Question:

What is a laptop computer?

The skinny on Laptop computers

The 1980s gave us the rising of business and the shrinking of desktop computers. The, first laptop computers (like the Osborne 1 and the Epson HX-20) had a bit more bulk than today. It wasn't until the early 90s ‘til the design was perfected. The obvious advantage to the laptop or notebook computer is portability. Though, when shopping for a portable notebook you should remember weight also plays a big factor along with size.

Missing the Mouse?

The biggest difference between a desktop computer and the laptop is no mouse. Laptops are designed with two types of replacements – the touchpad or the track point mouse. The touchpad is an area where the finger can move around to guide the pointer. The track point mouse looks like a mini red clown nose shoved in the middle of the keyboard. Like the touchpad the user can use their finger to work the pointer. If you know you'd miss the mouse too much make sure the laptop you buy has a USB port to accommodate your familiar, little clicking creature.

Breathe life into your Battery life

Until they make an institutional sized 80mile power cord you're going to need to rely on your laptop's battery. Unfortunately this doesn't work out to too much work time. Maybe 3 hours. However, a few simple rules can help you add a bit more time to your laptop battery. First, try using the power management feature on your laptop. Second, purchase a more powerful Li-lon batter like the IBM ThinkPad 570 Li-Ion Battery. Finally, make sure you correctly follow your laptop's recharging procedure.

Adapting to the wireless web

The airport. Train. Just one decade ago those areas signaled time away from office communication, but no more. First came the cell phone. Then recently, office email became accessible with the wireless network adapter card. Laptops today have a number of options to plug into the web without wires. Cards like the D-Link 11Mbps USB Adapter or the ParkerVision 802.11b Card plug into the PCMCIA slot or a USB port. These cards act like mini antennas that allow you to surf the net when you are in areas that enables wireless surfing. These areas are known as hotspots.

Don't feel blue about networking

Syncing up your laptop to a home or work computer used to include a whole mess of disks and lots of wasted time. That is until 1998 when the Bluetooth network system was invented. Named after the former King of Denmark the adapter plugs into the USB port and can share information with PDAs, Cell phones and computers. Basically any device that is Bluetooth enabled.

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