A laptop computer or simply laptop (also notebook computer or notebook) is a small mobile computer, typically with a weight of one to three kilograms, depending on size, materials, and other factors.

While the terms "laptop" and "notebook" are often used interchangeably, "laptop" is an older term, introduced in 1983 with the Gavilan SC. "Notebook" is a later coinage, which was used to differentiate smaller devices like the Compaq LTE series in 1989, whichwere, in contrast to previous laptops, is about the size of an A4 sheet of paper. [1] Either term is often misused: by heat and other issues, many laptops are not suitable for use on your lap, and most are not the size of an A4 sheet. Although, some older portable computers, such as the Macintosh Portable and certain Zenith SPort Turbo models, sometimes called "laptop" means, their size and weight were too great for this category.

Laptops are usually on a single battery operatedor by an external AC / DC adapter, the battery charge but can also supply power to the computer itself.

An Acer laptop with touchpadAs PCs, laptops are the same tasks as a desktop PC mobility, although price is usually less efficient for the same. They contain ingredients that are similar to their desktop counterparts, and the same functions but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and efficient power consumption. Laptops generallyhave liquid crystal displays and most of them with different memory modules for their RAM (for example, SO-DIMM,) instead of the larger DIMMs. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they can use a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointer to the input when an external keyboard or mouse can be attached to a rule.

Categories
Terms sometimes subtypes of laptop computers are used:

Ultraportables
Laptops with screens typically less than 12Inches diagonally and weighing less than 1.7. Their primary audience is usually business travelers need, the small, lightweight laptops. Ultraportables are often very expensive and house power-saving CPUs and almost always have integrated graphics.
Thin-and-lights
Laptops usually weighing between 1.8 kilograms and 2.8 kilograms with a screen size 12 to 14 inches diagonally.
Medium-sized laptops
These usually have screens from 15 to 15.4 "on the diagonal and aWeight of about 3-3.5kg. In general, a little sacrifice computing power for smaller dimensions and longer battery life, although the length and width are usually determined by the screen size.
Desktop replacement computers
Powerful laptops will be used mainly in a fixed location and are rarely applied because of their size and weight, the latter provides more space for powerful components and a screen, usually 15 inches or more. Desktop replacement ratherhave limited battery life, rarely longer than three hours, because the hardware to optimize energy-efficiency.
History
Before laptop / notebook computers were technically feasible, similar ideas had been proposed, most notably Alan Kay's Dynabook concept, developed at Xerox PARC in the early 1970s.

The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which is used CP / M operating system. Although it was big and heavy compared to today'sLaptops, with a small CRT monitor, it had an almost revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computers and data with them for the first time. These and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker again developed at Xerox PARC in 1976 were built, however, only ten prototypes. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and importantly could be carried on a commercial aircraft. However, it wasnot possible to run the Osborne on batteries, it had to be plugged in.

A lasting success was the Compaq Portable, the first product from Compaq, introduced in 1983, during which time the IBM Personal Computer has become the standard platform. Although scarcely more portable than the Osborne machines, and also require electricity to run, it ran MS-DOS and was the first true IBM clone (IBM's own later Portable Computer, which came in 1984, was significantly less than IBM PC-compatible theCompaq [edit]).

Another significant machine announced in 1981, although first sold widely in 1983, was the Epson HX-20. A simple handheld computer, it featured a full-transit-68-key keyboard, rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, a small (120 x 32 pixels) Dot-matrix LCD display with 4 lines of text, 20 characters per line text mode, a 24 column dot matrix printer, a Microsoft BASIC interpreter, and 16 kB RAM (expandable to 32 kB).

However, probably the first true laptopthe lattice Compass 1101, designed by Bill Moggridge, 1979-1980 and 1982. Enclosed in a magnesium housing, she led the now familiar clamshell design, in which folded flat against the keyboard to close. The computer could be powered by batteries, and was equipped with a 320 × 200-pixel plasma display and 384 kilobytes of bubble equipped memory. It was not IBM-compatible, and the high price ($ 10,000 limit dollars) for specific applications. However, it was heavily used by the U.S.Military and by NASA on the Space Shuttle in the 1980s. The GRID manufacturers will earn significant returns on their patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. GRiD Systems Corp. was later bought by Tandy (Radio Shack).

Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 and the Gavilan SC, was in 1983 but sold only in 1984. The Gavilan was notably the first computer, which are offered as a "laptop". It was also equipped with a pioneering touchpad asPointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard. As the GRID Compass were the Gavilan and the Sharp housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily their own system software installed. Both had LCD displays, and could connect to an optional external printer.

The year 1983 also saw the introduction of what is probably the best-selling early laptop, the Kyocera Kyotronic 85, much to the design of the previous Epson HX-20 to thank. Although itinitially a slow seller in Japan, it was rapidly through Tandy Corporation, Olivetti, and NEC, which saw its potential and marketed it as a TRS-80 Model 100 line (or Tandy 100), Olivetti M-10, NEC PC-8201 license . [2] The machines ran on standard AA batteries. The Tandy built-in programs, including a BASIC interpreter, a text editor and a terminal program, were made available by Microsoft, and thought have been partially written by Bill Gates himself. The computer was not a clamshell,Under the condition, a tiltable 8 × 40-character LCD screen above a full-travel keyboard. With its internal modem, it was a very portable communications terminal. Due to ease of portability, good battery life (and exchange), reliability (it had no moving parts) and low price (as little as U.S. $ 300), was highly regarded by the model, a favorite among journalists. She weighed less than 2 kg with dimensions of 30 × 21.5 × 4.5 cm (12 × 8.5 × 1.75 inches). Initial specifications include 8Kilobytes of RAM (expandable to 24 kB) and a 3-MHz processor. The machine had not yet come, in fact, the size of a notebook paper, but the term was in use, and it was generally described as a "portable" computer.

Among the first commercial IBM-compatible laptops were the IBM PC Convertible, introduced in 1986, and two Toshiba models, the T1000 and T1200, introduced in 1987. Although limited floppy-based DOS machines, with the operating system stored in read-only memory, the ToshibaModels were small and light enough to be carried in a backpack, and could be from lead-acid batteries. This also led the now standard "resume" feature to DOS-based computers: The computer could be paused between sessions, without any time to be restarted.

The first laptops successful on a large scale came in large part through a Request For Proposal (RFP) from the U.S. Air Force in 1987. This contract would eventually lead to the fact that the acquisition of more than 200,000 laptops.Competition for this contract provision was hotly contested and the major PC companies of the time, IBM, Toshiba, Compaq, NEC and Zenith Data Systems (ZDS), rushed on laptops in an attempt to develop winning this business. ZDS, which previously won a landmark deal with the IRS for its Z-171, has been with this contract for the Supersport Series. The Supersport series was originally launched with an Intel 8086 processor into life, two floppy drives, a backlit, blue and white STN LCD screen, and a NiCDBattery. Later models featured an Intel 80286 processor and a 20MB hard drive. Because of this transaction, ZDS became the world's largest laptop supplier in 1987 and 1988.

ZDS partnership with Tottori Sanyo in the design and manufacture of these laptops. This relationship is noteworthy because it was the first deal between a major brand and an Asian OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). At the time, Compaq, IBM, Toshiba, NEC, etc. all designed and manufactured their ownMachines. But after the success of the ZDS with other relationships, like Compaq and citizens, soon followed. At that time, the quality of Japanese engineering and manufacturing in conjunction with the strength of the dollar against the yen (usually around 130 yen = $ 1) drove most brands to suppliers in Japan. Companies such as Sanyo, Tottori Sanyo, Citizen and Casio were heavily involved in this business as OEMs. However, by the mid-1990s, a weak U.S. dollar and the risingViability of Taiwanese OEMs such as Acer, Quanta, Compal, Twinhead, and Chicony lead the supply base to rapidly shift from Japan to Taiwan. In addition, other brands, the nimble and relied less on internal engineering such as Gateway, Dell and Micron have started to increase rapidly to leadership positions. Combinations such as Dell / Compal and Gateway / Quanta eventually became powerhouse partnerships and greatly contributed to the importance of Taiwanese OEMs as the center of the PC manufacturerfrom about 1995 onwards.

