What are the features of a laptop that makes it different from a desktop? This week we will find out by taking a look at the special features of a laptop. Let’s begin with the batteries.
Batteries are very important to a laptop. The mobility of a laptop will be sacrificed without the batteries. If you want to use it on the road or in the air the batteries are indispensable. Laptop batteries are either Lithium-ion (Li+) or Nickel Metal-Hydride (NiMH). Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) is another type of battery but it is not a good option.
Lithium-ion (Li+) batteries weigh less, and tend to hold the charge longer than Nickel Metal–Hydride (NiMH) batteries. Nickel Metal-Hydride batteries, on the other hand, are less expensive than Lithium-ion batteries. However, if your laptop makes use of the batteries more often, the convenience of a Lithium-ion is worth the price.
Battery life varies because it depends on how you use the laptop and the type of rechargeable batteries you have. To be able to get an accurate picture of how long the battery will last the best way is to use the laptop in all power modes.
Our next item is the pointing device. If the mouse is to a desktop, the pointing device is to a laptop. The pointing device works like a mouse. It helps you navigate the screen by pointing, clicking, and dragging. But unlike the mouse, the pointing device is compactly built into the laptop. The laptop’s pointing device can be either be a pointing stick or a touchpad
A pointing stick is a tiny rubber nub that looks like a pencil’s eraser-head lodged in the middle of the keyboard between the G, H, and B keys. This input device responds to pressure from the index finger. To navigate the cursor, pressure is applied in the direction you want the arrow to go. It is not easy to use the pointing stick because the slightest touch can cause the arrow to fly across the screen.
Touchpad, true to its name is a pad that you touch. It is a square-shaped surface that can be found below the space bar of a laptop keyboard. Touchpad usually comes with separate buttons on which to "click". But to help reduce the distance your hand has to travel, clicking can also be performed within the pad by simply tapping it. You can also encounter a rectangular shaped touchpad wherein you rest your finger on it and drag it from one point to another to move the cursor on display. Getting used to the touchpad takes time but it is worth the effort because of its ergonomic advantages.
If you find the pointing device of a laptop hard to master, you can always use the standard mouse to ease your burden. That is if you don’t mind making a little sacrifice by adding a peripheral device to your laptop.
Now we go to the types of display (screen) technology of a laptop. The display technologies you can choose from are active matrix and passive matrix. Active matrix, also known as thin film transistor or TFT, is a liquid crystal display that has a transistor for each pixel. It means that the current that triggers pixel illumination is smaller making it faster to switch on and off. TFT display pictures come out sharper and the moving images are smoother. Most laptops nowadays have TFT for their displays (screen).
Passive matrix, also known as dual scan, is the more older and cheaper display. Images that we view on this display move more slowly than that of TFT. With the passive matrix display, moving the cursor quickly across the screen makes the cursor temporarily disappear, unlike in active matrix display (TFT) that is fast enough to reflect the movement of the cursor.
More laptop features next week.
Sources: www.computerhope.com;www.soyouwanna.com;www.whatis.com; http://howtobuyalaptop.com
The Quest Corner is a regular column by Quest Computer Store dedicated to computer end-users especially the newbies. For comments and suggestions you can send it to:
timmy@questcomputer-store.com or call our HOTLINE 851-1688
