Points to Consider Before Purchasing a Notebook/Laptop Computer
Mobility: The main reason and use of having a laptop or notebook computer is Mobility - the need to take your entire computer from one place to another. If you don’t need Mobility, then you should probably go for a desktop.
Expense: Laptop computers cost almost twice as much as comparably equipped desktops. You can actually buy two comparably equipped desktops for the price of one laptop. So if you have to have a computer in two separate places, you would be better off with two desktops(if they were reasonably close together you could even hook them up together).
Speed: Laptops are 20 to 30% slower than a desktop with the same features(CPU, hard drive capacity, etc.). Slower CPUs, motherboards, hard drives, and video systems all contribute to the speed loss.
Upgradeability: Laptop computers are mostly non-upgradeable. Whatever CPU, video card, sound card and screen that comes with the laptop are the same parts the laptop will end with. Whilst it is possible to upgrade main memory, and removable drives, the upgrades can cost twice as much as a desktop’s. Upgrades using PC cards or docking stations are also very expensive. Also, all external drives cost almost twice as much as an internal drive.
Size and Weight: Laptop computers are much smaller and lighter that desktop computers. Often weighing less than 5 lbs., and less than 2 inches thick, laptops take up less space. The thinnest laptops are only an inch or so thick and weigh only 3 - 5 lbs. To get these light, sleek models, you’ll have to pay a premium and sacrifice some functionality.
Furthermore, before you buy any laptop, first visit this site:
https://notebookreview.com - it has a very useful forum devoted to every laptop brand. Here, you can get a unbiased opinion of a few people who will swear their life on their laptop. There, you can see hundreds of complains about various laptop brands. Like, for example, Sony is at the bottom and considered to be the most unreliable laptop. Also, there are a lot of problems with cheap Dell laptops. You should never buy a laptop from a third party reseller since they don’t have a return policy and you get most of the time laptop with dead screen pixels. Some very interesting stuff you find there. Do your research first.
A laptop makes an attractive choice as a replacement computer or the household’s second machine. Laptops are already fixtures in classrooms and boardrooms. An advantage for a laptop is the growing availability of high-speed wireless Internet access at airports, schools, and hotels.
Also, keep in mind, the touch pad on all of the laptops are NOT good for any precise movement. The only true portable way of laptop pointing device are those Thumb-stick pointers on IBM Thinkpad or Dell Inspiron laptops. Otherwise, you will have to hook up a mouse and than forget about portability. Also, stay away from desktop replacement laptops.
They are very heavy, run hot, battery life is almost nothing, fans are too loud, and the size is too big. I just got IBM Think pad T 42 with M 1.7 GHz(Dothan 735) and it has almost the same performance as Dell 9100 with P4 HT 3.2 GHz.(By the way, before I bought T 42, I purchased 9100 - which I?ve already returned).