Another notable computer was the Cambridge Z88 by Clive Sinclair, introduced in 1988 designed. About the size of an A4 sheet of paper as well, it ran on standard batteries, and contained basic spreadsheet, word processing and communications programs. It expects the future miniaturization of the portable computer, and as a ROM-based computer with a small display, can - like the TRS-80 Model 100 - also be seen as a forerunner of the Personal DigitalAssistant.

Until the late 1980s, laptops, always popular with business people. The NEC Ultralite published in mid-1989, was perhaps the first notebook with a weight down to just over 2, which contained, instead of a floppy or hard disk, it a 2 megabyte RAM drive, but that reduces its usefulness as well as its size. The first notebook computers, hard drives included were the Compaq LTE series later this year introduced. Indeed, the size of a notebook, which sheAlso featured backlit displays with CGA resolution (though not CGA colors).

The first Macintosh Portable, Apple's attempt at a battery-powered machine is a computerThe first Apple computer to be used on the go, was the 1989 Macintosh Portable (although an LCD screen had been) an option for the transportable Apple IIc in 1984. Actually a "luggable", was the Mac Portable praised for its clear active matrix display and long battery life, but it was a poor seller because of its mass. InAbsence of a true Apple laptop, several compatible devices such as the Outbound Laptop for Mac users is available, but for copyright reasons, the user receives a set of Mac ROMs, which meant having to supply usually had to buy a new or used Macintosh as well.

The Apple PowerBook series, introduced in October 1991, pioneered changes that are now de facto standards on laptops, such as the placement of the keyboard, room for palm rest, and the inclusion of a built-in pointing device (aTrackball). The following year, IBM released its Thinkpad 700C, with a similar design (though with a distinctive red TrackPoint pointing device).

Later PowerBooks were the first 256-color displays (PowerBook 165c, 1993) and first true touchpad, first 16-bit sound recording and the first integrated Ethernet network adapter (PowerBook 500, 1994).

The summer of 1995 was a major turning point in the history of notebook computing. In August of that year, Microsoft introducedWindows 95 It was the first time that Microsoft had placed much of the power management functions into the operating system. Until this point each brand used for BIOS, drivers and optimize custom in some cases, ASICs, battery life of their machines. This move by Microsoft has been very controversial in the eyes of notebook designers because it reduces their ability to innovate, but it has to serve its role in simplifying and stabilizing certain aspects of notebook design. Windows 95 alsoresulted in the importance of the CD-ROM in mobile computing and began the transition to the Intel Pentium processor as the base platform for notebooks. The Gateway Solo was introduced the first notebook with a Pentium processor and a CD-ROM. By also with a removable hard drive and floppy drive it was the first three-spindle (optical, floppy and hard disks) notebook computers. The Gateway Solo was extremely successful in the consumer segment of the market. At about the samePeriod, the Dell Latitude, Toshiba Satellite, and IBM Thinkpad were reaching great success with Pentium-based two-spindle (hard disk and floppy disk drive) systems directed toward the corporate market.

