June 2, 2008, 8:02PM
COMPUTING
Back to notebook basics

By DWIGHT SILVERMAN

More and more computer users are buying notebooks as their primary systems, so much so that portable PCs routinely outsell desktops.

And it's no wonder. Notebook computers are convenient and, when it comes to power, no longer the wimpy also-rans they used to be. They're also much cheaper, with sale systems sometimes underpricing comparable desktops. It's not uncommon to find a powerful notebook with an expansive screen for under $500.

Because of this shift, my summertime minimum specs column is now devoted each year to notebooks. As always, I'll break down the numbers for the components of a PC based on the most common kinds of buyers: budget users, road warriors and multimedia wizards. You can find more details at www.chron.com/pcspecs.

• Processor. I wish I could report that choosing a notebook processor is easier this year, but I'd be lying. Intel offers five mobile PC processor models, while AMD offers three. And each model will come in a variety of speeds and configurations.

Fortunately, for most users, processor speed is a secondary concern in modern notebooks. For those whose needs are basic — using work applications such as Microsoft Word or Excel, e-mail, Web surfing and simple multimedia, such as watching movies or listening to music — almost any available processor will do. What will make a bigger difference in most cases is the amount of memory and hard drive speed, and I'll get to those in a moment.

Budget users should look for Intel Celeron, Pentium and Core 2 Duo processors. You may also have seen Intel using the Centrino brand, which is a combination of Core 2 Duo processors and supporting chipsets that provide Wi-Fi and battery conservation. The Core 2 Duo processors are dual-core chips, meaning they are actually two processors in one. Celeron and Pentium mobile processors are available in both dual-core and single-core versions, with dual-core being the more powerful choice.

AMD has Mobile Sempron and Athlon 64 X2 processors for budget buyers, with the latter offering dual cores.

Road warriors want their notebooks to be small, light and capable of basic productivity tasks. Battery power is important. Look for Intel Celeron, Pentium and Core 2 Duo processors, with the latter offering the best battery life.

Road warriors may also want to look at the ultra-mobile class of notebooks, such as Asus' Eee PC, which uses a Via processor.

Multimedia wizards, who are essentially looking for a desktop replacement, will want to look at Intel's Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Extreme or AMD's Turion 64 X2 processors. All three are dual-core processors.

• Memory. With nearly all Windows-based notebooks running Vista these days, you want a minimum of 2 gigabytes of memory, even in budget notebooks. Memory is inexpensive right now, and you can find even 3 GB in relatively inexpensive systems.

Multimedia wizards, will want at least 3 GB and possibly 4, though depending on how your notebook is set up, you may not see all four when you look at the system properties in Windows. The 32-bit versions of Vista and XP reserve some memory for hardware use above 3 GB. That's not an issue in the 64-bit versions of Vista or XP, which can handle well over 4 GB of RAM.

• Hard drive. Unless you're using a notebook as your sole machine, you probably won't need a huge hard drive. I'd recommend a minimum of 120 GB in budget users' and road warriors' machines, with 160 GB preferred. If you are willing to store all your data on an external drive, and you won't be installing a lot of software, you may be able to get by with less than the minimum, but you probably won't have to — most low-cost portable PCs today have at least 120 GB drives.

Multimedia wizards will want at least a 200 GB drive, if not 320. You'll also want a drive that spins at 5,400 RPM or faster, with 7,200 preferred.

Right now, solid-state drives — which use flash memory instead of spinning magnetic platters — hold too little data and cost too much to be practical. That will change, but for now, unless you're obsessed about performance, stay away.

• Removable storage. Unless you're a road warrior, you'll want a CD or DVD burner, with the latter preferred if you can find one at a price you like ... and you probably will. DVD burners are so cheap they're now found in almost all notebooks. Multimedia wizards will definitely want a DVD burner. Blu-ray players and burners are available but may jack up costs significantly.

• Video. Budget users and road warriors are likely to be stuck using shared-memory graphics cards, which get some or all RAM from system memory. If the notebook uses Vista and the slick Aero interface is enabled, it will be chewing up at least 128 MB of system memory in a shared configuration. If you can live with that, fine, but if you can find a low-cost notebook with a graphics card sporting its own dedicated memory, that's preferred.

Multimedia wizards will want a graphics adapter with at least 128 MB of its own memory, if not 256.

• Display. Reasonably sized displays no longer require a big chunk of change. I've seen 15.4-inch screens on notebooks selling for $500. Budget users, look for systems with 13-inch to 15.4-inch screens. Road warriors will look at 12-inch to 14-inch screens. Multimedia wizards will want displays between 15.4 and 20 inches.

• Connectivity and expandability. Nearly all notebook computers now come with Wi-Fi adapters, and in many cases, they are the faster 802.11n variety. Budget users may still find the older 802.11g flavor of Wi-Fi, and that's fine for their needs. But road warriors and multimedia wizards will want 802.11n.

Budget users will want at least two USB 2.0 ports and an Ethernet jack. Road warriors will want the same, along with an PC-card slot for use with a cell-phone modem, sometimes called an air card. Multimedia wizards, add a Firewire connection if you plan to capture and edit video from a digital camcorder.

dwight.silverman@chron.com / http://blogs.chron.com/techblog