Looking for a Laptop? – Want To Learn How To Build A Laptop...or Buy One?

Abstract: Laptop computers are commonplace today. Also known as notebooks, many business people, corporate and small business employees, students and just about any other average person on the street can be seen toting one around. Unlike desktops however, laptops are still very much proprietary and building one practically means only deciding on the configuration that you would like as opposed to physically building it like you can do with desktops. This article discusses the various options available to you.

From the time the worlds first Personal Computer was revealed by IBM in the 70s, mankind has been trying to make computers smaller, faster and more mobile. Laptops or notebooks are a tremendous asset to many of us who need computing on the move. Accessing programs and information from a car, bus, train or plane is just a mouse click away thanks this marvel of mobile computing technology.

The word laptop and notebook are for all intents and purposes one and the same. However, there is a bit of history to it. The word “laptop” came about from the word desktop which means a computer on your desk. When the first mobile computers were created, the word laptop was used to denote that it could be operated on your lap suggesting that the computer was small enough and mobile enough.

However, the early laptops were huge and heavy by today’s standards. This is the reason why the marketing powers that be decided on introducing the word “notebook” which is something you can carry in your hand. This was a subtle suggestion that the notebook is smaller and therefore more portable than the laptop.

The word “notebook” is more common these days with all major vendors using it.

Although you could actually build yourself a notebook, it is by no means a simple a project as building a desktop. This is because the parts and components that go into a notebook are specialized and proprietary and not easily available off the shelf. Over the last 5 years, some components of a notebook have become standard and available off the shelf.

These are usually limited to...

Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory)...

Hard disk drives...

And CD/DVD and Floppy drives...

You could however configure your own laptop. This gives you the advantage of being able to select only the components you require as opposed to buying one off the shelf where you could be shelling out extra cash for features that you do not require and may never use. Do not, however, be fooled into thinking that you will have complete control over the specifications of the resulting machine. Certain components of the notebook will have no options at all and others may only leave you a choice of two or three possibilities.

Several vendors allow you to configure your own notebook. Some are niche and allow more configurability over the mainstream or large players.

As an exercise, I selected a large and well known global vendor and started to configure a laptop online. I was first prompted to choose from several model ranges. After selecting the model I wanted, I could then customize it. These were the hardware options presented:

• Processor – 3 choices
• LCD Display – no choice
• Memory / RAM – 8 choices
• Hard Disk Drive – 5 choices
• CD/DVD Drive – 3 choices
• Display Adapter – 2 choices
• Floppy Drive – a yes or no choice only
• Battery – no choice
• Modem – no choice, already built-in
• Network Adapter – no choice, already built-in
• Warranty & Service – 6 choices

I then looked at a niche player’s website and was presented with these hardware options:

• Processor – 15 choices
• LCD Display – no choice
• Memory / RAM – 9 choices
• Hard Disk Drive – 5 choices
• CD/DVD Drive – 4 choices
• Floppy Drive – a yes or no choice
• Battery – no choice
• Modem – no choice, the base model did not have one built-in
• Network Adaptor – 2 choices
• Warranty & Service – standard terms

Further to this, it was stated by the company that the web configurator could not possibly have all combinations of options online that are actually available. As such, buyers were urged to state any additional specific requirements in a comment box whereupon someone from the company would evaluate and contact the buyer for further refinement of price and/or configuration.

From both my experiences above, I can conclude that the niche vendor definitely had more options for configuring my laptop than a mainstream vendor. The next question to ask then would be on pricing.

I selected similarly configured systems from the same mainstream and niche vendor and selected exactly the same specifications (or nearly the same in cases where an exact match was not possible). The results surprised me! The niche vendor had a slightly lower price, but this was a mere $90. What this means is that this is a fiercely competitive market and a few dollars could make or lose a sale.

Ninety bucks is not much of a difference when you’re shelling out a thousand or fifteen hundred dollars. The choice would then really come down to vendor preference.

Both vendors had very good warranty and service terms. The niche vendor had an additional sweetener of at home or on-site support if the buyer lived in the city where they were based. In fact, if I did live there, I would probably order the system from them – I’ve always been an underdog supporter where it has been possible in my life. I believe that the underdogs and smaller players tend to keep the larger players honest.

Some people prefer to purchase from a company that has retail outlets where the machine can be taken to for service and maintenance. This would then limit the choices to the area where one lives or works. This is definitely a plus point as some people are just not convinced that sending off a notebook with important data on it via courier to another state or country for service is a good thing.

Are there any other options? Well, maybe. A Taiwanese company called Elitegroup announced about a year ago the availability of a “Desknote” computer which is a notebook like computer built from standard desktop parts hence the name “desk-note”. A year ago, this was a bold announcement to the industry. The machine at that time, however, did not come with a battery or LCD display which meant that it really was just a luggable desktop computer. Once would still require a power supply and a monitor to use the machine. This must not have been a success for the company – a look at their products today shows that the desknote computer has more or less become a notebook as we know it, with battery and LCD display included. However, it still uses desktop components which may prove to be cheaper to service, maintain and upgrade. Would I consider a desknote? I personally tend to only purchase mature products as I do not like the pain of being on the leading edge or bleeding edge as some would describe it. So the answer would be – maybe in two or three year’s time.

