Notebooks

What is the difference between a notebook and a laptop?

There is no difference between a notebook and a laptop. These terms are interchangeable and they refer to the same thing - a laptop is a computer system that is portable, and is "small enough to use on a person's lap".

WikiPedia: " A laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile use and small and light enough to sit on a person's lap while in use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device (a touchpad, also known as a trackpad, and/or a pointing stick), speakers, and often including a battery, into a single small and light unit. The rechargeable battery (if present) is charged from an AC adapter and typically stores enough energy to run the laptop for three to five hours in its initial state, depending on the configuration and power management of the computer."

WikiPedia redirects "Notebook computers" to Laptops. Wikipedia has the following information about Notebooks "A laptop PC which measures at least 11 inches across, which is the minimum width to allow for a full-size keyboard (a keyboard with the minimum QWERTY key layout, which is at least 13-1/2 keys across that are on three-quarter (0.750) inch centres, plus some room on both ends for the case). The first Notebook PC's were the size of a standard U.S. "A size" notebook piece of paper (8-1/2 x 11 inches), but later "A4-size" Notebook PC's were introduced, which were the width of a standard European "A4" notebook piece of paper (297 mm, or about 11.7 inches wide), and added a vertical column of keys to the right and wider screens."

"Laptop" is used more often than notebook. Google trends confirms this.
For the purpose of this article, we will use Laptop - this is the term used most often.
What are NETbooks / mini notebooks / ultra portables?

Which processor / CPU?

Purchase the fastest and latest processor that you can afford. The number of cores (multi-core) and the speed should be deciding factor. The faster the Processor and the more cores, the better the system will perform. Laptop processors are optimized to balance battery life and performance.

How much memory / RAM do I need?

The more memory your machine has, the better it will perform.

32 bit hardware has a limitation when it comes to memory. The maximum amount of usable memory is approximately 3.2 Gigabytes. You may add more memory, but the limit will always be approximately 3.2 Gigabytes. There is no workaround as this is a hardware limitation on 32 bit systems.

To use more memory, a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit operating system is required.

The memory a computer has, the better it will perform. Microsoft Windows will run faster and smoother with 32GB of memory installed compared to only 4GB of memory.

Which operating system do I choose for my laptop?

Linux

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft windows is one of the most popular operating systems. Many laptops (OEM) are per-installed with Microsoft Windows.

Compare the Windows and Windows Pro versions

Other features such as drive encryption is escluded from the home version, and the ability to use multiple CPUs is not possible in the Home version.

Abbreviations used

• BT
  Blue tooth
• CPU
  Central processing unit
• SSD
  Solid state drive
• FDD
  Floppy disk drive
  
• FPR / FPS
  Finger print reader / scanner
• HDD
  Hard disk drive (mechanical drive)
• KB
  Keyboard
• KP
  Keypad - this is the numeral keypad on the right hand side of the keyboard
  
• MB
  Motherboard or Megabytes (depending on context)
• MS
  Mouse or Microsoft, depending on the context
  
• ODD
  Optical disk drive (CD, DVD. Blu-ray)
  

Terms not to be confused