With the power available in today's Notebook Computers or Laptops which can easily replace a Desktop Computer for most purposes it may seem difficult in picking a Notebook Computer that will serve you needs now and in the future.
Always consider what you are going to use the Notebook or Laptop for to avoid over paying for something you don't need.
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Since there are new versions of Windows on the horizon speak with your computer dealer to make sure that when the new OS comes out you Notebook or Laptop will support it.
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If your going to be using your Notebook or Laptop to due graphics work or playing games make sure you computers graphic sub-system meets a minimum support of at least Direct X9, 256MB of Video Memory, supports the PCI express bus. If you have the extra cash get a Notebook that can support two video cards. There are several makers that offer this feature and I'm sure in the future more will be doing so as more and more people move over to portable computing platforms that require many visual interactive features.
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Make sure you choose a Hard Drive or Solid State Drive that has enough capacity for what you need this includes the operating system and all service pack updates..If you need the ultimate in data storage performance make sure the Notebook has Raid Support in Hardware.
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Since you can get Notebooks today with storage capabilities up to 1.5 TBytes I would recommend that you include a Re-Writable Blue Ray Drive. Though this can be a costly addition when you consider that a Blue Ray Drive can hold 50GB Versus 4.3GB for a Single Layer DVD or 9.4GB for Dual Layer DVD Drive it can save you a lot on storage space. Also since the BR Drives are now becoming commodity products price should begin to fall substantially in the next 12 months.
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If your going to use your Notebook or Laptop as your Primary Computing Device make sure you go with a note that has a minimum of a 17" screen if you can afford a 19" screen go for it. Also look for Notebook computers with screens that have a wide viewing angle.
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As with most Computers always go with as much on board memory as you can afford it's always cheaper than looking to add more memory at a later time. Remember the speed of a computer is as much a function of the speed of the processor as it is of main memory. This is especially true for graphic applications and data processing application which require large amounts of memory.
If you don't have enough RAM (Random Access Memory) then the CPU must use Hard Disk Storage to swap out data from memory to disk which will slow performance and also reduce battery life. -
If your going to be using your computer on the go a great deal make sure the Notebook you purchase has good battery life and a good assortment of energy saving features.
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If your Notebook or Laptop is going to be your main computer make sure it supports the latest in hi fidelity audio, plenty of USB ports, IEEE1394 Fire Wire for your VidCam, High Speed Ethernet, Dual Display Output... All the bells and whistles that a typical Desktop would support.
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Make sure your Notebook choice supports high speed Internet access preferably built-in as well as a built-in dial-up modem so no mater where you are you can get online if you need to. Also try to make sure it supports a good Wi-Fi implementation if you do a lot of mobile computing.
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Select a processor which is based on Intel's Core 2 Duo or AMD's Dual Cor CPU - For Power users get yourself a Notebook Computer with a Quad Core Processor. These processors should have a very large cache on board this helps improve performance and the processors should be designed for the Notebook Computer, and not a Desktop Processor slipped into the Notebook which does not offer the same energy saving features of a Notebook Designed Processor.
