Introduction
Before we jump onto notebook testing, I have to explain several things. Notebooks have different features that are partially unknown to the desktop market like PC Cards, daughter boards and batteries. The chipset and VGA requirements are also different from the needs of a desktop computer. To make matters worse, it is very easy to compare apples with oranges while comparing notebooks.
First I will explain the different notebook segments and later in this article the different notebook specialties.
Notebook Segments
I will skip PDAs in this guide and go directly for notebooks. The notebook market is divided into three major segments.
Segment #1: All-In-One
Everything you need is inside of the notebook. Floppy, HDD (hard disk drives) and CD/DVD-Drive are build-in. These models are also called three spindle solutions because Floppy, CD/DVD and HDD all use a spindle motor.
Most of those notebooks start with a 12" display and go up to a 14" display. The display is one of the most expensive components of a notebook. The preferred technology for such a display should be TFT (thin film transistor). TFT displays offer a much better quality and speed than the DSTN display. If you ever had the opportunity to compare a cheaper DSTN Display with a more expensive TFT Display, you will certainly stick to the TFT display. The weight of such a notebook is about 3kg with all drives included.