Improve an old (1997) Micron laptopAs technology in the 1990s, increasing the value and popularity of laptops. Similarly, the prices went down. Several developments specific to laptops were quickly implemented, improving usability and performance. Among themwere:
Improved battery technology. The heavy lead-acid batteries were lighter and more efficient technologies will be replaced, first nickel-cadmium or NiCad, then nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium-ion battery and lithium polymer.
Power-saving processors. While laptops in 1991 to the 80286 processor because of the more powerful the energy was limited 80386, requires that the introduction of the Intel 386SL processor, designed for the specific performance of laptops, marked thePoint at which laptop needs were included in CPU design. The 386SL integrated a 386SX core with a memory controller and this was coupled with an I / O chip to create the SL chipset. It was built more than any previous solution although its cost was higher. It was heavily adopted by the major notebook brands over time. Intel followed this with the 486SL chipset which uses the same architecture. However, Intel had to leave this design approach, as it introduced its Pentium series. EarlyVersions of the mobile Pentium required TAB mounting (also used in LCD manufacturing) and this initially limited the number of companies can deliver notebooks. However, Intel has finally decided to migrate to more standard chip packaging. One limitation of notebooks has always been the difficulty in upgrading the processor, which is a common attribute of desktops. Intel has tried to solve this problem with the introduction of the MMC for mobile computing. The MMC was a standard module, thethe CPU and external cache memory could sit. It gave the notebook buyer the opportunity to make his CPU at a later time to update simplifies the manufacturing process some, and has been around in some cases to use U.S. import duties as the CPU, the chassis could be after their arrival in the U.S. Intel Notes with MMC for a few generations but ultimately could not maintain the appropriate speed and integrity of data in the memory subsystem through the MMC connector.
Improved liquid crystal displays inin particular, active-matrix TFT (Thin-Flim transistor) LCD technology. Early laptop screens were black and white, blue and white or grayscale, STN (Super Twist Nematic) passive-matrix LCDs prone to heavy shadows, ghosting and blurry movement (some portable computer screens were sharper monochrome plasma displays, But it took too much electricity will be powered by batteries). Color STN screens were used for some time, although the picture quality was bad. Until about 1991, two new color LCDtechologies hit the mainstream market in a big way; Dual STN and TFT. The Dual STN screens have seen many of the problems of STN at a very affordable price to solve and the TFT screens offer excellent image quality, although initially a high price. DSTN continued to a significant cost advantage over TFT until the mid-90s offer before the cost delta dropped to the point that DSTN was no longer used in notebooks. Improvements in production technology meant displays became larger, sharper, hadhigher native resolutions, faster response times and could display color with great accuracy, so that it is an acceptable substitute for a conventional CRT monitor.
Improved disk technology. Early laptops and notebooks, had only floppy disk drives. So thin, high-performance hard drives were with higher reliability and shock resistance and lower power consumption available, users could work on laptop computers and take with them. The 3.5 "HDD was originally created as aResponse to the needs of notebook designers, the smaller, lower power consumption products are needed. As pressure continues to shrink the notebook size even further, which was introduced in 2.5 "HDD.
Enhanced connectivity. Internal modems and standard serial, parallel and PS / 2 ports on IBM PC-compatible laptops made it easier to work from home, the addition of network adapters and, from 1997, USB, and, from 1999, Wi-Fi, made laptops so easily with peripherals such as a desktop applicationComputer.

The $ 100 laptop

A first generation prototype of the $ 100 laptop
In 2005, members of the teaching staff led the MIT Media Lab Nicholas Negroponte, including the $ 100 laptop and the One Laptop Per Child project. The goal is to develop, manufacture, distribution and laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools.These facilities, many of which prototypes have been already introduced, is a rugged, Linux-based, and so energy efficient that hand-crank dynamo alone can provide enough power to operate (though this is the hand crank has been removed). Ad-hoc wireless mesh networking can be used to share many machines to a single Internet connection.

Visit me at my consumers product websites http://www.bestgiftsdeal.com a website that offers links to consumerProducts and Current Reviews. Here are the links related to this article.

Best Laptop

Related Reviews

• OEM - The Hidden Laptop (0)
• Netbook-Mini Laptop Reviews - Asus Vs Acer Vs Samsung (0)
• Netbook Alternatives - The Dell Inspiron 11 11.6-Inch Laptop (0)
• Netbook Alternatives - Acer Aspire AS1410-8414 11.6-Inch Laptop Review (0)
• Mini Laptop Speakers and Other Netbook Accessories (0)

Tags: Laptop