The weight determines the mobility class of a portable computer. In the category of standard portable computers the weight ranges from 2 to 3 kg. If you wish to have a computer that can be carried around as easily as possible you should choose a computer of the mobile (1.2 – 2.0 kg.) or ultra mobile (1.2 kg or less) category.

The display size describes the size of the visible part of the screen of your portable computer across the diagonal in inches. Average portable computers have 15.4″ standard or 15.6″ wide-screen displays. The ultra-compact category portable computers have the display size of about 10,1″.

Some portable computers have the option of turning the screen to the angle of 180 degrees and close it with the keyboard – the result is a true tablet computer without a keyboard. These models are sometimes referred to as transformers or tablets – they can be used both as a standard portable computer and as a tablet computer. This option is very handy for reading or, for example, drawing when the keyboard is not required.

Portable computers that are positioned as a replacement of desktop computers sometimes have a screen as big as 17″. A bigger monitor is usually required for editing graphics or reviewing big-size tables, etc. However, it has to be considered that a bigger screen means a bigger size and usually also a bigger weight of the computer, besides it can be damaged more easily during opening and closing.

The maximum resolution of the display indicates the number of colour points (pixels) on the computer screen. The higher the resolution the better quality (more detailed) image. For example, 1366x768px means that your computer has 1366 points horizontally x 768 points vertically. High resolution provides more information on the screen and this is directly related to the size of the screen. Nowadays even a 12.1 inches screen can have 1024×768 resolution. At the first glance, it looks like this resolution is too high for this size of the screen, however, high resolution provides more comfort.

WVGA (800×480) is characteristic for old portable computers and mini tablet computers of the new generation. WSVGA – ultra mobile portable computers with a display of 10.1’’ (the resolution of 1024×600 can be seen more often).

WXGA (1280×800) – this resolution is mainly characteristic of 12.1’’, 13.3’’, 14.1’’ screen with the relation of sides of 16:9.

HD 1366×768 and 1600×900 is a widespread resolutions for the budget and middle-class portable computers.

Full HD (1920×1200) resolution combined with high capacity video cards (NVidia Quadro FX vai ATI FireGL) is intended for the professional level 3D modelling work.

WUXGA (1920×1200) – ultra extended graphical arrangement (screen16:10) is intended for watching HD TV.

Attention has to be paid also to the contrast and brightness of the screen. The screen must have the maximum brightness for using the portable computer even in very bright lighting conditions.

The screens of portable computers are divided into Glare, or flossy and AntiGlare, or mat. The advantage of the flossy screen is better contrast, colours and sharpness, therefore this type of monitor is preferred by home users. The disadvantage of this screen is the glare which disturbs seeing the image in bright lighting.

AntiGlare or mat screens to some extent prevent the glare problem by “scattering”. This type of screen is usually used in business class computers intended for working with documents and accounting systems.

 

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The processor family indicates the generation and class of the processor.

The newest generation of processors includes Intel SandyBridge, AMD Fusion and A-Series processors.

The classification of Intel processors:
Celeron: Budget class processors for home and study applications
Pentium: similar to Celeron, however with the higher cache memory and capacity indices
Core i3: the performance class processor for a broad range of applications.
Core i5: the performance class processor with additional technologies for improving performance
Core i7: the enthusiast-class processor with the highest performance indices

The classification of AMD processors
AMD Fusion: the budget class processors for office and study applications
A-Series: a more detailed division in A4, A6, A8 and compete with Intel i3, i5 and i7 accordingly

CPU clock frequency is the indicator of the operation speed. A CPU with a higher clock frequency will have a higher speed compared to a CPU with analogous other technical indices. The clock frequency of two or more core CPUs is indicated for each core, thus, when the performance of CPUs is compared a CPU with the clock frequency of 2Ghz and one core is deemed less powerful than another CPU with the same clock frequency and several cores.

The CPU cache memory is the memory volume that is built-in in the CPU of a portable computer and is a decisive indicator of high-speed operation. A CPU with bigger cache memory is faster than a CPU with equal other technical features.

The CPU type indicates what is the manufacturer and model of the CPU forming the base of your portable computer. recommends a portable computer with Intel i3 CPU to demanding users.

This index determines the number of cores in the computer CPU. Each core is like a separate CPU that is capable of operating various applications separately. Thus, if there are several cores the operating system of the computer can distribute the load evenly between cores, so that the computer user can, for example, listen to music, browse the Internet and download files at the same time.

The processor clock frequency is among the main criteria of processor performance. This index determines the number of operations that each CPU core can perform per second. The higher the CPU clock frequency the faster the computer will be perform the given computing tasks.

The ability of the CPU to increase the performance (the clock frequency) of one or several cores on the account of the stand-by of other cores. This function is switched on only when the computer needs an additional capacity “push”.

HyperThreading is the ability of the computer CPU to process several data flows in each core. For the two-core CPU the HyperThreading is 4 and it means that certain tasks can be handled by this two-core CPU at the same quality as the four core CPU.

 

The CPU cache memory is the place where the CPU stores (buffers) the data intended for processing for a short time. The volume of the cache memory is important in determining the high-speed operation of the CPU and, thus, the overall high-speed operation of the computer itself. Bigger volume of cache memory means higher-speed operation.

 

RAM is a short-term data storage. This component determines the operation speed:

• allows the CPU of your computer to have fast access to the information that needs to be processed used by the computer application which you have opened;
• at the moment of opening application stores it in its microchips, thus the memory capacity determines how many applications can be run by your computer simultaneously and also how big data volume (pictures, texts, webpages) you can operate at once.

Thanks to the dense placement of chipsets the RAM of a portable computer has the same characteristics as the RAM of desktop computers. recommends using 3Gb or higher capacity RAM for general use.

This criterion determines the type of RAM used by the computer,m and this is useful if you want to buy an additional memory module when you buy the computer or upgrade the existing RAM capacity in future.

The newest type of memory is DDR3. DDR2 represents an older generation accordingly.

The high-speed operation of the RAM, as well as the upgrading possibilities, are determined by the index – the type of RAM. recommends to buy a portable computer with DDRIII type RAM.

Free memory slots indicate the upgrading possibilities of a portable computer determining how many additional memory modules can be added to this portable computer. The possibilities of upgrading the RAM also depend on the type of the RAM as well as on the amount of Mb included in the basic setting of the computer.

Maximum RAM is the indicator of the upgrading possibilities of the portable computer determining how many Mb of RAM are supported by * this model of the portable computer.

*The possibilities of upgrading the RAM depend on the number of available free memory slots and on the amount of Mb memory in the basic configuration of the computer.