Technology

Definition

Laptops are becoming as common as your cellular phone, and now they share the hardware industry as that of desktop computers with a number of configurable options. The features, the price, the build quality, the weight and dimensions, the display, battery uptime or that matter, the ease of the trackball. Earlier, there were hardly any configurable options available but today, we have a variety of laptops n different configurations with the process and just about anything you want.

Companies such as Intel, AMD, Transmeta and nViad, to name only a few, are making laptops a hype and reality. Intel and AMD have brought out technologies such as speed step to preserve battery power in laptops.
If you are on the move all the time, you probably need a laptop that can do all the things that you will not be able to do all the things that you will not only able you to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but also send and receive e-mail, access the web and may be even play music CDs or watch a DVD movie to get that much deserved break. You need laptop that is also study enough to take the bumps and joints in its stride while you are on the move.

If on other hand, you want a laptop for basic tasks and primarily for the mobility so that your work does not get held up on the occasions that you need to travel, then you would not necessarily need the best in terms of the choice and power of its individual sub systems. There fore, if the CD-ROM drive, floppy drive is not integrated into the main unit, but it supplied as an additional peripheral, the frequent traveler would not only mind, because the overall weight of the laptop would be significantly lesser and would be easier on your shoulder after a long day commuting.

History
Alan Kay of Xerox Palio Alto Research Center originated the idea of a portable computer in the 1970's. Kay envisioned a notebook sized portable computer called the Dynabook that everyone could own and that could handle all of the user's informational needs. Kay also envisioned the Dynabook with wireless network capabilities. Arguably, the first laptop computer was designed in 1979 by laptop computer was designed in 1979 by William Moggvidge of Gvid systems Corp. It had 340 kilo bytes of bubble memory, a die cast magnesium case and a folding electroluminescent graphics display a screen. In 1983 Gavilan Computer produced a laptop computer with the following features.

" 64 kilobytes (expandable to 128 kilobytes)
of Random Access Memory
" Gavilan operating system (also van MS-DOS)
" 8088 microprocessor
" Touchpad mouse
" Portable printer
" Weighed 9 lb(4kg) alone or 14 lb (6.4 kg) with printer

The Gavilan computer had a floppy drive that was not compatible with other computers and it primarily used its own operating system. The company failed. in 1984, Apple lle was a notebook sized computer but not a true laptop. It had a 65602 microprocessor, 128KB of memory, an internal 5.25 inch floppy drive two serial ports, a mouse port, modem card, external power supply and a soldering handle.