It’s well known that the most expensive part of a laptop is the LCD panel (i.e. the screen). If you’ve ever shopped around for a replacement panel – even if it’s just the thin-film part and not the surrounding bezel – you know exactly what I’m talking about. LCD panels have never been cheap and probably never will be. Because...

HP these days is making some pretty good full-size laptops these days. Compared to just a few years ago, a lot more attention is being given to build quality both on the inside and outside. If you haven’t checked out HP laptops recently, here are 3 for under $500 that are worth a look: Note that all these laptops have 15.6-inch screens at 1366×768...

Big-space hard drives always arrive first for desktop PCs simply for the reason they can run hotter without issue, and the fact you can add in cooling in several different ways should the heat become an issue. Laptops are typically 2 to 3 years behind when it comes to drive technology, or at least the platter-based ones are. The wait exists it takes the OEMs...

On a laptop, I will admit widescreen is better not for visibility but for a completely different reason – it’s easier to carry around. When a laptop is closed, a rectangle shape is easier to deal with compared to a square. Under the arm, the likelihood of you dropping a widescreen laptop is less compared to if you were holding a square-shaped one...

It’s still true to this day that the screen is the most expensive part of a laptop, and replacing it on an out-of-warranty unit is never cheap and never has been. In addition, replacing a screen on a laptop is exceedingly difficult compared to a standalone monitor. Lots of tiny screws, dealing with a proprietary chassis, probably literally cracking apart...

If your current laptop is a bit long in the tooth and you’re thinking of buying a new one, I’d consider the current state of the notebook market to be stable. The price points right now are about where they should be, it’s tough to find a dud these days with notebooks as pretty much all of them worked out the design kinks years ago, and of...

Those who build PCs are obviously aware of the fact that the hard drive you install has no operating system on it. After construction is complete you install the OS of your choice. But what about notebooks? There is such a thing as a no-OS laptop like this netbook that sells for under $250. However most people would want something more powerful with a larger...

It’s well known that a netbook with a 6-cell battery at bare minimum can hold a charge for a least 5 hours, and if you’re really stingy with the power usage, 7 hours is actually well within reach. But what about traditional “big” laptops with 14-inch and above screens? Are they still the lumbering beasts that can only hold a charge for 3...

As you may know, just about every modern laptop uses a lithium-ion powered battery. What you may not know is the care for these types of batteries differ from their NiCd predecessors. That said, it is important to give your battery proper care to get the most life out of it possible. A great article on this subject can be found at Battery University: "How...

Recently the guys and gals at Alienware introduced one amazing little brute of a laptop, the M11x. It’s probably safe to say that the little 11-incher would probably destroy whatever PC you’re using right now, power-wise.   The M11x comes in Core 2 Duo, Core i5 and Core i7 flavors. In i7 trim the price comes in at just under $1,100. You’re...

Mac users looking to get some insight into their battery power outside of the typical X% charge left should take a look at the freeware utility coconutBattery. coconutBattery isn’t just a tool which shows you only the current charge of your battery – it also shows you the current maximum capacity of it in relation to the original capacity your...

I think it’s safe to say that netbook fever has died down to a dull roar at this point and that people are looking more towards traditional (as in 13-inch and above) laptops again. While netbooks continue to improve concerning speed, battery life and so on, people tend to like the larger screens better. Price Range Five years ago the price range that gave...

For those of us who use a laptop, there is no doubt that one of the most important components is the battery. If the battery completely dies you can always plug the system into the wall to use it, but that defeats the purpose of a laptop. Therefore, it is essential to take good care of your battery and a program which can help is the appropriately named utility:...

Most new laptops come shipped with an HDD from 160GB to 320GB in size. This is small compared to a new desktop, most of which ship with a 500GB HDD or greater. If you want the big-big space in your laptop, it’s available. However it’s probably true you can’t use the largest size. More on that in a moment. In the big-big range for 2.5-inch HDDs...

For a while now it’s been true that laptops are outselling desktop computers. Netbooks are largely responsible for the increase in sales, and as such have driven the price of standard-sized laptops down. What’s the cheapest you can get? Around $400 to to $499 new. The $500 price barrier was broken a while ago and we can now buy laptops at unheard of...

If you use a laptop as your primary computer and find that for the most part you leave it plugged in on your desk, you need to take battery care into consideration. In a situation like this, you do not want to constantly be charging your battery. This article explains it well. To summarize, having your battery in a ‘constant’ charge state will reduce...

The obvious answer to this question is yes, you can. Before explaining the modern way to use a laptop as a desktop, let’s take an amusing stroll down memory lane on how this was done years ago. In the beginning… (Note before continuing: I’m concentrating on late 1990s-to-present tech. Obviously what’s listed below doesn’t cover...

One of the improvements you can expect to see in the latest OS release by both Microsoft and Apple is a noticeable increase in battery life. By some estimates, Windows 7 will boost battery life by 11% and Apple’s Snow Leopard by 10%. These are accomplished through, among other things, more efficient handling of idle CPU time and better management of...

It’s an ever-increasing mobile world, and with it comes all the tech stuff we need to get things done. Being mobile means your tech will run off a battery or two. However there are certain items when you should care and other times when you don’t have to. Point-And-Shoot Digital Cameras Should you care? Yes. I won’t buy a point-and-shoot...

It’s my opinion that everyone should own a laptop. Two years ago I couldn’t say this because the price point wasn’t low enough. But with the netbooks quickly becoming the new norm of laptops, I can say now that yes, you should own one. And if you needed a reason why, here are 10 good ones. 1. Better resale value. PCs hold little resale value...