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Portable PC Recommendation
The system specification outlined here is intended to be a
general purpose PC suitable for word processing, home
office, Web browsing, programming, games, etc. A laptop
following these minimum guidelines will cost around
$1000-1500.
It's a good idea to get a laptop from a respected
manufacturer as they tend to have much better customer
support and reliability down the road. Some good names in
laptops are (in no particular order): Dell, Toshiba, IBM,
Fujitsu, Gateway, NEC, Compaq, HP, and Sony.
All components have a short explanation available by
clicking on them. This may be helpful in choosing a laptop
that doesn't match these specifications.
|
COMPONENT |
SPECIFICATION |
|
Motherboard |
N/A |
|
I/O |
Serial port, parallel port, external monitor port, IR
port, USB 2.0 port. Firewire (AKA IEEE-1394 or iLink)
port. |
|
CPU |
Intel Pentium M 1.3 GHz or faster (including Centrino) |
|
Memory |
512MB or more RAM |
|
Case |
Keyboard 2"+ from bottom of unit (built-in wrist rest) |
|
Hard Drive |
40GB or larger |
|
CD-ROM Drive |
4x or faster DVD ROM |
|
Removable Media |
CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive. Optional DVD-RW if you want
to burn DVD discs |
|
Screen |
13.3"+ 1024x768+ Resolution Active Matrix (TFT) 16-bit
or higher color support |
|
Video Card |
32MB RAM or more, External minimum video modes:
640x480x24bpp@72+Hz, 800x600x16bpp@72+Hz,
1024x768x8bpp@72+Hz |
|
Keyboard |
Full spacing (19mm) |
|
Sound Card |
Built-in |
|
Speakers |
Internal or compatible with sound card. If internal,
should have a volume thumbwheel. |
|
Pointing Device |
Trackpad/Ball below space bar or mid keyboard stick with
buttons below space bar |
|
Operating System |
XP Home or XP Professional |
|
PC Card Slots |
Type III or two type I/II CardBus (one type I/II is OK
if Ethernet or Modem is built-in) |
|
Ethernet Card* |
Wi-Fi (802.11b or g) preferred. 10/100TX for wired
networks. Built-in adapter will free up a PC Card slot. |
|
Modem** |
Brand name V.92 or built-in V.92. |
|
Battery |
Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer. Over 3 hour run time
with normal use on one battery. |
|
Warranty |
1 year or longer |
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