subject: Notebooks, Netbooks And Laptops [print this page] Notebooks, netbooks, laptops, computersthese are all very familiar names. Arent they? But sometimes we wonder what exactly a notebook computer is or what is the difference between a laptop and a notebook?
Well where netbooks were born only a few years ago, notebooks and laptops have been around for decades. The term notebook was coined around year 1989 that describes emerging lines of smaller laptops and was about the size of a A4 paper notebook. Laptops on the other hand were usually wider, taller and thicker.
The first two to fit the original label were the NEC UltraLite notebooks and the Compaq LTE line of systems, with the IBM ThinkPad arriving a couple of years later to really popularize the form factor.
Notebooks in the initial years became very popular among businessmen and students due to their light weight and reduced size. But all these facilities came with a price that is weaker processing and computing power. Laptops were more powerful and made a better replacement of desktop computers.
Netbooks are the latest in the series that provide extreme portability at amazingly low prices. They are also the lowest denominator when processing power and storage space are considered. Netbooks are specifically designed for office use and surfing the Net. This difference in features and size has created a slight segmentation of the consumer market for notebooks, laptops and netbooks.
Laptops have flooded the IT market by combining the versatility of portability with powerful functionalities and specifications. Today they have become number one resource for mobile computing.
Now a days, laptops are also equipped with wireless internet cards that provides the convenience and facility of connecting to the big world of Internet anywhere and anytime. Today, laptop users can connect and communicate with anyone in the world from anywhere.
So, laptops, notebooks or netbooks the features may differ but one thing that is sure to be offered with these gadgets is convenience and mobile computing.