With so many types and brands of notebooks available how does one even begin to narrow down the field? Believe it or not, there are ways.

Begin by deciding on your budget. Try to have a figure set whatever it may be. After all, if your budget is very small, there could be used notebooks that fit the bill and these are perfectly acceptable. If you cannot decide or do not have a fixed budget because you are looking for good value for money or are open about the purchase, then this is also acceptable. Be warned however that you could end up spending too much in this scenario.

Next, decide on the classification of machine. By this I mean are you looking for a machine this is really a desktop replacement i.e. powerful and with all the features found in regular desktops or something small and light also known as the ultra-portable range. Understand that each classification has its unique pros and cons. After all when looking for something small and light, features that are large and heavy have to be traded off.

The various classifications that abound today are as follows:

• Desktop replacement
• Large and high resolution display
• Thin and light
• Small footprint
• Tablets (allows the display to fold back onto the keyboard and be totally operated by a stylus and handwriting recognition) much like using a writing notebook
• Ultra-portable (optional features dropped for the sole purpose of reducing weight)

The above list is not mutually exclusive; there are overlaps between the various categories. Still cannot decide which one fits for you? Then it is time to work backwards by looking at how you will use the notebook to determine what features you will need.

What applications will you run? Basic ones like word processing, spreadsheets, financial, calendar, email and web browsing can be performed by even the lowest end notebook these days. More powerful processors and a reasonable amount of RAM will be required by applications like Adobe Photoshop or other graphics editing programs, video and audio editing, server based applications like web servers, database servers and application servers.

Will you travel often? Is weight a concern? Many people have developed shoulder and back problems due to lugging around heavy laptops. If you do not have more than basic or intermediate requirements, you can often save on weight by trading off on features like a large screen or powerful processor. However, new designs of carry bags with wheels make it possible to carry around a lot of weight and not strain your back and shoulders. Ask yourself if you will be able to pull along a bag with wheels most of the time and carry it only when required.

Will you always have access to power supply or do you need long battery life? A technology from Intel called Centrino (now used by the major notebook manufacturers) makes it possible to squeeze more life out of a notebook battery. Some models can run for more than 6 hours at a time. Furthermore, some models allow a second battery to be added to get more battery life.

Will you need to connect external devices? What interfaces will they require? If you have many USB devices, then having more than one USB port on the notebook will be a bonus as opposed to lugging around a USB hub adding to the weight. If you use a network connection often it will be a good idea to have it built-in, the same goes for a modem. Additional network and modem cards add to weight and more importantly power requirements meaning that battery life will reduce as you add on more of these cards. If you have an external Firewire hard disk drive or a Digital Camcorder to download videos to the notebook, then look for models that have a Firewire port built-in again to save on weight and power.

Some models have cameras built-in to assist in recording digital images or for video conferencing? Ask yourself if you will ever need or use these features as you will end up paying for it in terms of additional cost, weight and power requirements.

Do you take lots of digital photos which need to be transferred to the notebook? Almost all cameras support USB for downloading of photos, but a card reader can often be simpler saving on carrying cables and having to install the camera USB downloading software. Some notebook models come with digital media card readers for the popular media like SD, Memory Stick and Compact Flash. Again having this built-in will save on weight.

Do you need a port replicator for your home or office? A port replicator is a useful device that can convert the notebook into a desktop equivalent. By connecting desktop type devices like a keyboard, mouse and CRT or LCD monitor, the notebook can become like a desktop. The keyboard, mouse and monitor are left permanently connected to the port replicator. When you arrive at the home or office, simply dock the notebook into the port replicator and all external devices can be used. The port replicator can also connect to a printer, floppy drive, local network and a power adaptor such that the notebook battery will recharge when docked. This is useful for people who spend a lot of time traveling with their notebook.

Once you have listed all the features you require you will find it much easier to narrow down the field. I find it useful to put down next to each feature whether it is a “must have”, “nice to have” or “not required”. Remember to include warranty and service as a feature. The best way to create a feature list is to first look at the paragraphs above for the basics and to add to this list by looking at features present on the different models available.

To make things easier, you could create a scoring mechanism. Assign a score of 2 to every “must have”, 1 to every “nice to have” and -1 (minus one) to every “not required”. Simply add up all the scores for each model and the one with the highest score wins as it will have a closest match to your must have list and very few of the not required features.

As you can see, your choices for acquiring a notebook are plenty. I hope that some of the ideas presented here may help you narrow down the field. Value for money is paramount whatever features you decide on. My experience is that, if your gut feeling tells you that you are getting good value for money, then you are usually right.

Happy shopping.