Mainstream Notebooks?
Monday, February 12, 2007
What are they ?
The mainstream notebook category encompasses systems with 15.4-inch displays that generally weigh six to seven pounds.
Who are they for?
These systems are designed for home use primarily, but they’re portable enough that you can take them on the road.
What to Expect:
Glossy Displays
Most mainstream notebooks have glossy 15.4-inch displays that sport widescreen aspect ratios with excellent contrast and color accuracy. They’re ideal for watching DVDs, playing games, or for viewing two open windows simultaneously. Just keep in mind that glossy screens reflect ambient light more than traditional LCDs, which can be distracting.
Wide Range of Processors
If all you’re looking to do is surf the Web and check e-mail, opt for a low-power processor like the Intel Celeron M (or newer Core Solo) or AMD Sempron. If you envision doing heavy-duty multitasking (involving photos or video, for instance) or running multimedia applications often, set your sights on an Intel Core Duo processor or the AMD Turion 64.
Integrated or Discrete Graphics?
On value-priced models, mainstream notebooks ship with integrated graphics solutions from ATI or Intel that share system memory. If you want to play games, go with a graphics processor like the ATI Mobility Radeon X700 or Nvidia GeForce Go6600 with 64MB or more of dedicated video memory.
Instant Gratification
An increasing number of mainstream notebooks feature an instant-on mode, which enables users to start playing music and DVDs (and in some cases view photos) without having to boot into Windows. The system will typically have a dedicated launch key for this application.
posted by Abu Yusuff @ 8:17 AM,
