notebook-computers-a-brief-history

Types of Notebook Computer: A Walkthrough

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:29:07 +0100

Selling of laptops or notebook computers have been on an exponential rise these days, beating their desktop counterparts to a large margin. And perhaps an important reason to this meteoritic rise is because of the fact that laptops comes in many different varieties, catering to several type of customers. Desktops, even if they are very versatile and efficient in the processors, come mostly in the same box and shell, with little variation in the accessories that are supplied with them. It’s for these reasons that notebook computers outsell desktops.

Talking about variety, a notebook computer comes in several shapes and sizes. These include Full size laptops, Netbooks and the recent Tablet PCs. Full size laptops are large enough to accommodate a full-size keyboard and a minimum of 11 inches of screen size. Netbooks are a breed of smaller, lighter and more portable laptop. These also come into several variations, such as Mini Netbook and Netbook Android.

Netbook Android is usually of very low cost than a full-size laptop owing to their ultra small size and free OS, but they also have fewer features and less computing power. Plus they have the disadvantage of having smaller keyboards, which can be sometimes very difficult to operate. Further, these Mini Netbooks usually don’t come with an optical drive. Tablet PCs are touch screen based laptops, where the screen doubles as the keyboard to be accessed by touch screen only. They usually come in a slate form factor, with the most famous being Ipad by Apple. There’s also another type of laptops called Rugged laptops, which are engineered to operate in tough conditions (mechanical shocks, extreme temperatures, wet and dusty environments, etc.), and hence are mostly used by scientists or the travelling customers. Rugged laptops are usually designed from scratch, rather than adapted from regular consumer laptop models. These notebooks are bulkier, heavier, and much more expensive than regular laptop.

Another ultraportable type mini netbook, or a subnotebook, is a laptop designed and marketed with an emphasis on portability (small size, low weight and often longer battery life) that retains performance close to that of a standard notebook. Subnotebooks are usually smaller and lighter than standard laptops, weighing between 0.8 and 2 kg (2 to 5 pounds), with the battery life reaching up to 10 hours. Often, people mistake subnotebook as Mini Netbook, but one must note that there is a distinct thin line between subnotebook and Mini Netbook. Another category of laptops exist for the customers demanding more power for the money. These bulky laptops serve as counterparts to their desktop brothers, and are aptly named as Desktop Replacement Laptops. Examples include Media Center Laptop or a dedicated Gaming Laptop.

Concluding on, one can clearly see the variety that engulfs the notebook computers in these modern times. And this variety, along with the added advantage of portability in every shape and size, gives these laptops an edge in the consumer electronics market.

Notebook Computers: A Brief History

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:20:30 +0100

A laptop, also called a notebook computer, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit. A laptop is powered by mains electricity via an AC adapter, and can be used away from an outlet using a rechargeable battery. The veracity of a notebook computer lies in the fact that it’s portable. One can carry a laptop around and carry all the functionalities of a traditional desktop with them. The significant rise in the demand and supply of the laptop is testimony to the growing penetration of a notebook computer over the desktop. It’s a no wonder that modern day laptops are integral for our day to day activities related to the technological world.

However, such integration of a laptop wouldn’t have had come, if not for the works put up by IBM to develop a portable minicomputer in the 70s. For this purpose, the IBM SCAMP project (Special Computer APL Machine Portable), was demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the PALM processor (Put All Logic in Microcode). The IBM 5100, the first commercially available notebook computer, appeared in September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype. The first laptops using the flip form factor appeared in the early 1980s.

The Dulmont Magnum was released in Australia in 1981–82, but was not marketed internationally until 1984–85. From 1983 onward, several new input techniques were developed and included in notebook computer, including the touchpad, the pointing stick, and handwriting recognition. Some CPUs, such as the 1990 Intel i386SL, were designed to use minimum power to increase battery life of portable computers, and were supported by dynamic power management features such as Intel SpeedStep. Displays reached VGA resolution by 1988, and color screens started becoming a common upgrade in 1991 with increases in resolution and screen size occurring frequently until the introduction of 17"-screen laptops in 2003. Hard drives started to be used in portables, encouraged by the introduction of 3.5" drives in the late 1980s, and became common in laptops starting with the introduction of 2.5" and smaller drives around 1990; capacities have typically lagged behind physically larger desktop drives. Optical storage, read-only CD-ROM followed by writeable CD and later read-only or writeable DVD and Blu-Ray, became common in notebook computers soon in the 2000s.

Nowadays, laptops have emerged to the point of 7" Computer which defines a new standard in portability owing to their 7" TFT screen. These 7" Computer symbolizes the timeline and progress of the laptops, from the original IBM 5100 notebook computer to these portable 7" Notebook Computer. And now with mini tablets entering into the picture, one can see a new era of portability, shrinking these 7" Notebook Computer further down to redefine the laptops and ultra portability. To see a selection of these latest 7’’ Notebook Computers .