-and-light laptops usually have smaller-than-average keys spaced more closely than the keys on a desktop replacement model, and their layouts may differ from a standard keyboard's.

Optical and other drives: Most manufacturers offer laptops with rewritable DVD drives. It's still possible to get a laptop with a combination DVD-ROM and CD-RW drive, but few machines feature just a DVD-ROM or a CD-RW drive. If you really need a floppy drive, you can buy a USB add-on drive for less than £30.

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