Buyer's Guide: Notebook PCs

When it's time to buy a new notebook computer, your choices can appear overwhelming. That's not unusual when a computing platform becomes as popular as notebooks have. In their hunger for market share, laptop manufacturers can't resist mixing and matching features to set their products apart from their competitors, even at the risk of sometimes confusing the people they're trying to sell their wares to. So here are some things to consider when buying your next portable PC.

Generally speaking, notebooks can be divided into several broad categories. There are netbooks, downsized notebooks mostly with 10.1-inch (a few with 12-inch) screens and minimal processor performance, usually courtesy of Intel's Atom CPU; while they have some notebook characteristics, they're really in a class of their own.

The smallest "real" notebooks are dubbed ultraportable computers. With the introduction of the netbook, the ultras lost their appeal in the market for a while, but computer makers have found a way to revive them -- thanks to Intel and AMD, who've produced lines of low-voltage but sprightly CPUs that give ultraportables more power than netbooks. Ultras have bigger displays than most netbooks, too -- such as 11.6 inches for Dell's AMD-powered Inspiron M101z, which sells for around $500, and 12.1 inches for Lenovo's Intel-based ThinkPad X201, which starts at $999.

Just up in size from the ultraportables are what's known as "thin and lights," which are essentially 13-inch notebooks. Laptops with that size display arguably hit a sweet spot for size, usability and portability. Notebooks in this category can range from $800, like the HP Pavilion dm4-1065dx, to $1,000, like the Toshiba Portege R700, to $1,200, like Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro.

If you prefer larger screens -- for working with multiple application windows or perhaps making a casual presentation around a conference table -- then you'll want to look at midsized notebooks. These have screens in the 14- to 16-inch range. They also have powerful processors -- commonly dual-core CPUs -- and larger hard drives -- 250 gigabytes or better -- as well as optical drives for burning CDs and DVDs. Prices for these mainstream laptops can be all over the ballpark, from $500 for an electronics-store special to $1,000 for an HP Envy 14 to over $2,000 for a loaded 15-inch MacBook Pro.

At the heavyweight end of the notebook market are the desktop replacements. They are notebooks in the sense that their displays, keyboards and internals are in a single unit, but portability isn't their strong suit. Neither is battery life. Granted, these dreadnaughts can be moved from time to time, but chances are you won't be taking one beyond the front door of your house. In addition to desktop-sized displays (typically 17 to 20 inches), these units boast dual- or quad-core processors and discrete graphics adapters. Models in this luggable category include the Asus G73JH-RBBX05 ($799) and the Sony Vaio VPCF115FM/B ($1,349).

Obviously, the smaller the screen, the more portable your notebook will be. So an ultraportable weighing in at around three pounds is more totable than a 13-inch thin-and-light at three and a half or a 14-to-16-inch midsize laptop at four to five pounds. And, of course, desktop replacements at over seven pounds aren't very mobile at all.

Screen resolutions on notebooks can vary widely. Economy notebooks have resolutions in the 1,280 by 800-pixel range. More and more notebooks these days have wide screens with HDTV-style 16:9 aspect ratios; a popular resolution is 1,366 by 768, sufficient for viewing 720p HD videos. In more expensive models, you can find resolutions as high as 1,600 by 900 pixels.

Chips Galore

After choosing what category of notebook you'll need, you're going to want to mull over what kind of muscle you want in your hardware. Your choices will be limited to some extent by the notebook category you've chosen. The processor options for an ultraportable, for example, aren't as powerful as those for a desktop replacement.

The laptop equivalent of a hot-rod Hemi is Intel's mobile Core i7 processor. If you want to do high-end graphics work on your notebook, this puppy will give you the chops to do it. The mobile version of the chip has better power management properties than its desktop counterpart, but it's still a power hog compared to other notebook processors. That's why it's commonly found in desktop replacements which don't typically travel far from a wall outlet or power strip.

The more affordable Core i5 and i3 slot into place below the i7. Below them, Intel's older Core 2 Duo design is a workhorse processor that comes in a variety of speeds. The ultra-low voltage version of this chip (CULV), which is at the low end of the muscle spectrum, put new life in the ultraportable category where space, cooling and battery life are very important.

Some less common Intel processors found in notebooks include the Core 2 Quad, Pentium Dual-Core and Celeron. The Core 2 Quad, which has four processing cores, excels at multitasking. The Pentium brand covers both some rather long-in-the-tooth and some fairly new CPUs, all in economy-priced notebooks. The Celeron is more economical still, but the performance boost you'll get by opting for at least a Pentium is well worth the extra cash outlay.

If a notebook isn't built around an Intel chip, chances are it has AMD under the hood. The AMD equivalent of Intel's Core 2 Duo processor is the Athlon X2 dual-core. The company's low-voltage version of the Athlon is the Turion X2. Another AMD chip -- the Neo, which comes in both single- and dual-core models -- can be found in some small notebooks. Generally, notebooks based on AMD processors cost less than Intel models.

Here's Looking At You

After the CPU, your laptop's second most important silicon is that which processes what shows on its screen. Many notebooks use either chipsets or processors with graphics built into them. For most applications, this integrated arrangement is fine. If your workday includes a lot of graphics-intensive tasks such as image editing or you're addicted to playing HD videos or games, however, you're better off with a laptop with a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) to boost performance.

The problem with discrete graphics is that it can be a real drain on a notebook's battery life. One solution to that problem has been to create a switch -- typically through software -- to toggle between the more energy-efficient integrated graphics processing and the discrete graphics card depending on what application you're about to run. Such a clunky solution, though, isn't one general computer users are likely to embrace.

However, the graphics gurus at Nvidia Corp. have simplified things with what the company calls Optimus technology. In laptops like the Lenovo ThinkPad T4120s and Asus UL50, Optimus automatically manages a unit's graphics to maximize performance and battery life, with the discrete GPU kicking in when software starts a graphics-intensive process and switching off when it's back to word processing and email. If you're looking for the best of both worlds -- energy savings from integrated graphics and the razzle-dazzle of dedicated graphics -- a notebook with Optimus is something you'll want to consider.

Since you're likely to use your laptop with an external monitor, make sure it has a video output port that matches your monitor. The lowest-common-denominator VGA port has increasingly been joined by HDMI output in modern notebooks. Monitors and graphics adapters that plug into USB ports are a handy option.