Power

The speed and ability to handle lots of programs at once are affected by the the CPU, its clockspeed and the amount of available RAM (memory) in the Laptop. A fast processor will enable your software to work faster - but consider how many applications you will be using at once.

How fast a processor (CPU) operates is becoming less of an issue than in the past due to the advent of multi-core processors. Dual-core processors are in effect 2 CPU's in one, the work is split between the two to get your work done faster. For example, one core can be dedicated to an intensive application such as Adobe Photoshop wile you are free to surf the net without slowing down to accomodate the processing needs of the other program. It must be noted however that the software you use needs to be compatible with multi-core processing in order to take advantage of the performance gains.

Memory will help you more if you have more software programs open on your laptop. As a rule, choose a Laptop with as much memory as possible within your budget. If you are considering using the latest versions of Windows and Office packages look to a minimum of 1 GigaByte of RAM.

Select Processor and Memory Requirements for your Laptop

Any CPU Type Intel Atom Processor Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core 2 Duo Intel Core Duo  ,   Any CPU Speed Less than 1GHz 1 to 2GHz 2GHz or more Any RAM 1 GB (Gigabyte) 2 GB (Gigabytes) 3 GB (Gigabytes) 4 GB (Gigabytes) 512 MB 6 GB (Gigabytes) 8 GB (Gigabytes)

Storage

Are you storing a lot of photographs, movies or lots of large software Applications such as Photoshop? Photographs and movies can occupy a lot of the available storage on your Hard Disk. If you want to be sure you can store all of these on your Laptop go for a larger hard drive. Most people will be happy with 80 GigaBytes or more. If you are just using your Laptop as an Internet and email terminal you can relax the amount of storage you need. Consider a DVD or CD writer for your Laptop to make easy backups of your data, or to burn Photo albums for friends and family.

Consider also High Definition optical drives. These are Blue Ray and HD-DVD. With these optical drives you can perform all the functions of a regular DVD drive but they will also accept Blue Ray discs (BD-ROM) on Blue Ray drives and HD-DVD's in a HD-DVD drive. You can watch 'Hi-Def' movies and in some cases you can burn to these disc which feature vastly more storage capacity. Note that HD-DVD will stop production of movies and hardware some time in 2008 after losing the so-called 'Format War' to Blue Ray.

Select Hard Drive and Optical Drive for your Laptop

Any Hard Drive Less than 80GB 80 - 120GB 120GB and above Any Optical Drive Blu-Ray BD-RE Blu-Ray BD-ROM Double Layer DVD±RW Dual DVD DVD Supermulti DVD-+RW DVD-RW/CDRW

Usage

Most Laptops come with a widescreen display, so movies look great on the move. Choose a screen size that will accomodate the functions the Laptop will perform, a small screen is fine for email but photo editing would benefit from a larger screen. Also, will you use instant messaging applications, such as MSN or Skype? Why not look at Laptops with a built in Webcam (video camera) for video calls - add it with the drop down menu below.

Select Laptop Display size, Webcam and Wireless options

Any Display 10.4 inch Display 11.1 inch Display 12.1 inch Display 13.3 inch Display 14 inch Display 14.1 inch Display 15.4 inch Display 16 inch Display 16.4 inch Display 17 inch Display 18.4 inch Display 8.9 inch Display Any Webcam Option Built-in Webcam No Webcam Any Wireless Option Built-in Wireless No Wireless

Operating System

Most Laptops will only come with basic software that ships with the Operating system. It is quite likely you will be installing other software packages, Microsoft Office for example. It is worth noting that Microsoft Windows Vista has had some compatability probelms with older software. There is a website for checking if your Software will work with Windows Vista. Consider the software you will use and which Operating system will be a reliable option for you.

Windows XP comes in various flavours. XP Pro gives you all the features you need from the Windows OS with some enhanced networking features. XP Media Centre adds a user interface to control all your media - including Television if you have a TV tuner installed. Tablet edition adds features unique to touchscreen Tablet PC's such as Hand writing recognition.

Windows Vista also has a number of editions. Home Basic is the bare bones Vista operating system, as the title implies. There is no built-in media centre or the much talked about 'Aero' user interface. These features are included in all other versions - including Home Premium, which is the same as Home Basic in other ways. Business and Ultimate add progressively more features that are beyond the scope of this guide. Visit Microsoft.com for full details.

Occasionally, Laptops appear with a Linux operating System. These are typically free and are often customised to enhance the usability of the Laptop they are installed on. A good example of a Linux based Laptop is the Asus eeePC, an ultra portable Internet and Email device.

Any OS Linux Microsoft Windows Vista Business Microsoft Windows Vista Business with Windows XP Pro Recovery Media Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Microsoft Windows XP Home Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Microsoft Windows XP Pro Microsoft Windows XP Tablet