home entertainment system

Many of us are so used to working on a computer desktop that when it comes time to purchase a new computer
we don't consider other options. Today
computer notebooks - which were once called laptops - offer a number of advantages over a computer desktop. Here are just five reasons why you should take a second look at notebooks.

1
Mobility

You might be used to pulling up a chair to your computer
but it makes much more sense to pull your computer up to your chair. Laptops can certainly be used at your desk
but you also have the option of bringing them to the spot where you're most comfortable. Maybe you'd like to surf the Web in the evening out in the living room or catch up on your favorite blogs before bedtime. Notebooks with wireless connectivity can travel with you throughout your home
so you can check your email or do your Internet shopping anywhere.

Of course
notebooks also make sense for those who are on the go. Students can take laptops to class and to the library
while businesspeople can take them along while traveling. With WiFi so widely available
it even makes sense to have a notebook while on vacation. With the right notebook
it's easy to take photos with your digital camera
upload them
and email them to friends and family before you even get back home. Or you can use it to write a vacation blog and include those pictures from your digital camera.

2
Better Displays

The size and quality of computer notebook displays has improved so dramatically that there's little difference between laptops and a computer desktop. For example
you can get Apple's MacBook with a 13.3-inch LCD widescreen (1280 x 800 pixels)
a 15.4-inch LCD widescreen (1440 x 900 pixels) or a 17-inch widescreen (1680 x 1050 pixels). Similarly
the Compaq Presario has a 15.4-inch display.

3
Lighter Weight

Just a few years ago
even the lightest notebook was a pain to lug around. Today
though
laptops are increasingly easy on the back. The MacBook is slightly over an inch thick and the Toshiba Portege weighs in at about four pounds. While that's still heavy compared to come of the new ultralight convertibles (Fujitsu's LifeBook U810 weighs only a pound and half)
it's a significant improvement over the old seven-pound laptops.

4
Better Computing and Battery Power

Historically
two drawbacks of notebooks were their limited RAM
limited space on the hard drive
and short battery life. Times have changed
though
and laptops now have as much power under the hood as their computer desktop cousins. The MacBook
for example
has 1GB of memory (configurable up to 4 GB) and a hard drive that's configurable to 250GB. This means that your software will hum right along and you'll be able to zip through programs as quickly and as easily as you do on your desktop. Likewise
batteries in today's notebooks don't heat up and don't conk out.

5
More Features

In older laptops
the computer's size and weight limited the number and types of features available. Today
with smaller processors and other components
there's room to pack more features into notebooks. For example
the MacBook has a DVD player
built-in webcam
built-in wireless capability
two USB ports and a FireWire port
built-in microphone
and audio and digital input/output.

There are so many advantages to owning notebooks that
before you buy your next computer
it's worth your while to take one for a spin.