People who sell PCs are a bit glum at the moment. Maybe it's because we've all got one now: sales of desktop computers are static or declining. But there's a bright spot for the PC business: we're buying more laptops. In fact, portable sales account for around a quarter of all PC shipments in Europe.
Why? Partly because laptops have come down in price and up in capability, and now they're much closer to desktops. Partly it's the trend to take work home and partly it's fashion - some (but not all) laptops are stylish and highly attractive to people who really ought to get more of a life.
But there are many good reasons to use a laptop. And there are many laptops to choose from. So where do you begin?
Decide what you want to do with your laptop and where you'll normally use it. If you want to duplicate a desktop PC, you need processor power, a large screen, as much memory as you can afford, and a decent keyboard. Size and weight probably won't be so important Typically these machines will have a built-in floppy drive as well as a combo CD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and they'll also have a full complement of sockets and expansion slots. The processor is likely to be a chunky Pentium P4 rated at around 1.8MHz.
As a result these are the biggest and heaviest portables, maybe as much as 50mm thick and weighing 3kg or more. Prices start at just below £1,000 (try Time Computers) but you can pay double for maximum capability and a well-known brand. That's also what you'll pay for Apple's stylish 17in PowerBook G4.
If you'll be taking notes in meetings, accessing your emails, and maybe browsing web pages or working on a document while stuffed into a train or airline seat, you should look for something rather different. You don't need the big screen and the beefy resources: you do need light weight and a compact design, long battery life, maybe built-in wi-fi.
So we're talking about an ultra-portable 1kg baby with an undersized keyboard and a screen measuring less than 10in across the diagonal. The processor will be a purpose-designed low-power, maximum-life chip. Disks drives are probably external.
All this costs money - expect to pay £1,200 or more, though that would probably buy JVC's impressively compact A5-size Mini-Note with VAT included.
Meanwhile, most laptops fall somewhere between these two poles - you'll pay from around £600 up. Apple, as usual, plays by different rules - the iBook with a 12in screen starts at around £800.
If possible, try before you buy. Get down to your local computer store and play with a few options; the best deals are on the web.
Laptop shopping tips
Processors: The CPU determines how quickly a notebook runs applications and performs on-screen tasks. Unless you run power-hungry applications like big databases or graphics editors, you will probably be ok with a 1.6GHz processor - the mobile versions of the AMD Athlon or the Pentium 4 and Celeron run cooler and soak up less power, though a few notebooks use P4 desktop processors to get the performance advantage. Intel's latest is the Centrino, a new mobile processor packaged with 802.11 wireless networking: the whole lot is designed for extended battery life, thinner and lighter notebook designs, and decent performance.
Memory: As with desktop PCs, go for as much as you can. Even the cheapest general-purpose laptops will have 128Kb these days, which is adequate: 256Kb is better. Ultra-portables may skimp on memory to save space, but you probably won't be doing more than a bit of word processing and emailing on such machines.
Batteries: Manufacturers tend to quote unrealistic best case figures for how long a battery will last, so halve them to get some idea of what will happen in the real world. The bigger, faster processors tend to use most power. Watching DVDs devours power and cheap nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries don't last too long, but fortunately most laptops come with Lithium-ion (Li+) batteries, which are much better. You can extend battery life by dimming the display, removing PC cards when they aren't needed, going for as much memory as possible (so the hard drive won't be accessed as much) and looking for "speed stepping" processors that slow themselves down when possible. Buy a spare battery and keep it charged.
Screens: Laptop screens are measured across the diagonal and quoted in inches: the bigger the screen, the higher the maximum resolution (so everything looks better) and the more information you can see at once. 14.1in is the normal starting point. Anything more is dearer, and anything less either means a budget design or a premium-priced ultra-portable.
Expansion: You probably won't get a serial port and there may not be a conventional parallel port for a printer either. But laptops typically do have a couple of PC Card slots for expansion - you can buy modems, storage and other gizmos in the PC Card format. At least one USB port is also standard, for easy attachment of a printer or a digital camera: the more USB ports, the better. Less common but potentially useful are wireless network adapters, a FireWire port for digital video transfer (PowerBooks have these as standard), and new types of card slots such as CompactFlash and Memory Stick for exchanging information with PDAs and digital cameras.
Don't believe (all) the hype
Laptops are seductive, but they aren't perfect. Here are four reasons why:
Technology: There's usually a trade-off in laptop internals: components that consume less power, generate less heat and take less room tend to be underpowered. So laptops aren't usually as speedy or as capable as a desktop PC, unless you pay a ridiculous premium.
Comfort: You're too close to the screen, the keyboard is an ergonomic nightmare, no mouse replacement is as good as a mouse, and the sound quality is pretty poor.
Upgrading: Forget about it: it's difficult (maybe impossible) to extend the working life of a laptop by adding anything more than a bit of memory and some plugged-in cable connected extras. It's usually impossible to replace a processor or hard drive without shipping the thing back to the manufacturer.
Price: Yes, of course laptops are getting cheaper. But so are desktops.
PCs: The gap may be narrowing, but in terms of what computing you get for your money the desktop will always represent better value.
